Community Gardens

Today, our class visited two p-patches. The first observation I made during this field trip was how many of the plants were not focused on cultivation fruits and vegetables. When Professor Anagnost first mentioned at the beginning of the quarter that she was taking on a p-patch, I imagined this as a PEA-patch, where all that was grown was peas. I later figured out that there was a wide variety of species here on these community patches, but was shocked to realize upon exploring them that most of what was growing was actually flowers. Although the flowers were quite breathtaking, especially the field of irises (I'd never before seen a black flower), I would have thought vegetables would have been a larger priority because generated a more "meaningful" product.

During Teresa Mares' lecture on community gardens, I began to understand how vital they can be to neighborhoods. I was intrigued to hear that earlier in the century, 44% of all fresh fruit and vegetables were grown in these community garden settings- not the industrial monoculture agriculture centers we now have. In the discussion on the South Central Community Farm in Los Angeles, I felt anger that the collective space had been bulldozed over to pave the way for another Walmart Distribution center. I could only imagine the uproar this would have caused. The similar scene that popped into my mind was that at Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 where a man was attempting to stop some advancing tanks. Having invested blisters, sore backs, and countless hours of weeding/hoeing/watering, the "farmers" of the South Central farm surely depended on the area and felt a right to it.

I am hopeful that gardens such as those we visited today will become widespread throughout the United States. I wish I would have heard of the opportunity earlier in my college career. Now that I'm a junior, I don't have enough time left in Seattle to get on a 16 month waiting list and take advantage of it. Where ever I do end up, I look forward to taking part in a community garden, understanding where my food originates from, and discerning the difference between a pea plant and that of a cucumber. I was pleased to see Lori had brought her son along so that she could "plant a seed" in his mind about these things.

Also, I just found out today that my boyfriend's mother is going to help me grow broccoli (my favorite veggie) this summer!!! I am excited....