Spring is finally here after a major blizzard that happened from the 21st of February till the 23d, and many freezing days that followed after it! The bulbs and buds of April are already starting to grow. Grass is getting greener and filling with clumps of daffodils, the smell of lilacs is filling the air and neighborhoods are getting back their charming, fresh, and colorful gardens.
Just the other day it was sunny and temperatures peaked at 75º, making the day hot enough to wear shorts. With everything defrosting at the start of the season, there are also many community gardens starting to come out of hibernation to bloom rainbows of flowers.
Here in Greenpoint, the 61 Franklin Street Community Garden, just opened back up for public hours on April 4th. The garden, once an empty lot but was transformed into a beautiful garden in 2013. Thirteen years later, it has become a greatly cherished space for locals and others who enjoy the fresh space. “The garden has become a real community space where people can gather, learn, and spend time outdoors together,” says Andy, one of the garden’s eight board members, and someone who has been involved since 2019. It’s nice to know that with the start of warmer weather and the blooming of nature, there’s a place like this to go to. The every year awakening of the garden requires preparation. As Andy says “preparing for the Spring opening means getting the beds ready, organizing the space, and thinking ahead to the growing season.” All these preparations mean the garden will once again offer people a colorful calm space, and play its key role in composting and even in environmental education. The garden’s four main purposes, as explained on the site, are to “build sustainably with rainwater harvesting and composting, beautify the block, host workshops on gardening, soil health, and green living, and to grow fresh produce for the community.” Andy also says that the garden has a “strong focus on environmental education, which feels especially meaningful in Greenpoint because of the neighborhood’s long history of pollution and environmental damage.” The garden does not fix pollution but in a small public place like this, that makes a huge difference in the neighborhood, its impact is reminding people that a natural space like this can exist in the heart of a metropole. Because of it, Greenpoint is a neighborhood where you can open a gate on Franklin and breathe in the floral smells, or even taste fresh vegetables.
The garden grows all kinds of edible plants, herbs, and native plants, offering its rich nutrients to everyone. “We grow a real mix of things, which is part of what makes the garden so special” Andy says. The list of vegetables grown at the garden is impressive: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, kale, spinach, bok choy, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and this year especially; onions and chives. For herbs, they grow; basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, oregano, and tarragon. Not only does the space offer edible plants but decorational and medicinal ones as well. They plant sunflowers and marigolds, and according to Andy, they hope to mix in some medicinal flowers this year.
It takes work to do all this planting however. As Andy says, “Preparing for the Spring opening means getting the beds ready, organizing the space, and thinking ahead to the growing season.” The people who help grow the garden do and have for years worked hard to keep it a green space for anyone to enjoy. On their website they say “We’re gardening in Zone 6, which means our plants need to survive freezing winters, hot and humid summers — and yes, the occasional neighborhood cat. It’s tough love out here, and only the hardiest plants thrive.”
Taking care of the garden also means sharing a space where everyone’s voice is heard. A responsibility that comes with caring for the garden Andy says is “bringing together a wide range of opinions, ideas, and priorities in a coordinated way that respects everyone. It takes a lot of communication, care, and collaboration to make sure people feel heard while also keeping the garden running smoothly.”
As someone who has lived my whole life in Greenpoint, and used to walk down Franklin almost every day, I have spent much of my life in this garden and i have always thought of it as a caring, comforting, green space where i can enjoy the sunshine on the wooden table, or admire the tools in the shed. Everyone who works there has made it a welcoming and peaceful place. When I was little I used to take part in all kinds of activities or workshops the garden offered.
I asked Andy what kind of activities they still offer, and he replied that the garden runs a variety of events including “meditation, planting, environmental education events, musical performances, and potluck dinners.” He also says they have always been known for their annual Halloween celebration. If you live in Greenpoint you cant have not heard of or visited the amazing halloween celebrations. In fact my dad used to organize some of them that left kids running or eager to get candy from the scarecrow. For most of my life I enjoyed numerous activities the garden offered like these and it definitely made greenpoint more of a home for me, and a place where I could dig for worms or find as many strawberries as I could. It’s worth visiting the garden whether for an upcoming earth day celebration or just to check out what’s growing in the garden beds, because once you have walked in you almost become attached, and immediately feel a welcoming sense of community that many people hope to find. “One of the things that feels most special about the garden,” Andy says, “is the range of ways people connect to it. Some come for gardening, some for composting, some for workshops or performances, and some just to enjoy being in a peaceful green space. It has really become a place where people can gather, learn, and build community together.”