Photos From 2nd Work Day 4.24.10---Volunteers From St. James UMC

Team of ladies putting together Rain Barrels to collect water with.

Mrs. Voncile and Selam working hard.

Final Thoughts from Lester Spencer, Pastor of St. James UMC.

St. James Young Adults.

Spreading manure in the garden.

St. James Volunteers at work.

Building Raised Beds

Joe and Jason building a composting structure out of recycled pallets.

Father/Son team from St. James.

Dr. Kanu Patel tilling.

Spreading manure for compost.

Blocks donated by Common Ground Ministries to build our Art Wall.

Mrs. Voncile cooking lunch.

Manure from a local farm.

Eco MAX Expo at Hampstead

Our Booth.


The Whole Setup.

http://myecomax.com/

Continued Coverage by Montgomery Advertiser

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20104280346

We made the news...Thanks Melissa McKinney

http://www.wsfa.com/global/Category.asp?C=151146&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=93080&topVideoCatNoB=97608&topVideoCatNoC=153813&topVideoCatNoD=92106&topVideoCatNoE=95084&clipId=4730775&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&topVideoCatNo=93080&autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

Hosp Family Visit

Jordan Hosp used some scrap stakes on site to make a funky airplane contraption.

Great work. Recycling........

Alabama Clean Water Partnership--Rain Barrel Project

Ashley Henderson has kindly donated all the materials to collect rainwater. These 55 gallon barrels are salvaged from Coca Cola, and previously had syrup in them. We will retrofit to collect rainwater. Please see this link to learn more.

http://www.cleanwaterpartnership.org/current-projects/?portfolioID=10

Double-Dug Beds

http://blog.springmeadoworganics.com/

Creating a Composting Structure out of Recycled Pallets

Thanks to Joe Birdwell for finding this great idea online. We are definately using this!!

http://lifehacker.com/5322491/build-a-15-shipping-pallet-compost-bin

Photographic story to date..........

This map shows the context of our project.

Here is the plan for this new community space.

This is where it all started. 2 vacant city lots. It is my understanding that there were previously 2 homes here and now the weeds grow up as tall as a person every summer. There is a foot path through these lots where property users cut the corner.

Thanks to Mr. James Tellis, a community member, who bush-hogged and tilled this garden for us.

Our site after tilling.

My friend Mr. David Jordan. We put our heads together to come up with a good use for his recycled concrete product that was rescued from his landfill.

Mr. Jordan dumping 22 yards of recycled concrete.

Just a little bit of demo. Thanks to the City of Montogmery for the skid steer and driver for this Saturday.

Creating our paths with recycled concrete.

Lunch under the shade tree with Ms. Times who is one of the founding members of the neighborhood. Today was her 88th birthday and she is very excited about this project.

Cyle Conoly a local Electrical Engineer and Byron Berry a local contractor hard at work.

Mid construction.

Muscadine/Blackberry trellis system as an alternative to a conventional peremiter fence. Both are native Alabama fruits.

Collaboration of two local construction company owners. Byron Berry with Phoenix Homes, and Oscar Boykin with Arm and Hammer Home Repair building our rain water collection structure.

Half way through with our structure to collect rain water. Architectural design by Johnny Veres, and Structural Engineering by Hunter Hodges.

Lilly Yeh--Barefoot Artists

http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.257.swf?&vid=2370643&vrsl=c.4.309&cdngw=86004;234462;533582;593716;1196564;1517932;1600110;1887058;1912160;1936474;2013461;2939037;2939081;3719622

2008 MacArthur Fellow: Will Allen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EpTWQWx1MQ&feature=player_embedded

First Day of Construction--4.10.10

Construction of this urban farm for West Montgomery began on Saturday April 10th 2010. At 7 a.m. I got to the site and converted my paper site plan onto the ground with a can of spray paint. It was as if I had a huge pencil and could draw anything I wanted to, and then simply erase it by running foot over the painted line smearing the paint pack into the native soil. At this point the 2 single family home city lots, totaling about 1 acre of land, were tilled and free of any weeds. This tilling took place earlier in the week, and was done by a local man named James Tellis who brought his tractor with bush-hog, and tiller. After I finished painting out all the paths and areas where posts were to be dug, I hung tight awaiting the arrival of Mr. David Jordan, who was bringing to us 22 cubic yards of recycled concrete that was salvaged from his landfill. David was excited to help us out, as this is his first opportunity to use the concrete in this fashion. David dumped the load and headed on out. Next, our friend Jessie showed up from the City of Montgomery with his skid steer ready to dig some holes and trenches for us. Jessie is a really good skid steer driver by the way. At 9 o'clock all of our generous volunteers started showing up. All kinds of people from all over Montgomery, most of whom I had recently met and maybe only talked to on the phone. This was a great mix of people bringing all kinds of valuable ideas to the table. We began work. Of the tasks were digging holes for posts that held up our muscadine and blackberry trellis system, construction of a 25' x 10' shed to collect rainwater, and moving of recycled concrete gravel across the site to create our pathways. We got the majority of these tasks accomplished, and everyone worked well together and learned from each other. We did not quite finish the shed construction, so myself, Byron Berry (Phoenix Homes), and Oscar Boykin came back on Sunday and got a little closer to having it finished. As part of our team, we were blessed to have Oscar Boykin. Oscar is a young adult who grew up in the neighborhood and now owns Arm and Hammer Home Repair, and was able to interpret to us the feedback from the surrounding community who will be using this garden. All throughout the day people were stopping in to say hello or driving by looking at us but most never really had a lot to say. Oscar assured us that they liked what they saw and are eager to get involved with plantings and maintaining the garden. He also said that we must provide a big barrel of hot sauce to go with all the collards from the garden. Ha Ha. Also with us on this day was Ms. Times who was celebrating her 88th birthday. She is one of the founding members of this neighborhood. A sweet lady, who offered nothing but encouragement as I enjoyed a hotdog with her over lunch. Our lunch was provided by Mrs. Voncile Gregory who I refer to as "team mom." She is a great source of strength for me, as well as this whole project. During the day Saturday I had several discussions with my new friend Joe about using recycled pallets to make our composting bend. Today he scavenged around and found about 20, called me up, and I went and rescued them from the dumpster. I am pretty fired up about building a composting structure out of these. Also I have had several conversations with my brother Philip who will be donating his gas grill that is no longer functional for gas grilling. We will cut the legs of this guy and strategically mount to our shed on site so that the neighborhood will have a functioning charcoal grill to use at any events in this garden space. I am currently having conversations with my friend Taylor about how to construct our raised beds as this is our next big project. He has done this before while previously living in South Carolina.

