The OSS experience was a nice surprise. I wasn’t really sire what to expect when we were heading there. We went all the way to the very tip of Manhattan to this cute little community garden, where I learned more than I expected to. The first thing I learned was how you can make a garden 100 percent sustainable, and that many gardens are not. I didn’t know that gardens could be harmful depending on how they are run. This one was built out of recycled scaffolding, is fertilized with compost, and the dirt and mulch is turned to avoid having to replace it. The same dirt can last for around three years! The trip definitely gave me a lot of insight to gardening, like turning the dirt, which I didn’t know before. My favorite part of that particular garden was the shape. It was not something I saw right away, but then it was explained that it was in the shape of two hands clasped together and one was meant to be darker than the other. I think that’s a really clever and beautiful design, It has a powerful message that reads as people coming together to create something beautiful, like a garden, and gives the sense of community which is appropriate for the community garden. The project Juanli worked on about the Manhattan shaped garden with all the different types of plants was also fascinating. That’s such an incredible concept and I would have loved to see it. All those plants coming together must have been really beautiful. the part about them dying and having to make changes in the garden was also really powerful because coexistence takes compromise, but when things are changed to benefit the groups of people, it can work and be really beautiful. My suggestion for the community garden would be to really get the community involved. Obviously we only visited that one time and I don’t know much about it, but maybe there could be some incentive to really get everyone involved. they could learn how to turn soil and tend to the garden, and it would also bring the community together and allow for social interaction.
