For one of my sustainable systems class we visited a Garden in upper Manhattan/ Bronx area. It wasn’t far from The New School and seemed like a short ride. Once there our teacher explained that his goal was to create independent gardens that people can maintain communally. I thought this was a noble purpose that people could really benefit from. Even by growing flowers people can come together as a community and learn about creating a sustainable system in their own local environment. Our purpose for coming to the garden was turning over the soil for the new season so that the people living in the area can plant flowers and various plants in healthy compost. I garden every year with my family as well and have learned a lot about myself as well as how growing my own fruits and vegetables works. I felt calm while i turned the dirt and was surprised by the quality of the soil. there were many worms which my teacher pointed out, mean that the compost is healthy and thriving. I plan on coming back in early May to help the community plant the new flowers for the summer. I kept thinking about my experience with gardening and how much I enjoy that type of labor. Eventually we talked about how my teachers non profit organization is doing this in many areas of New York in order to get people thinking about sustainability. Also each of the gardens is designed by a commissioned artist some representing the area of Manhattan while others are peaceful symbols of unity such as two hands joined together. Another interesting problem that these gardens tackle is working together not only with the planters but also the plants. My teacher explained how some plants are not meant to go together however by using dividers between plants both can thrive in the same area without taking too much from each other. One improvement for this project could be a greenhouse so that these gardens could survive year round and people could plant vegetables.
