Day 71 - Visit a community garden.

I must say, out of all of the deeds I have completed thus far, this has got to be my favorite one. Mainly because, until today, I had no idea "community gardens" existed, let alone what a community garden was. Once I found out exactly what it was, I entirely fell in love with the concept. The image of communities getting together, gardening, laughing and sharing is a divine conception.

For those of you who are as clueless as I was, a community garden is basically a piece of land/property in your community that is owned by the city or privately, where you can grow your own food in small plots with the support of other gardeners and take home a share of what is produced. Some charge an annual fee to cover things like water, supplies, etc.  but the cost isn’t usually that ample.

The idea fascinated me and when I searched ‘Miami community gardens’ in Google I was shocked with the abundance of there being so many and I was yet to know they existed.  I would expect gardens like these to be located in places with diverse cultures such as New York City but definitely not Miami, I guess we are moving’ on up in diversity!

Today, I made a list of gardens nearest to me and left on my journey to see this magnificent concept in person.  The first couple of gardens I went to were closed and although I was disappointed I looked at them through the gates and was left in admiration. Not to mention, one of them was a in a gorgeous park that was a ‘hidden gem’, if it wasn’t for this deed I would had never known this park existed. As soon as I saw this park, I envisioned myself on a weekend afternoon, laying out in the park all day reading and definitely added it to my “favorite parks” list.

I couldn’t help but be discouraged on my way to the last park on my list because although I saw the gardens were beautiful, they were closed so I really couldn’t go in to get an up-close look. I really didn’t get why they were all closed, it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon with the sun shining, a hint of a breeze and bright blue clouds; the perfect day to spend outdoors gardening.  It took me a while to actually find the garden and I finally found it hidden in between apartment buildings on the beach and when I saw it I was left in amazement; it was small but lovely, the color burst from every plant, the gardeners working on their plots and kids running and playing – it was truly out of a movie.  I sat in the garden for about an hour admiring the plants, people, and reading my book, I knew I would be visiting again from how much I loved the serene atmosphere. I am extremely thankful for this Good Deed book and project, especially on days like today!

I insist you look up community gardens in your area, you will be shocked to see how many there are! You'll fall in love with the variety in age, culture, and the people's backgrounds in every garden you visit. Everyone has something unique and different to share, it's a lovely concept, one that I adore and I hope you'll love it too. Let me know your experiences and stories if you do visit a garden near you, I'd be delighted to hear them!!!♥

 
    

 

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn♥