Happy to see the gardening sub pop up, and want to facilitate some discussion. So ask me anything you're curious about. I might not know the answer outright, but can help troubleshoot stuff too.
Happy to see the gardening sub pop up, and want to facilitate some discussion. So ask me anything you're curious about. I might not know the answer outright, but can help troubleshoot stuff too.
I just looked into it, but hadn't heard about it until now. Not really sure it's accomplishing what they think it is. I think people tend to fetishize the food production aspect of landscapes without realizing the other potentials for land usage. A park is a park. It should be used for recreation and most (not all) parks are designed and installed to alter the landscape in a way that makes it good for that purpose, and not designed to grow food. Looks like they tried a lasagna style bed too, which was poorly executed, but also a method I'm not really a fan of to begin with (disturbs site hydrology.) You could realistically grow food in a park. It's not the most efficient, not that it has to be necessarily, but I think the project looks like it could have used a more scientific approach. Overall, I don't hate it as a concept to administer land usage in a more desirable way for a community, but I think the fell prey to the productivist mindset that every acre must be a farm. It's just a matter of lack of knowledge and skills though, not necessarily a refutation of the underlying concept they're going for.
Thanks for your comment. Regarding your point about productivity: One one hand I agree completely, they're essentially colonizing the park in the name of decolonization - but on the other hand I really think it allows people partaking in the project to materially reaffirm their own agency as a historical actor, as someone who can effect lasting material change in their environment. But maybe they should rather be torching a cop car to get that? Not sure.
I understand what they wanted to do I guess. Food security is a major problem. But the resources they have at hand really aren't conducive to achieving anything meaningful in that regard. Parks have utility though. They could have done things to make it a more meaningful communal space too. But whatever. The CHAZ had my support. A poorly implemented garden wouldn't change that.