community gardens

Earlier this year, Growing Hope announced the "Sprout Grants" program, which awards funds to organizations that promote self-reliance, self-determination, and food sovereignty through neighborhood gardening. This past September, seven Ypsilanti-area organizations received the inaugural grants, and among them was the Cross Street Village senior living facility. Cross Street community organizer Gwendolyn Copeland talks to Rylee Barnsdale about how they received the grant and their plans for the money.

Many area residents don't know that the tangle of shrubs, saplings, and wildflowers on the south side of Prospect Park in Ypsilanti once was the location of a showcase, crescent-shaped pond called Luna Lake. Decades later, it was home to a native plant garden. The garden suffered neglect, especially during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but area residents and neighborhood association leaders are hoping a public workday in October will provide needed rehabilitation. Rylee Barnsdale discussed the event and its goals with organizer, Rachel Blistein.

Project Grow in Washtenaw County is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, and we’ll look back on five decades of community gardening and advocacy for sustainable gardens in Ann Arbor and beyond. WEMU's David Fair is joined by Project Grow managing director Kirk Jones to discuss the lessons learned in the first 50 years and what the immediate and longer-term future holds.

Gardening is a popular activity in the spring and summertime, and many folks get together at this time for community gardening. Among the community…