This thread reminds me of a story: A few years back, when I was just starting to get interested in community gardening, the great tomato scandal rocked the polite city of Charlotte. People still talk about it.
In one of our city's largest public low income housing units for seniors, a fair number of people took to growing tomatoes and vegetables outside their apartments. Some folks grew flowers as well - there was no 'real' landscaping, anyway - and the gardening actually improved the unit's appearance. No problem, until the housing authority got a new director. He immediately ordered that all tomatoes and gardens be plowed under immediately. Reason? They looked "raggedy". Outraged seniors and their families complained, a crusading editor at the Charlotte Observer picked up the story, and suddenly the anti-tomato bureaucrat found his name and his edict in the paper. The city rose up as one in protest. First, he stonewalled, then he claimed it was a health issue - veggies might attract rats. In the end, due to public outcry, he had to back down, the tomatoes were left alone, and they've been growing 'em ever since (except where low income housing has been pushed out by condos...but that's another tale). I've always wondered if Joan Bankemper's lovely 'Dovetail Garden' community garden project, at a public housing for seniors highrise named Edwin Towers in Charlotte's 4th Ward, was inspired in part by this incident, or if her patron, Hugh McColl, former president of Bank of America and a Charlotte mover and shaker, wanted to make a point about gardens for everyone. For a nice virtual visit, try: http://www.dianapatton.com/charlotte.html So, don't be discouraged - sometimes, community gardens do win. Hang in there, keep fighting the good fight, Don Boekelheide Charlotte, NC ----- Original Message ---- From: "community_garden-request at list.communitygarden.org" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:00:31 PM Subject: Community_garden Digest, Vol 173, Issue 1 Send Community_garden mailing list submissions to community_garden at list.communitygarden.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to community_garden-request at list.communitygarden.org You can reach the person managing the list at community_garden-owner at list.communitygarden.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Community_garden digest..." Today's Topics: 1. (Karen Jones) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 14:46:09 -0500 From: "Karen Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Public Housing and Community Gardens To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org> Message-ID: <465C3CB10200006C00014C2D at ds1.uwinnipeg.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Nice to see that there is some reason in the world. here in Winnipeg the Public Housing people have set their faces against community gardens. I think that things could be and ought to be otherwise. For my involvement in community gardens the West Broadway Development Corporation has gotten a lawyer to write me an intimidating letter and I had to hire at my own expense a lawyer, who suggested mediation. Mediation was not mediation, WBDC dictated their "outcome' and things are as they have always been for 17 year, they say 'get out of the garden by September and don't come backl. Thing is, we continue to come back. So to all of you who have been struggling with land tenure, continue coming back. What else is there to do? Karen ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org End of Community_garden Digest, Vol 173, Issue 1 ************************************************
