Taqwa Community Farm

Last updated

Taqwa Community Farm is a half-acre park operated as a community garden in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City.

Contents

History

Raised in South Carolina to a family of sharecroppers, Abu Talib sought to transform a vacant site in one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods into a vibrant center of activity through his experience in farming. [1] Surrounded by private homes, this property was a victim of urban decay in the 1970s that left it as an abandoned city-owned lot. In 1992, a group of neighborhood residents, led by Talib, received permission from the city to garden the vacant lot at 164th Street and Ogden Avenue, and founded the Taqwa Community Farm. [2] [3] Its name Taqwa, Arabic for “the peace,” is derived from the Muslim term for a conscious recognition of God. [4] The garden was assigned to the Parks Department in 1998, ensuring that it will remain secure as a public green space. [5] Also in 1998, the work of the garden’s volunteers earned Taqwa the Deere Kids Seeds of Hope Award. [4]

Tended by volunteers from nearly 100 families, the garden grows potatoes, spinach, string beans, collards, carrots, squash, peas, cabbage and corn, among other vegetables. Today, Taqwa yields about 10,000 pounds of food annually. It has a colony of bees and a dozen chickens. [4] The garden sell products at local farmers markets and through their "Grow to Give" program donate any leftover produce. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture</span> Practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas

Urban agriculture,urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It encompasses a complex and diverse mix of food production activities, including fisheries and forestry, in cities in both developed and developing countries. The term also applies to urban area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture. These activities occur in peri-urban areas as well, although peri-urban agriculture may have different characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highbridge, Bronx</span> Neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City

Highbridge is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the central-west section of the Bronx, New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, Macombs Dam Bridge to the south, and the Harlem River to the west. Ogden Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Highbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerrilla gardening</span> Planting on land where not legally allowed

Guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening – raising food, plants, or flowers – on land that the gardeners, do not have the legal rights to cultivate, such as abandoned sites, areas that are not being cared for, or private property. It encompasses a diverse range of people and motivations, ranging from gardeners who spill over their legal boundaries to gardeners with a political purpose, who seek to provoke change by using guerrilla gardening as a form of protest or direct action. This practice has implications for land rights and land reform; aiming to promote re-consideration of land ownership in order to assign a new purpose or reclaim land that is perceived to be in neglect or misused. Some gardeners work at night, in relative secrecy, in an effort to make the area more useful or attractive, while others garden during the day for publicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening</span> Type of horticulture and food production

A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot and the yielding or the production of which belongs to the individual. In collective gardens the piece of land is not divided. A group of people cultivate it together and the harvest belongs to all participants. Around the world, community gardens exist in various forms, it can be located in the proximity of neighborhoods or on balconies and rooftops. Its size can vary greatly from one to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organopónicos</span> Cuban urban agriculture system

Organopónicos or organoponics is a system of urban agriculture using organic gardens. It originated in Cuba and is still mostly focused there. It often consists of low-level concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil, with lines of drip irrigation laid on the surface of the growing media. Organopónicos is a labour-intensive form of local agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban horticulture</span> Science of growing plants in urban environments

Urban horticulture is the science and study of the growing plants in an urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. Urban horticulture has seen an increase in attention with the global trend of urbanization and works to study the harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes and effects of plants in urban environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Side Community Garden</span> Community garden in Manhattan, New York

The West Side Community Garden is a privately owned park in Manhattan, New York City, United States. It is located between West 89th Street and West 90th Street in the middle of the block between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Angels' Church</span> Church in Manhattan, New York

All Angels' Church is located on 251 West 80th Street in the Upper West Side of New York City. It is a member of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Communion worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening in the United States</span> Overview of the type of horticulture in the North American country

Community gardens in the United States benefit both gardeners and society at large. Community gardens provide fresh produce to gardeners and their friends and neighbors. They provide a place of connection to nature and to other people. In a wider sense, community gardens provide green space, a habitat for insects and animals, sites for gardening education, and beautification of the local area. Community gardens provide access to land to those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as apartment-dwellers, the elderly, and the homeless. Many gardens resemble European allotment gardens, with plots or boxes where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers, including a number which began as victory gardens during World War II. Other gardens are worked as community farms with no individual plots at all, similar to urban farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez</span>

La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez (La Plaza Cultural) is an iconic community garden and public green space located in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. A community garden, park, playground, wildlife refuge, urban farm, community composting site, and performance venue, La Plaza Cultural is also utilized by local day-care centers, after-school programs and a growing number of parents with small children. The garden has been known to grow a number of various edible plants including fruits, vegetable, and herbs. The lot is approximately 0.64 acres and consists of at least 11 members.

