With the help of NeighborSpace, a few of my neighbors and I turned a vacant city lot into a small community garden.
There have been several stops and starts in the lengthy planning process; we finally got our donated topsoil at the end of May. Then the work began: Soil testing, water issues, fertilizer, dodging "free" compost, mulch, and finally, planting.
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From a pile of old 2x12 Douglas Fir joists donated from a building renovation project, we marked out the plots and turned them over to our enthusiastic gardeners.
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| [Click on any of the images for a larger view] |
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| I built a couple A-frame tomato trellises out of a few of the old Douglas Fir joists. |
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| The community garden, as seen from my rooftop garden, the first week in June, 2010. |
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| We built a short fence around the backside of the garden with some of the Douglas Fir joists and rolls of donated willow screening. In the background you can see my rooftop garden. |
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| From the old joists, Art and I are holding pieces, I also made a picnic table and two benches that will go under the tree at the north end of the garden. |
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| This is the first of a series of rain barrels that will collect, then distribute, rooftop water for the garden. ::::::: |
[As usual, all photos, as well as the conversion of the plot plan image from a pdf to a jpg file, done by H2. Thanks!]
11 comments:
Bruce--congrats on the new garden! And that's a really beautiful table.
Art, Bruce and H2 this is wonderful! I would love to come visit your garden. Bruce what a great view from your rooftop.
All credit to Bruce, Debbie. The tenacity required to work with the city is frankly beyond me.
Bruce and his very local neighbors made it happen.
Just wanted to share that NeighborSpace and the Chicago Park District will be having a community garden tour. I just went to one last month and it was inspiring.
There a 2 more tours this summer on Saturday, July 31st and August 28th from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The tours begin and ends at the Chicago Tourism Center, 72 East Randolph. Registration is required. Sign up for one of the tours at http://communitygardentours.eventbrite.com
Thanks Erik,
It really is beautiful wood. And once the nails are pulled out, a pleasure to work with.
Debbie,
All credit to H2 for capturing the view in her great photos.
I feel like our garden should be in that tour! Maybe next year.
Bruce we really couldn't have done this without you!! You have provided our community with a wealth of resources and support that will help this project move forward for years to come. Kudos!
-Olga & Justin
So wonderful. Bruce you really are the patron saint for Chicago Urban land deficient residents.
The table is fantastic.
So thrilled that this little piece of green has done exactly what it meant to- provided a healthy and fruitful way for a neighborhood to interact. I love that little patch- thank you for being such an incredible resource!
Congrats! It is a nice view from your rooftop garden indeed... I am looking forward to featuring it in today's (or at this point, early Wed!) pipeline and will email you the pic I took of Olga, Ala, Justin and you!
Beautiful, Bruce!! What a great change to that spot, and a great addition to your neighborhood! I'm comparing it in my minds eye to 1993 (and every year since then up to now). Kudos to you and your compadres from your "little brother" in Oregon!
Beautiful, Bruce!! What a great change to that spot, and a great addition to your neighborhood! I'm comparing it in my minds eye to 1993 (and every year since then up to now). Kudos to you and your compadres from your "little brother" in Oregon!
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