Project team 

Head: Lift As We Climb Urban Agriculture Education

Partners: Cleveland Public Library Hough Branch, Blaine Ave. Community Garden, Medina Street Garden.

Project description and goals

The project proposes a neighborhood garden as a working lab for community members interested in learning about urban agriculture. By partnering with the local library, the lab will have both applied and educational components, in which members will have access to books as well as a real-world setting from which urban gardening lessons are learned. The goal, in its essence, is to bring the workshop model into the neighborhoods, and to give them a permanent base to learn about such pertinent issues as lead, nutrients, growing season, soil enrichment, etc.

Existing conditions

The 6,200 sq. ft. site covers two parcels (Parcel # 107-16-068 and 107-16-069) in the Hough-Wade Park area. Bordering the lots are a residence, and a lot currently being planned for a future market garden site. There are two mature Mulberry trees on-site which can be used as teaching models for fruit-bearing plants. The soil on the site has been tested for lead, with a medium level of contamination.

Proposed interventions

The site intervention involves a curriculum with several stages including:

• Gardening preparation (lead abatement
• Community expression (raised bed murals)
• Community engagement and advocacy (neighborhood history, healthy minds and bodies), and
• Environmental education

The garden site will be used as a working lab and educational/community space for each of the curriculum stages. As for actual plantings, once the ‘lasagna’ mulch and raised beds are implemented, seeds and plantings will be tapped from the resources of existing community garden groups. Rain barrels and a drip irrigation system will also be installed, serving as both a sustainable source of water as well as an applied teaching model for conservation.

Site maintenance

Site maintenance involves creating a barrier between contaminated and growing soils with a fabric barrier. Mowing will be unnecessary, yet weeding will be done on an intermediate basis. Long term maintenance involves manicuring the garden as well as harvesting, and water is to be provided through a rain barrel system on-site.