New Stories From 'Urban Agriculture Notes'
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George Floyd and the healing power of community garden

Growing flowers, herbs, and vegetables have replaced the sites in Minneapolis formerly associated with violence in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in May.
Steve Alston

We believe it is because the seed of fellowship can be planted right alongside the seeds of flowers, fruits, and vegetables.

By Jackee And Steve Alston
Arizona Daily Sun
Nov 8, 2020

Excerpt:

Beds were marked off with bricks, and good soil was piled on top of the asphalt. Here locals had planted tomatoes, peppers, beans, herbs, and other vegetables. Four, brightly-painted raised beds were arranged in the place of honor by Floyd’s memorial. Marigolds and daisies were tucked inside the beds above brush-stroked words about freedom and change carefully decorated on the frame. All these faced the ultimate banner expressing the sentiment of the neighborhood, “Respect One Another.”

What is it about community gardens that bring people together?

We believe it is because the seed of fellowship can be planted right alongside the seeds of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Digging in the dirt together and nurturing something so fundamental as a plant helps foster a broader connection bigger than politics, age, race, or gender. Everyone needs food and everyone needs the earth. To put it in Wendell Berry’s words, “the earth is all we have in common.”

Read the complete article here.