Community Gardens of the DMV: Glebe Community Garden

By Johnny Moseman

Since 1974, at the corner of S. Glebe and S. Lang St. in Arlington, VA, there has been a community garden standing where houses, stores, and a church used to stand before they were torn down by constant flooding in from Four Mile Run.

After all of the flooding, the county realized this was not a safe place for buildings, so they tore down the houses, converted some of the land into park space, reserved some for future water treatment facilities, and the rest was given to county residents for a community garden.

The members of the neighborhood immediately called for a meeting, elected officials, drew up bylaws, and split the land up into 25 garden plots.

By 1980, the flooding had stopped due to the Army Corps of Engineers widening Four Mile Run. By 2000, there were 30 plots in the garden and the county purchased land adjacent to the garden for more space.

With this growth of land and subsequent reduction in size of other individual plots, the number of plots rose to 60.

In 2008, the garden purchased two large sheds, two large picnic tables, and a charcoal grill on a concrete foundation. The garden has everything they need at the moment, but they are always looking for funding and people to help keep their garden clean.

“We have all the resources we need from gathering them over the years,” Assistant Chief Gardener Joy Bickelhaupt said.

Last year, the garden expanded even more when they purchased a neighboring property. This expansion added about 30 new plots, but with all the property around the garden being claimed now, it looks as if they have expanded enough.

Right now, residents of the neighborhood occupy 103 plots in the garden and they can grow whatever vegetable or plant they want, as long as they follow all the bylaws provided by the officers of the garden.

The only restriction of this garden is no fruit trees, but members are growing every kind of vegetable you can imagine along with blueberries, strawberries, and grape vines.

Bickelhaupt has been a member since 2015 and what she loves most about the garden is its therapeutic value.

“It is very relaxing to sit under the sun,” Bickelhaupt said. “It’s a community. We all share ideas, seeds and produce. We talk and have group beautifying sessions and potlucks. Everyone is so friendly and we all support each other.”

For more details about the garden, see: https://glebegardenclub.wordpress.com/.

About the Author: Johnny Moseman is a senior multi-platform journalism major at the University of Maryland from Columbia, MD. He is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener this spring semester.

Photo Source: Glebe Community Garden

The Community Gardens of the DMV blog series is profiling community gardens across the DC-MD-VA region. If you have a community garden you would like profiled, please leave a comment below and let us know how to reach you.

Community Gardens of the DMV: UMD Community Learning Garden

By Johnny Moseman

At the University of Maryland campus in College Park, MD, the School of Public Health set up a public community garden to encourage people to see green spaces in new ways and use them to their fullest capacities.

This garden, located outside of Eppley Recreation Center and the School of Public Health, was started in 2010 as a graduate student project, but has since become a joint venture between undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff.

The goal of this garden is to put into the importance of environmental stewardship, agricultural sustainability, physical activity, balanced diets, and environmental exposures into practice as well as serving as a living classroom where faculty, staff, and students can engage in experiential education on issues directly related to agriculture, community health, public health, and environmental health, according to it Facebook page.

“We wanted to create a place where students and faculty could learn about sustainable gardening and the importance of healthy eating as well as letting members take home what they help grow,” Community Garden Director Rudy Dessiatoun said.

Since 2015, plots in the garden have been available for rent and in these plots you can grow your own food or flowers with the support of Public Health Garden members.

Along with community plots, the Institute of Applied Agriculture has five raised beds that grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and flowers throughout the year that they use to teach visitors about growing.

They also have a pollinator meadow located next to the garden started in 2014, which is an area that ensures that butterflies and bees can continue helping their plants grow.

A project they are working on right now is replacing the ornamental crabapples in front of Eppley Recreation Center with a variety of fruit and nut trees.

In the community garden, members grow all kinds of vegetables as well as flowers and herbs. They also have several apple trees and fig trees.

They have a rainwater filtering system that allows them to collect any rainwater and store it and use in their garden during periods of little rain.

To get involved with this garden, all you have to do is contact the team and you can assist planting, pruning, weeding, planning, watering, or harvesting. Members can also take home anything they help harvest that day. Any food that is not taken by volunteers is donated to the campus food pantry.

“We are always interested in getting more people involved,” Dessiatoun said. “We have lots of volunteer groups that come and help us but we are always looking to increase our outreach.”

About the Author: Johnny Moseman is a senior multi-platform journalism major at the University of Maryland from Columbia, MD. He is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener this spring semester.

Photo Source: UMD Community Learning Garden Instagram account.

The Community Gardens of the DMV blog series is profiling community gardens across the DC-MD-VA region. If you have a community garden you would like profiled, please leave a comment below and let us know how to reach you.