| Morning Glory Community Garden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 1221 Hoe Avenue, Bronx, New York City 10459 |
| Established | 2014 |
| Website | morningglorybx.com |
Morning Glory Community Garden is a 10,286 square foot urban farm and community garden in the Crotona Park East neighborhood of the South Bronx. [1] [2]
From 2009 to 2011, Morning Glory Community Garden was a community garden located at 149th Street and Southern Boulevard in the South Bronx. In 2014, Morning Glory Community Garden was officially allotted a space as part of the Gardens for Healthy Communities Program within the New York City Mayor's Obesity Task Force Initiative and relocated to its present location on Hoe Avenue. [3]
In 2016, to increase access to affordable, nutritious produce, Morning Glory Garden created a harvest box program, in which Bronx residents could enroll and purchase biweekly deliveries of organic produce from mid-April to November. [4] Since 2020, the harvest boxes have been free and available for pickup for any Bronx resident.
Morning Glory Garden is currently supported predominantly by volunteers who aim to increase food production and distribution in the South Bronx as well as create a safe place for people and families to grow and learn together in a garden. [5] [4]
Morning Glory Garden has built a variety of features and amenities. There are raised beds of different heights, a Casita, a Shade Structure, and an aerated static pile compost system. There is rainwater harvesting off the roofs of the Casita and Shade Structure as well as a full solar system that powers an irrigation system. Perennial fruits including pears, cherries, peaches, figs, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are also grown. [6]
Morning Glory Garden is a space where adults and children gather to learn, celebrate, and play. It has hosted various community events including clothing swaps, story hours, and workshops covering topics such as planting, natural dyeing, and herbal remedies. [4] [6]
A section of Morning Glory Garden is dedicated to growing produce for the Bronx Community. It shares this produce with the community in the form of Harvest Boxes. A harvest box typically includes a variety of greens, herbs, vegetables and fruits, based on what is seasonally available. [7]
Urban agriculture refers to various practices of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in urban areas. The term also applies to the area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture in an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs.
Produce generally refers to fresh fruits and vegetables intended to be eaten by humans, although other food products such as dairy products or nuts are sometimes included.
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. In wartime, governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale. They were used along with rationing stamps and cards to reduce pressure on the food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.
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.
Uran gardening is the practice of growing vegetables, fruit and plants in urban areas, such as schools, backyards or apartment balconies.
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.
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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.
Phat Beets Produce is an American food justice collective focusing on food justice in North Oakland, California, started by Max Cadji and Bret Brenner in 2007. Their programs include weekly farmer's markets, free produce stands, youth gardens, community supported agriculture programs, food and social justice workshops, and previously, a kitchen and cafe cooperative. Cadji helps residents have access to nutritious food by coordinating between farmers, institutions, and low-income communities to utilize empty land for urban gardening.
Foodscaping is a modern term for integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes. It is also referred to as edible landscaping and has been described as a crossbreed between landscaping and farming. As an ideology, foodscaping aims to show that edible plants are not only consumable but can also be appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Foodscaping spaces are seen as multi-functional landscapes that are visually attractive and also provide edible returns. Foodscaping is a method of providing fresh food affordably and sustainably.
There are over 50 farmer's markets in New York City in all boroughs, which operate under GrowNYC under the "Greenmarket" name. GrowNYC's food hub, "Greenmarket", includes Greenmarket Co., Youthmarket, Fresh Food Box, and the Wholesale Greenmarket under its programming. Greenmarket farmers market aims to encourage regional agriculture by allowing small family farms to sell their locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers, dairy and other products, so that people in New York of all incomes and in all parts, have access to the fresh, nutritious, provincial, affordable and sustainable goods.
Taqwa Community Farm is a half-acre park operated as a community garden in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City.
Karen Washington is a political activist and community organizer fighting for food justice.
Community gardens in New York City are urban green spaces created and cared for by city residents who steward the often 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. The community garden movement in NYC began in the Lower East Side during the disrepair of the 1960s on vacant, unused land. These first gardens were tended without governmental permission or assistance.
Small Axe Peppers is a New York City-based hot sauce manufacturing company that buys peppers grown in community gardens that participate in the program. The company was founded in 2014 by John A. Crotty, Chef King Phojanakong, and Daniel Fitzgerald.
GrowNYC is an environmental organization founded in 1970 and based in New York City, originally named the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC). GrowNYC is dedicated to the improvement New York City's quality of life through environmental programs, including Farmers' markets, community recycling, gardening, and environmental education.
The land comprising New York City holds approximately 5.2 million trees and 168 different tree species, as of 2020. The New York City government, alongside an assortment of environmental organizations, actively work to plant and maintain the trees. As of 2020, New York City held 44,509 acres of urban tree canopy with 24% of its land covered in trees.
Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It is the growing of fresh produce within the city for individual, communal, or commercial purposes in cities in both developed and developing countries.