If you live in the greater Columbia Heights area, you may have heard from other blogs and sources about a new community garden that is being built at Bruce Monroe Park. Work to construct raised beds started this past weekend. I feel guilty blogging about this development because I signed up to work but skipped out for a last-minute out-of-town invite. The good news for slackers like me is they seem to be not even remotely done with the project. Huge dirt mounds and stacks of lumber remain.
I've seen some of the community gardens around town, more or less stumbling upon them by accident, and must say that I understand why it took more than a weekend at Bruce Monroe. The boxes being assembled are gargantuan! The seven boxes finished so far are from 57 to 24 feet long and 6 feet wide.
Residents looking to volunteer or sign up for a plot in the garden can find out more information on the Bruce Monroe site on Wiggio or by emailing Steve Seuser at steve [dot] seuser [at] gmail.com.
The community garden movement remains fairly weak in DC. The Neighborhood Farm Initiative counted 36 such gardens for its 2010 garden census. The Bruce Monroe garden would be only the third in Ward One and the only one in Columbia Heights proper that they list -- although there is a community garden behind 11th St. opposite Wonderland Ballroom that's not on their report. Overall, the city gained only one new community garden came on line between 2009 and 2010. The Field to Fork Initiative has a great map of these 36 gardens here.
Ecolocity DC, a broader-focused community organization that has helped promote the Bruce Monroe project, has created a more comprehensive map of the region's foodshed. It's mapping of city community gardens is less complete, though.
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