Winter Recaps (Final)

The last two properties are each unique in their own way.

Cooper



Cooper is an old elementary school that is now owned by DNDA. Space on the first floor is rented out to other non-profits such as Nature Consortium, Arts Corps, and Youth Media Institute. The first floor also has a small auditorium, a recording studio, and a movement studio, which anyone can rent. The other floors are artist housing. The gardens at Cooper are a great example of what DNDA is striving to accomplish at all 8 properties. There is so much going on at this garden that I barely play a role :-).



Not only are there many involved and interested residents, but part of the garden area is managed and maintained by FEEST (Food Empowerment Education Sustainability Team), which is a youth leadership program for high school teens run by two residents of the building. Between FEEST, Nature Consortium (a non-profit with offices in the building), and the residents, there is little need for my direct involvement. Last year they built a chicken coop, which is a cooperative in which any residents who wish to benefit from the eggs and meat must participate in cleaning, feeding, tending, financing, etc. The focus this year will be on highlighting sustainable practices and holding community cookouts in the patio area.

Santa Teresita



Santa Teresita is unique in that it is not owned by DNDA, but by Catholic Community Services. CCS gave DNDA some funding and in appreciation of the gift the Family Gardening Program works with their residents. Last July, they built 4 garden beds.



I met with some of the families in January. There are about 8 families that are involved in the gardens and their main two concerns are getting an early start to planting (since the gardens were built late in the season last year), and building a few more beds to accommodate the demand. In the next few weeks I will be helping them start seed indoors and prepare the soil outside for planting. I will also be leading a children's garden class to get some of the kids at the property involved and interested. I hope to have 2 more beds built by the end of April.

Thanks for wading through these updates and backgrounds. From this point on, the picture quality will be better and posts will focus on what's happening now. Stay tuned for Youth Garden Clubs to start up next week!

Winter Recaps (Continued)

Three of the properties do not, as of yet, have established edible garden space and will be undergoing different projects throughout the spring.

Centerwood



There is a lot of interest, support, and momentum from families at Centerwood behind a future edible garden space. I have partnered with Spring Into Bed! (SIB) this year to have three raised garden beds built at Centerwood in May as part of their Just Garden Project. SIB will provide basic materials (lumber, soil, nails/screws) for three raised beds, and I a have been working on gathering some additional materials before the Garden Build Day on May 14. This past fall I spent some time getting to know the residents and asking them where they would like their garden located. We then developed some design ideas, taking into account the tree roots and the slightly sloped terrain in the area they selected. Residents are excited to grow tomato, hot pepper, bell pepper, cilantro, onion, garlic, and lettuce. There will also be a weekly Garden Club starting next month to get kids involved in gardening and growing some veggies even before the gardens are built.

Holden Manor



Holden has been a tough nut to crack, and most of the residents I spoke to in the Fall had absolutely no interest in gardening, growing food, or even having a garden on the property. I finally met with one woman who is excited about having windowsill herb gardens in her apartment and possibly having a small container garden for herself on site. She has told me there is another woman who may be interested as well, but I have as of yet been unable to get in touch with her. The next step is to acquire some window boxes, potting soil, and herbs for the interested resident. I am also currently trying to determine the best location(s) for possible container gardens. The property is very small, with very few places that would have adequate light, space, and access to a water source. As of right now, I am thinking that a the planting strip (in picture) offers the best location, now that a permit to grow in these spaces is free!

One Community Commons



One Community Commons (affectionately called OCC by everyone) is also a unique situation in that there is a lot of concrete and not a lot of natural space. The apartment buildings surround a cement courtyard, which has 10-12 large metal containers about 7 feet in diameter (see picture). The containers are filled with strawberry plants and each one has a tree in the center, some fig and some apple. Currently, the strawberry plants in one container have been removed and soil will be added and amended within the next month. This will be the trial edible garden that will be the primary responsibility of the kids at the weekly Garden Club. If it is successful and greater interest is generated, the possibility to expand into other containers is definitely there. The manager also recently told me that there is one adult resident who previously gardened in one or two containers near her unit, but has not done so for the past year or so. I hope to connect with her as soon as possible and encourage her to continue gardening this season.

Winter Recaps

In order to provide better perspective on everything that will be happening, I want to take this opportunity just before spring preparations begin to highlight what has been happening at each property.

Croft Place



Residents and DNDA built 10 garden beds in May 2010. There is a decent amount of interest among residents, but currently only solid participation from 2. Last season residents grew collards, zucchini, pumpkin, carrots, and broccoli among other veggies. Croft Place also has an evening Garden Club once a week, mostly for kids but open to adults as well. It's been on hold for winter, but will be starting back up in March. Expect a lot of pictures from that in the future!

With the help of the 2 involved residents and the kids, a lot has been accomplished in the garden. A few kids spent a couple of days helping me build a retaining wall out of broken concrete, and some DNDA staff came out one day as well. One resident took the initiative to have wood chips delivered and we spread them in the pathways between the beds. Over the winter 3 of the 10 beds have been resting under a layer of sheet compost to add organic matter to the soil and another 3 have Fava Beans growing as a cover crop, adding nitrogen.



Portions of two beds have a winter crop of garlic growing. The root systems have been growing underground since early November, and just recently they started sending up their green stems. If all goes well, the bulbs should be ready in a few short months.

Delridge Heights



Delridge Heights has also had a garden since the spring of last year. This past season 2 residents grew cabbage, collards, carrot, tomato, peppers, and squash, just to name a few, in 3 garden beds. We built a 4th bed this fall. Again, not a great amount of resident involvement, however some additional residents recently expressed interest in regularly receiving fresh produce from the gardens. The two active gardeners have agreed to dedicate some of the garden to growing food for community distribution! This way, people have better access to fresh produce and hopefully will take greater interest in the garden after eating the delicious veggies!

Vivian McLean Place



Vivian McLean Place has a relatively large group of around 8 residents that are consistent, experienced gardeners and are dedicated to their garden space. They have some great ideas to work towards sustainability such as selling flowers and starts and implementing a more efficient and effective compost system. Mostly I'm just looking forward to spring and summer cookouts on the garden patio and seeing all of the boxes filled with flowers, fruits, and veggies again. The residents of the Vivian have even offered to help me with any of the gardens at other properties, whether it means building new beds or talking with residents about gardening tips.



Stay tuned for background on the other properties. Sorry for the poor picture quality. They were taken with a Flip video and then the stills were extracted. In the future they will be much better!

Thanks for reading!

Welcome to Families in the Garden

Hi Everyone!

I have set up this blog to highlight the work that people in Delridge are doing to improve food security through gardening. It will share stories from 8 different affordable housing properties at which residents are in the process of learning about, building, and/or maintaining edible gardens as a source of food. Each property is at a different stage and has different backgrounds, needs, ideas, assets, and goals in relation to growing food. This ranges from having a well-established garden maintained diligently by nearly half of the residents, to establishing design ideas for a future garden and gathering resources.

My hope is to simply share the happenings, accomplishments, and stories from the community as the adults and children engage in their gardens. This will encompass garden building projects, events & activities, plantings & harvests, sustainability efforts, childrens' garden classes, and the occasional post on general food security issues. I hope to update weekly, and to put a high priority on posting pictures, especially of all the vegetables growing, of group work parties, and projects the kids are doing.

Stay tuned!

A brief background:
Delridge is a neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, just west of the Duwamish river and north of White Center. As a community, Delridge has been historically underinvested, with few businesses operating within the neighborhood. Over half of the residents are people of color, twice the national average, and almost 40% speak a language other than English in the home. Delridge falls just below the national average for high school completion, and 15% of families live below the poverty level, compared to 9% of families across the country.

The Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association aims to create a thriving Delridge, and work towards creating more equitable systems. Currently, there is a lack of healthy, whole foods within reasonable distance for most families. The Family Gardening Program works with adults and children in the community to learn about, build, and maintain edible garden spaces as a source of healthy produce.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you find this blog as valuable as I find this work.