Oh How it Grows...

Recently I volunteered to write a quick summary of the garden I grow in for a movement called "Placemaking". With only 250 words, it was so hard to convey how happy I was to find this place. It really did add a piece of pie to my pan - as it were. Slowly I am stacking blocks of things I have always wanted in my life.

Often I wonder if it is because I have so much emptiness after leaving my brothers and others back in Minneapolis. But really, I think it is trying to bring some of the normalcy I had there to a new and bigger city. A city that doesn't open itself up easily to new citizens. Like most cities/towns/metros - it takes time to find the secret places that feel like they complete you.

This garden, however much I can't even find time to visit like I want, answers the call I had to have a space that was more than just a wooden back porch. Come visit me and I'll take you there. Call me and I'll get your hands dirty.

You can read my entry below:

Thomas Street Community Garden in Humboldt Park

With tens of thousands of people sharing space in one of the largest cities in the world – it seems impossible that anything so public could also feel personal. And yet a plot of land surrounded by rehabbed apartments offers rare commodities here in the City of Big Shoulders: tranquility & a sense of contribution.

At 2655 Thomas, there lies something more than just an urban respite. Transplants and native Chicagoans who yearn to see something grow, but have no space, can find their cravings fulfilled while fostering a place for all to enjoy. Through the years it has avoided development and instead the protected land has transformed from a scene of broken glass and garbage to a real honest to goodness getaway around the corner.

Carefully planted flowers and loved plants creep and grow under the shade of several trees lining this entire city plot. Walking in (the gate is always open) you pass through a rock and mortar circle that doubles as seating for those with weary feet. Herbs and vegetables grow in hand built raised beds on the sunny south end, cared for by those all too eager to show off various species of edibles scattered about in the soil should you catch them on a workday (usually mid morning on a weekend).

In this Humboldt Park place there really does bloom a sense of creation and care that is certifiably one of a kind in a city where one is a very lonely number.

TRANSIT:
The garden lies less than 2 blocks away from two major CTA bus lines: The 52 (running north/south on California, walk 1.25 blocks east down Thomas), and the 70 (running east/west on Division, walk south down Washtenaw 2 blocks and turn left). Residential Street Parking only. Strollers and bikes are welcome and their owners are asked to respect the surroundings when visiting.

For my readers who can't hop into a car, onto a bus, or onto their two-wheeled steeds, I also offer up the flickr group managed by our fearless garden leader: Rob K (last two photos below are taken by him).

(Photo Credit: Works Magazine)

(Workday in the garden. From left to right: Me, Fred, Robb, & ?)



Wishing you some place very special...

Love love love,

K.