Chelsea Community Garden
  • Autumn 2018 update
  • Chelsea ArtWalk 2018
  • Chelsea Art Walk WELCOME 2017
  • Chelsea Art Walk 2016
  • Chelsea ArtWalk 2011-15
    • Our Quilt Raffle 2015
    • 2011-14 Chelsea Art Walk "Scarecrows in the Garden"
    • 2014 "Drawing in the Garden" Sunday, June 15
    • 2013 Chelsea Art Walk
    • 2012 Chelsea Art Walk "Scarecrows in the Garden" >
      • 2012 Art Walk Slideshow
      • "Scarecrows in the Garden" 2012
      • VIDEO "Scarecrows in the Garden" 2012
    • 2011 Chelsea Art Walk "Scarecrows in the Garden" >
      • 2011 Art Walk Slideshow
  • About the Garden
    • 2016 Garden Rules and Guidelines >
      • 2016 Garden Rules
      • 2016 Normas (español)
  • JAS/YouthBuild Shade Shelter 2016
  • ASPARAGUS! Healthy Cooking
    • Recipe: Green MONSTAH Quesadilla
  • RHUBARB! Healthy Cooking
    • Recipe: RHUBARB Chicken Entree
    • RhubarbStrawberry OatCrunch
  • Carrot Cake Recipe
  • PHOTOBOOKS 2009-2015
  • Test Your Soil
    • When can you plant vegetables?
    • Soil Sampling September 2012
  • Multilingual Flash Cards
  • Knotweed Eradication Project
  • GARDEN HISTORY IN PHOTOS
    • WELCOME 2013
    • 2012 in the Garden >
      • 2012 Calendars and Announcements >
        • 2012 Spring Calendar
        • 2012 SUMMER Calendar
        • 2012 FALL Calendar
        • 2012 Garden Duties
        • Trabajo Comunal
      • Photo Journal 2012
    • 2011 in the Garden >
      • COMMUNITY PROJECTS 2011 >
        • PHOTOS Temple Emmanuel/Shabaro 7/3/11
        • CHELSEA SENIOR CENTER >
          • PHOTOS Senior Center Rooftop Garden
          • Healthy Cooking on CCTV 4/12/11
          • 2011 Healthy Workshops at Chelsea Senior Center
      • PHOTOS Kaboom Garden/Playground 7/15/11
      • GARDEN PROJECTS 2011 >
        • PHOTOS BankofAmerica Volunteers 6/18/11
      • Our Quilt Raffle 2011
      • 2011 PHOTOS BY Month >
        • PHOTOS Barn Raising 11/9/11
        • PHOTOS Open House 10/1/11
        • PHOTOS Work Day 5/7/11
        • PHOTOS Chelsea Earth Day 4/28/11
        • PHOTOS Executive Meeting 4/26/11
        • PHOTOS Impromptu WorkDay 4/18
        • Beautiful Beds 4/4/11
        • PHOTOS WorkDay 4/3/11
        • PHOTOS Soil Delivery 4/2/11
        • PHOTOS 4/2/11 - page 3
        • PHOTOS 4/2/11 - page 2
        • PHOTOS 4/1/11 SNOW!
        • PHOTOS Members mtg 3/29/11
        • PHOTOS 3/19/11 Workday
      • 2011 ANNOUNCEMENT CALENDARS and MEETINGS >
        • 2011 Summer Calendar
        • 2011 Spring/Summer Calendar
        • 2011 Spring Calendar March-June
    • 2010 in the Garden >
      • PHOTOS 2010 >
        • PHOTOS YouthBuild JAS 12/10 page 2
        • PHOTOS YouthBuild JAS 12/10
        • ROCA 11/12/10 page 2
        • PHOTOS ROCA 11/12/10
        • PHOTOS CCTV 10/10
        • PHOTOS ROCA 10/28/10
        • PHOTOS Landscaping 9/22/10
        • Melissa Shook Photography Exhibit at the City Cafe
        • PHOTOS CND/CCG Cookout 9/18
        • PHOTOS Tree Cutting 9/11/10
        • PHOTOS Harvest Picnic 8/28/10
        • PHOTOS AUGUST 2010
        • PHOTOS JULY 2010
        • PHOTOS JUNE 2010
        • PHOTOS May 2010
        • PHOTOS APRIL 2010
        • PHOTOS MARCH 2010
      • 2010 ANNOUNCEMENTS CALENDARS AND MEETINGS >
        • Brainstorming Session notes
        • January 2010 News & Mtg. Agenda
        • January Meeting Notes
        • February Mtg Agenda & Notes
        • Important Dates in March
        • March Mtg Agenda and Notes
        • March News
        • Special Announcements for April!
        • May Gardening Calendar
        • 2010 Rules and Regulations
        • Autumn Important dates 2010

Autumn reflections...

10/9/2018

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Greetings from the Chelsea Community Garden! As the growing season turns to last harvests and shorter days, there are still bees buzzing and flowers blooming in the garden. Capturing these moments in nature is more challenging in the city, but is worth the extra effort to literally “stop and smell the roses”!

It has been my honor and privilege to be coordinator of the Chelsea Community Garden for the past year, and for me, the autumn winds are already bringing thoughts and plans for the 2019 growing season! But I also want to take some time to reflect on the accomplishments, challenges, and lessons from 2018.

I came to the garden not so long ago, with my husband and two kids, after being on the waitlist for about 5 years. Our first season was transformational as a family. I grew up in my Italian grandfather’s half-acre city garden, and dreamed of providing a childhood of growing for my own kids. We have no outdoor space at home, so we planted in pots on our roof, all over the house, around trees and patches of green throughout our neighborhood. Joining the garden gave us our own patch of land to grow whatever we wanted, and even gave us the gifts of gorgeous lilies and alliums planted by the previous gardener. We ate like kings that first summer, feasting on juicy heirloom tomatoes, spicy peppers, all kinds of herbs, and bright orange carrots that tasted just like my grandpa’s.

We learned how to prune raspberries, apply organic pest control, about different soils and seeds, experimented with watering and weeding, and so much more.

But a community garden is different from a farm or a backyard garden or a rooftop garden. The greatest treasures I discovered as a member of the Chelsea Community Garden extend beyond the growing, to the group of growers who share this sacred space, and further still into the wider Chelsea community in which we exist. My most powerful lesson is this:

Gardening breeds generosity and requires diversity.

Gardeners are always seeking homes for extra seedlings in spring, and especially in good growing years, sharing bountiful harvests with friends, families, and neighbors. Our garden membership includes growers from over 11 different countries, spanning 5 continents. Our youngest gardeners are around 2 years old and others represent multiple generations, including several octogenarians! We live in different neighborhoods, come from different lifestyles, work in different industries, and garden for different reasons. Collectively, we value growing. Just as a bountiful harvest thrives from the biodiversity of plants, weather, insects, care, and attention it receives year round, our garden community thrives as we each bring something unique to feed our common purpose, and what we value.

I wish there was a community garden in every neighborhood that wants one. It’s exciting to see and hear about more growing space opening up in Chelsea! I look forward to seeing, and helping more gardens grow in our city as much as I look forward to planting my own garden bed next season!

This blog post turned out to be more personal reflection than I had intended, but check back for more diverse perspectives soon!
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    Author

    I have lived in Chelsea for 16 years with many cats, a Boston Terrier, two kids, a husband, lots of plants, and a turtle. I’m a garden

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