Urban gardens
Syracuse has a long history of urban gardens – called “Victory Gardens” during times of war – that sadly went out of style, for the most part, with the advent of supermarkets that brought in the “3,000-mile salad” and other fruits and vegetables that are grown in California and other countries (wink!). With so much food coming home in cans and plastic packages, it’s been hard for folks growing up since the 1960’s to know where food actually comes from.
But there are still so many reasons to have urban gardens. Kids love it: they discover that vegetables that they’ve grown and picked while still fresh actually taste good. They get to see the connection between labor, weather, proper soil conditions, and the abundance that results when all this comes together. The exercise any gardener gets is for a practical purpose: to end up with delicious food. So it’s highly motivating. It’s also a lot better for the groundwater than lawns sprayed with cancer-causing chemicals and a lot better for our diminishing bee population.
There are still a good number of folks in the city who have been growing food here for decades. We should tap into all that knowledge, free for the asking if we’d just make the effort to get to know a few neighbors. One way is to get involved with any of the local gardening groups, outlined in this article at syracuse.com.
For a lovely description of the incredible variety of food that used to be grown in Eastwood, go to this page. And for my own take on urban gardening, this one.
- Lonnie Chu
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