New York Sun Works, founded in 2004 by Ted Caplow, is a non-profit organization that uses hydroponic farming technology to educate students and teachers about the science of sustainability. To further this goal, NY Sun Works created the Greenhouse Project, an initiative dedicated to improving K through 12 grade environmental science education through the lens of urban agriculture, empowering children to make educated choices about their impact on the environment. The Greenhouse Project was inspired by NY Sun Works’ first project, the renowned Science Barge; a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center previously housed on the Hudson River and now located in Yonkers under different ownership.

Hantz Woodlands, also known as Hantz Farms, is an urban tree farm on the lower east side of Detroit. The project has cleared more than 2,000 vacant city-owned lots, totaling more than 140 acres, and has demolished blighted homes and cleared empty lots to make way for a hardwood tree farm, bounded by E. Jefferson Avenue, Mack Avenue, St. Jean Street and Van Dyke Avenue. Hantz Woodlands is a project of Hantz Farms, LLC, a division of Hantz Group. It is the largest urban tree farm in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Greening of Detroit</span> U.S. nonprofit organization

The Greening of Detroit is an urban forestry program and non-profit partner in The Detroit Partnership; it was founded in 1989. In addition to planting trees in the Detroit area, the organization engages in urban forestry education, job training, and other community programs. In 2011, Greening planted 12,156 trees in Detroit, and as of November 2017 has planted over 100,000 trees in the city since the organization's inception. The organization is involved in urban farming, working to maintain and improve urban farms in Detroit. Greening is also working to improve air quality. Its annual operating budget is approximately $3.8 million. Lionel Bradford is the president of The Greening of Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture in West Oakland</span>

Urban agriculture in West Oakland involves the implementation of Urban agriculture in West Oakland, California.

Estella Diggs Park is a 0.9-acre (0.36 ha) public park in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. It was built on one of many vacant lots in Morrisania that resulted after some of the neighborhood's buildings were abandoned and demolished in the 1960s. The New York City Parks Department acquired this property in 1978 and it was briefly used as a community garden but later became vacant again. At the time, community organizer Megan Charlop led a protest effort against the movie Fort Apache, The Bronx arguing that it negatively depicted the neighborhood. As a compromise, the producers issued a $15,000 check to the fledgling Rock Greening Association, a community land trust Charlop had helped establish to acquire the empty lot where filming took place. The lot was then given to the city. In 1990, additional lots were acquired by Parks and the site was named Rocks and Roots Park.

Keep Growing Detroit is an organization dedicated to food sovereignty and community engagement in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. Founded in 2013, the program designs and implements initiatives that promote the practice of urban agriculture as a mode of food justice for underrepresented communities, particularly those who do not have access to healthy food options. The goals of Keep Growing Detroit are to educate and empower community members using urban agricultural practices. Programs such as the Garden Resource Program and Grown in Detroit served as catalysts, laying the foundation for Keep Growing Detroit.

Community gardens in New York City are urban green spaces created and cared for by city residents who are stewards of underutilized land. There are over 550 community gardens on city property, over 745 school gardens, over 100 gardens in land trusts, and over 700 gardens at public housing developments throughout New York City.

462 Halsey Community Farm is a community farm in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is located on Halsey Street between Lewis Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maple Street Community Garden</span>

Maple Street Community Garden is a community garden in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is located on Maple Street between Jean-Jacques Dessalines Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue.

The Green Guerillas are a community group of horticulturalists, gardeners, botanists, and planners who work to turn abandoned or empty spaces in New York City into gardens. Formed in the 1970s, the group threw "seed grenades" into derelict lots and developed community gardens, often without going through official channels. It became especially popular after the concerted redevelopment of a dangerous, trash-filled space at the corner of Houston Street and Bowery in Manhattan. The resulting press coverage and word of mouth led the group to broaden its activities from active gardening to education, training, and support for a number of community groups working on their own gardens. The Green Guerillas have been credited with beginning the community garden movement and popularizing the idea of guerilla gardening.

References

  1. Clevenger, Lorrie (2017-10-19). "A Farmer Like Me: Exploring Race and Farming in America". Civil Eats. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  2. Samuels, Tanyanika (2011-06-16). "Bronx urban farm grows out of abandoned lot through father and son 20-year effort". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  3. Reynolds, Kristin; Cohen, Nevin (2016). Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City. University of Georgia Press. ISBN   9780820349497.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Vocos, Andrea (2012-04-12). "Urban Farming in New York City". The New School Free Press. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  5. Wetzler, Cynthia Magriel (1999-07-18). "Where Beauty and Tranquillity Reign". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-08-12.

Coordinates: 40°49′58″N73°55′45″W / 40.832659°N 73.929094°W / 40.832659; -73.929094