Detroit Free-Press, Detroit, Michigan GREEN IDEA IN WAYNE COUNTY: Community gardening grows
Program teaches leadership, how to revitalize lots February 28, 2006 BY NAOMI R. PATTON FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Romanowski Park in southwest Detroit is being renovated by Urban Roots students. Participants in the 2-year-old program learn about horticulture, how to assess land, gardening strategies, mapping and more. At first, Rochelle Jones thought she wanted to grow a better garden in her own backyard. But as a student in the Urban Roots community-gardening training program for Wayne County residents, Jones, 38, of Detroit now wants to grow community gardens in her northwest Detroit neighborhood. "Now that I'm hearing the information about community gardening, my mind-set has changed," Jones said. "I feel like I can do it." Jones and 30 other Urban Roots students are participating in the 2-year-old program. Its goal is to increase the number of community gardens in Detroit by converting vacant lots into garden plots grown and managed by residents. The classes, which began Feb. 18, are held each Saturday for nine weeks at American Indian Health & Family Services. It is a few blocks from Romanowski Park, where the students get their hands in the dirt. The park is on Lonyo in southwest Detroit. A class also is held at Belle Isle and the Earth Works Garden at Mt. Elliott and Lafayette. Five of the nine classes focus on horticulture. The others teach students how to assess land, gardening strategies, mapping, fund-raising and leadership for garden projects. Ashley Atkinson, project manager for the Greening of Detroit, a nonprofit organization that plants trees on public land throughout the city, coordinates the Urban Roots program. She said there are 81 community gardens throughout Detroit, but community gardening has waxed and waned over the years. The goal of Urban Roots is to train leaders to establish and sustain community gardens, said Kristine Hahn, a Michigan State University Extension educator who met Atkinson through the Detroit Agriculture Network and developed the program. Hahn, a botanist, teaches horticulture classes. The two originally planned for about 25 students the first year, but at least 30 were accepted. This year there are 31 students, and there is a short waiting list for the next class. Each student's final project is to create a portfolio with a design and plan for a future community garden, Atkinson said. At the end of the nine weeks, students are given a free membership to the Detroit Garden Resource Program, which provides seeds and plants for community gardens, and a subscription to Organic Gardening magazine. The Detroit Agriculture Network, Greening of Detroit, Earth Works Garden, the MSU Extension and Wayne County sponsor Urban Roots. Students pay $75 to attend; some scholarships are offered. Ida Castillo, 45, of Detroit attended Urban Roots last year and is volunteering with the program this year. She said she hopes to develop a garden at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit. In the meantime, Castillo said she can learn new things and new ideas while she volunteers. She called the class "a good way to interact with other people ... have a better kinship with the neighborhood." For more information about Urban Roots, contact Ashley Atkinson at 313-237-8736 or Kristine Hahn at 734-727-7234 ______________________________________________________ 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
