Conscious Choice: Vacant Lot on West Side Goes from Gray to Green

August 2004

Vacant Lot on West Side Goes from Gray to Green

by Moira Bartel

Summer day camps usually include activities such as arts and crafts, sailing and softball. But what about worm composting, beekeeping and organic gardening?

From the Ground Up, the youth stewardship program of Faith in Place and a cooperative of four churches in Humboldt Park, offers a summer camp that engages West Side Youths in a variety of gardening activities such as urban agriculture and environmental sustainability. Some of these children, ages 5 through 15, are far more skilled as gardeners than most adults.

From the Ground Up transformed an empty lot at the corner of Whipple St. and Dickens Ave. into a blooming community garden. Back in March, the vacant lot was neglected, full of broken china and loose marbles. So Liz Sunderland, program coordinator for From the Ground Up, helped the children clean the lot and prepare it for the growing season.

With $3,000 in seed money from the Chicago Botanic Garden, Sunderland ordered organic seeds that were started indoors under grow lights. In April, the Chicago Botanic Garden provided some workers for a week to help build beds, trellises and arbors, plant trees and spread mulch. Finally in May, the children planted tomatoes, hot peppers, lettuce, cilantro, beets, carrots, watermelons, tomatillos, spinach, sunflowers and marigolds. During the summer months the kids work in partnership with the Whipple Concerned Alliance of Neighbors (WeCan) to maintain the garden through weekly weeding and care.

Many of the kids in the program live in crowded homes in underserved communities. Some of their parents are recent immigrants who speak little English. The garden provides a place of respite and an opportunity to slow down.

“I’d like to live in a peaceful place like this,” said Carlina Salgado, 12. “You look around at plants and there’s not too much noise here.”

The garden helps children develop new skills and confidence. Sunderland said that Angela Salgado, 15, has acquired a particular interest in worm composting and has been recruited to teach the skill through a local community ministry.

She pointed out that Angela’s grades have seen a marked improvement in her second semester. Now Angela is considering a career in farming or the environment.

“I like helping the environment look better. Because if you look at pictures of this place, it was not in good condition,” Angela said. “I realize now that if most people get together and clean stuff it’s possible to have healthy environments.”

Most of the youths in the program attended different schools andchurches. Children from Nuestra Señora des las Americas, Episcopal Church of the Advent, St. Lukes and Wicker Park Lutheran participated in the program.

Few of the youths knew each other before they met in the garden.

“I thought Angela never liked me and I never liked her. Then Liz put us in a group together and we started to get along,” said Sylvia Bonilla, 14. “And ever since we’ve been friends. We’ve never stopped being friends.”

Dawn Pinkstaff, 11, is one of the hardest workers in the garden and never seems to stop moving. Dawn said she simply likes to “work” because “someone’s gotta do it.”

Dawn has used every tool available, including the pickaxe and chainsaw, except the jackhammer. Yes, a jackhammer. The jackhammer was necessary in the initial transformation of the plot from an urban eyesore to a neighborhood garden accented by painted stones and trellises.

As Dawn, the garden’s “official tour guide,” walked between the rows of spinach and sunflowers she described how the project hasn’t changed her mind about her career ambitions, but gardening will always be a part of her life.

“I want to be a cop, especially in my neighborhood,” she said. “It’s the bad neighborhood. Gangsters and stuff. Even though I’ll be a cop, I’ll garden.”

Moira Bartel is a member of the Conscious Choice staff.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: