I have a little bit of a green thumb. Don't worry, it's not a medical condition. I just like to garden. I lived in apartment for several years and now own a house with no yard to garden in, so I've turned to community gardens as a way to garden and raise my own food without having a yard.
I first tried out a community garden in College Park near the Home Depot on Cherry Hill Road. It didn't work out well for me - I had to drive there from Silver Spring and they didn't have a water source so I had to carry in jugs of water (not fun). This year, I'm in my second season of gardening in a community garden near Fort Totten. It's kind of a long drive from Wheaton, but I can hop off the metro at Fort Totten on my way home from work and walk to the garden, so that's nice.
What would be even nicer is a community garden in Wheaton. I emailed two people with the county parks and recreation department that are working on new community gardens (David Vismara and Ursula Sabia Sukinik) to ask if any plans are in the works. According to David, there is a lack of unused open space in the neighborhood, especially land owned by the county. He did also say that suggestions for locations are welcome. In the meantime, if you want to be added to the waiting list of a community garden elsewhere in the county, email Ursula, who is the coordination for the community garden program. Her email address is Ursula dot SabinaSukinik at mncppc-mc.org. If you have any ideas for possible community garden locations, let me know!
Some cherry tomatoes starting to grow on one of my plants.
There's a community garden on Briggs Chaney Road in Silver Spring (Burtonsville).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.montgomeryparks.org/permits/find/community_gardens_program.shtm
Somewhere within Brookside Nature Center (not the Gardens or Conservency) would be ideal esp with all the classes they have, etc.
ReplyDeleteOr how about some rooftops along our beautiful strip-malls ala what's being done in Brooklyn:
rooftopfarms.org
brooklyngrangefarm.com
For me, the Briggs Chaney garden isn't very convenient because I work downtown, but for someone who lives in Wheaton and works up route 29, that would be a good option. I really like the idea for teaming with Brookside Nature Center for a community garden. Once I get back after the holiday weekend, I'll send some emails to the county and nature center to see what they think. I've also thought before that there has to be somewhere in Wheaton Regional Park where this would work.
ReplyDeletePlaces to farm?
ReplyDeleteWell....on the North Side, you have
Wheaton Regional
The County parcel formerly know as the Rafferty Center (now postponed to 2020)
The county and WMATA parcels between BBT and Han Ah Reum
The former Glenmont Forest ES site (GA and Randolph)
Claridge Neighborhood Park (Claridge Rd and Seaport Way)
Southside
Evans Parkway Park and the land across from the old MCAD site
The old MCAD site
Behind the old Office Depot site at the Mall
I'm telling you.... rooftops !
ReplyDeleteBetter winter insulation, summer cooling, tons of sun, not very vermin friendly, and locations are everywhere
I like the idea of rooftop gardens as well. Maybe the new Safeway project will consider that as an amenity for its renters. I'll work on pulling some of these ideas together into an email to the community garden person with Montgomery County. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe 2 plus acres of public space at the new Leesborough Homes development on Georgia Ave bordered by Arcola and and Amherst).- needs a new good public use now that the county recreation department has decided not to renovate the Rafferty Center It was to be Wheaton's new recreation center so is a loss for Wheaton- modernized indoor rec space sorely needed for all that new residential development and was needed before anyway! But if it were given to the Parks dept OR the Parks dept could lease. it would be a great tie in to food intensive downtown wheaton- good stewardship and use of the space adn great for the local kids to see food being grown right under their noses!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to make tasty lemonade out of the Lemon that the county abandonment has made- the HOA has to maintain a public space open to the rest of the community unless anohter public entity steps up- this woud be a good one!