The next big day at this community space is going to be April 24th. 20 + volunteers will be coming to help on this day from St. James UMC and other various civic groups. Of the tasks will be, construction of a wall (4’ tall x 35’ long) that Enid Probst with E & M Mosaics will use to do a huge tile mosaic with the kids, construction of raised beds, installation of a gutter system and roof for our structure, construction of 10+ rain barrels for rain water collection, construction of composting structure, planting of fruiting shrubs and vines, and planting of all veggies the neighborhood participants would like to grow. We look forward to seeing you there!! If you need directions there is a map under the garden link of http://www.art4edu.info/. We are on the corner of Emerson street and Broughton Street off Rosa Parks.

Article copied from Montgomery Advertiser written by Jill Nolin and published April 7 2010

There is a natural footpath that creates a diagonal line across the vacant lot at the corner of Broughton and Emerson streets. When the city starts creating a community garden in the west Montgomery neighborhood, that shortcut will be an integral part of the design for what is intended to be a meeting spot for the residents and a catalyst for change in a neighborhood that is welcoming it. "Nothing around the path gets used, so we're using the path and enhancing either side of the path," intern landscape architect Andrew Cole-Tyson said, adding that the intention is to entice the people who currently walk across the property to help with the garden once it gets started this month. What they hope will change is the litter that is being dropped on the property and that the bustling, engaging community spot will foster a sense of pride among the residents of the Nixon Times neighborhood and promote healthy lifestyles. "It's not so much about gardening but that is the tool we're using to enhance the community," said Cole-Tyson, who works with 2WR and is volunteering his time to help with the project. Tyson describes the project as one that uses "urban agriculture and art projects as tools for strengthening the community." The garden would include murals, a stage area for musical performances and presentations, and possible individual plots for teams of residents. Voncile Gregory, on the other hand, simply sees the project as a second chance for her neighborhood, which she grew up in, to be the vibrant community it once was. "I'm just like a little kid waiting on Christmas right about now. I'm ready to get started," said Gregory, who can see the property from her front porch. Gregory is the neighborhood association president of Nixon Times. Gregory and Cole-Tyson say they consider each other a godsend. Gregory wanted a community garden in her neighborhood; Cole-Tyson wanted to bring the enriching benefits of a community garden to a neighborhood in need of it. The project, dubbed the Full of Life Urban Farm, was born when the two met at a neighborhood meeting. City officials have incorporated the project into the large-scale West Montgomery Initiative that was launched last summer and that is putting an intense focus on the West Fairview Avenue area, which is a main gateway to the city. The community garden is a pilot project that, if successful, could become a self-sustaining garden through the proceeds made from the sale of the produce. It could also be duplicated elsewhere in the city.
"A community garden could be a source of healthy food that could really help those who habitually eat poorly," Deputy Mayor Jeff Downes said. "Not only does it take an eyesore and turn it into something nice and aesthetically pleasing, but it also can be a rallying point for that community." The city also is eyeing a troubled piece of property in downtown as a possible spot for an urban farm. Currently, there are condemned, deserted apartment buildings on the site, and the city could demolish some or all of the apartments and replace it with an urban farm similar to Jones Valley Urban Farm (http://www.jvuf.org/) in Birmingham. Jones Valley, which is run by a community-based nonprofit, sits on three acres of vacant downtown property. Downes said the city also is studying Philadelphia's efforts to create and sustain urban gardens in place of vacant lots and dilapidated housing in the city. But the precursor for such a large undertaking will be the small two-block west Montgomery community garden project that is being done on a meager budget of $1,200. The cost is being kept low through the donated materials that are being reused in the garden. Some of those materials include railroad ties from CSX, oyster shells from Wintzell's Oyster House, recycled concrete from David Jordan and Co., and 55-gallon barrels from Coca-Cola and the Alabama Clean Water Partnership. Common Ground Ministries is donating concrete blocks for the wall on which the mural will be painted. Petals from the Past in Jemison is contributing plants. Oscar Boykin, who grew up in the neighborhood and who now owns a construction company, has volunteered to lead the construction side of the project. The 55-gallon barrels, which once contained soda syrup, will be used to collect rain to water the plants, but $3,000 is also being raised to purchase an above-ground cistern for the whole garden.But there is one component the project leaders still need: neighborhood buy-in."All these efforts would not amount to anything if the neighborhood doesn't participate," Cole-Tyson said."We know (the youth) have time on their hands. We just have to figure out what it would take to get them out there," Cole-Tyson added. Cole-Tyson said he believes residents will become curious once the work begins in the coming weeks and will want to be a part of the project and the movement to uplift the neighborhood.