by Peter Lober

A group of eighteen of us from the Arlington Street Church in Boston went to New Orleans in March. One of our projects was to build a garden in the Seventh Ward. Ed Buckner, a life long resident in the Seventh Ward who helped found a neighborhood organization there called The Porch, and others from the Porch, had this vision of a garden there. Ed told us how important it is to demonstrate that the Seventh Ward is on its way back. What better inspiration than to have a garden? And from our point of view-this is something we could help do in a couple of days. Though not totally devastated by Katrina (like the nearby Lower Ninth Ward), the Seventh Ward suffered severe damage. Many people drowned, many houses were completely destroyed, and those that weren’t have had to be gutted and restored, or are waiting to be gutted. Maybe less than half the pre-Katrina population has returned to the Seventh Ward, but those that have returned are committed to rebuilding the neighborhood. So we were truly inspired by the idea of building the garden as an act of faith and renewal.

So we arrived with shovels, hoes, scissors, lining material, wheelbarrows, and tons of fertilizer. And soon after we arrived, another eighteen young people joined us. Kem Moorehead, also from our church, brought eighteen of her high school students from Waltham, MA. They were on their spring break.

Ed and others from the Porch had secured a space between two houses of less than a quarter of an acre for the garden. They had already put down a lot of gravel to stem the growth of weeds, and had built the shells of five or six raised gardens. There were also at least a hundred different sized bricks strewn about.

Seizing the moment, our minister, Kim Crawford-Harvie and a few hardy others of us offloaded tons of fertilizer from a pick-up truck and delivered it to the raised beds. Following the instruction of Susie Nacco, a landscape architect and chief organizer of our projects, some others in our group began to measure, cut and line the lining material, place pebbles between the liner and the fertilizer, and push the fertilizer up against the liners. Repeat, repeat, and repeat-and voila! After the second day we had the raised gardens ready for planting! Ed’s idea is to plant herbs, and sell them to local restaurants-thus raising money for the neighborhood.

But the most incredible feat was the patio Kem’s high school students built! They somehow managed to fit perfectly all the bricks into a five-sided patio in the middle of the garden. After all - they are math students - obviously well coached by Kem! The patio centers the garden and creates a quiet space.

We also did some “cosmetic” work - planting some banana trees and flowers in the garden grounds, and planting some flowers in the near-by elementary school.

Post Katrina New Orleans will never be the same. What happened is a real tragedy. Less than half the people who had lived there before Katrina have returned. But the Seventh Ward is slowly coming back-and helping to build the garden there is a contribution we were thrilled to make.

The site we worked on will be used exclusively to grow herbs to sell at farmers’ markets and directly to restaurants. The money raised will be used to support additional garden projects. Right now the Porch is beginning to hire some youth from the neighborhood to get involved, but sustaining this effort will require more funding.

The garden is ‘home base’ where tools and other equipment are stored. Other sites are being planned including a couple of lots to grow some fruits (bananas and papayas - both grow very quickly in New Orleans), and another site in the neighborhood to grow some vegetables. But until there is some success with the first site, the others will remain in the planning phase.

Contributions for the garden project in the Seventh Ward can be sent to:

Checks can made out to:
Neighborhood Housing Services New Orleans, with the Porch written on the line on the memo line at bottom left of the check.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 6:30 am and is filed under Change. Both comments and pings are currently closed.