Gardening Along the Richmond Greenway---A Vision

Gardening Along the Richmond Greenway
Our Vision
It is early on a sunny Saturday morning in August of 2010, a perfect time for a stroll along the Richmond Greenway. You enter the Greenway at 23rd Street, where you, you greet three neighbors who have just finished tending their community garden plots. They invite you into sit with them in shade of the grape arbor which serves as the Community Garden Living Room. They need the help of an objective judge to settle their long-standing rivalry over who grows the tastiest tomatoes. You are happy to sample their prize entries, but wise enough to declare the contest too close to call. Explaining that you’ll need more samples in the future before you can issue a final ruling, you move on.
A short distance away, you notice an intent teenager and his five year-old sister in a large, neat, fenced-in garden plot. The young man hustles to harvest green beans, tree collards, zucchinis, and bundles of cilantro. He pauses only to give instructions to his sister who is filling ten paper bags with the produce. A sign explains that this is a Community Support Agriculture micro-farm managed by the young man with the help of a local non-profit. Neighboring residents can purchase subsidized produce bag subscriptions with Food Stamps, ensuring them a steady supply of affordable, fresh organic produce. Between the subscription charge and the subsidy, the young man earns $10 for each bag of produce he delivers, about $200 a month (minus the pocket money he gives his young sister). The work is hard and the hourly rate comes out to be pretty close to minimum wage, but he knows his contribution to the community is important and the experience running his own business is invaluable. You wave to them as they notice you, and you move on, not wanting to keep them from their work.
At 21st Street,, you pass a series of trees heavy with fruit…apples, pears, lemons, figs, and a dozen more varieties that you don’t recognize. You have arrived at the Linear Orchard. Signs at each tree and a central interpretive kiosk explain each variety, cultivation techniques, ripening times, and serving suggestions. The kiosk also has flyers announcing dates of various workshops offered here throughout the year: winter and summer pruning, drip irrigation, and fruit tree grafting. You are in the mood for an apple, but the early ripening Gravenstein tree has been picked clean and the Braeburns aren’t quite ripe yet. You make a mental note to return for the Braeburns in two weeks and move on.

A hummingbird passes directly in front of you, pauses in midair and then flits off, leading your eye towards the California Native Plant Garden. You watch it feast frantically, bouncing between the scarlet flowers of a California fuschia. A sign explains the importance of native plant gardening for both water conservation and preserving local biodiversity.

As you pass the Peace Garden, near the intersection with 18th Street, your mood grows somber. A variety of trees, flower beds, murals, and 3-dimensional garden art memorialize individual victims of violence. You pause, whisper a prayer, and walk on in silent reflection.

Joyful shrieks lift your spirits as you reach your final destination…Berryland. Here, dozens of children of all ages, race between thirty varieties of berry bushes. Some of the children can’t contain their delight when they find a hidden pocket of ripe raspberries and call out to their friends. Others keep their discoveries to themselves and munch away quietly savoring the taste of late summer. A young neighbor you know runs up and blurts out the berry report: “Yellow raspberries are perfect right now, but the red currants won’t be prime for another couple weeks yet!” She scampers off to feast some more. After three years, the neighborhood kids have learned to mark the seasons by the delicious treats ripening along the Greenway. You sample a few berries, but decide to leave most of them for the kids. Not only does Berryland help the children get their 5-a-day servings of fruits and vegetables, but it also helps develop the habit at a young age of eating a wide variety of produce early---an important factor in preventing many common chronic health problems.

Inspired, refreshed, and connected, you head home passing through an archway decorated with tiles made from brightly colored artwork created by Lincoln Elementary school students. As you walk, your mind wanders, reflecting on all of the benefits the Greenway has brought to the community. You resolve to make your Saturday greenway stroll a regular event.