Hyde Park & Mattapan
Gardening for Empathy
Join us in stewarding the land; exchanging seeds and seedlings to create yards and streets full of plants and native pollinator-gardens.
Register Here: Fill-Out Form
Our greenhouse (8x16) features herbs, and veggies from our ancestral-lands; Haiti, Palestine, and El Salvador — as well as, other plants grown by community-residents.
What is Gardening for Empathy?
Prioritizing empathy for the land and other living-beings through gardening and stewardship — gardening sustainably in the soil to revitalize our connection back to Nature; acknowledging the micro-organisms & insects tending the soils beneath our feet and the natural-ecosystem around us; allowing space & empathy for the bees, birds, and other critters on Earth while gardening.
A collaborative-initiative with Bay Staters For Creative Well-Being, starting this Spring, to involve the community residents of Hyde Park and Mattapan, a largely working-class and immigrant-community (Haitian, Dominican, and Jamaican), about food-sovereignty (revitalizing our ability to grow our own foods,) and stewarding the land (understanding the value of environmental-conservation, and sustainability).
Our intentions are to empower residents to plant and grow sustainably in the soil, whether it is for fresh-vegetables, greens, herbs, or pollinator/habitat gardens. Through door-to-door, seminars, workshops and installations of free-plant-libraries on residential yards, we'll provide resources, free seeds, seedlings, tools, garden-beds, and space in our greenhouse for residents with limited-space. We’ll engage community-residents about how our freedom to grow from the soil; to raise new-earth, can be quite sustainable - e.g., creating seed-starter-kits from repurposed materials such as: egg-cartons, produce-packagings, etc. We'll learn about soil remediation, plant identification, land stewardship, native plants, native wildlife, and the importance of acknowledging the land
Native seeds and educational material created by us, given to attendees and community residents — we’ve given and shared over 50 seeds packets since the program started in April 26th (as of May).
What are Plant Libraries?
Using the same approach as little-free-library (learn more here,) we’ll ask community residents attending our info-sessions, if they would be interested in being part of a little-plant-library network. In their front-yard, by the sidewalk, will be plant-libraries placed in pots, or dug into the ground (we’ll notify dig-safe first).
Inside the plant-libraries, us — and community participates will share and exchange seeds, seedling, plants, gardening tools, and even books or information about the natural world.
When are Workshops?
Info-sessions begins late-April and early-May, at Weider Park in Hyde Park (131 Dale Street,) and Ross Park in Mattapan (99 Rosa Street).
Other activities such as: transplanting plants, creating raised garden beds, etc, will be held in the greenhouse, parks, or, forest reservations.
Starting sprouts and seedlings with repurposed materials inside the greenhouse, a mixture of flowers (Aster, Goldenrod, Evening Primrose, Bee Balm, etc,) tomatoes, and greens (Lalo,) and peppers (Scotch-Bonnet).
Involving Community-Residents:
Community participates within the first info-sessions will recieve seeds, seedlings, or growing-materials. As we approach mid-May, raised gardens beds will be given away, plant libraries will be installed, and space in our greenhouse will be offered to community participates with limited space.
Our Intentions:
We hope this initiative grow bigger than us, we hope this initative starts conversations, advocacy, plantings, communalism, and stewardship of the land — in turn, while nurturing land, we nurture ourselves.
