Here’s a way to make your Sunday afternoon extremely green while exploring the city: Take a tour of community gardens in Ward 6 by bike.
The tour was planned by community garden leaders, in partnership with BicycleSPACE and Ward 6 officials, and will be the first of its kind for the area. Cyclists will visit the Southwest Community Gardens, Virginia Avenue Community Gardens, Rosedale-Kingman Park Community Garden, Walker-Jones Urban Farm and Marion Street Intergenerational Garden before stopping at BicycleSPACE and The Passenger.
“These are exciting spaces that neighbors have turned in gardens and urban farms – some are transforming park spaces, others are tucked away in back alleys, and some are full blown urban farms that partner with local schools,” Charles Allen, chief of staff for Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), said in an email.
Coy McKinney, the garden manager at the Southwest Community Gardens, said the tour was an idea of a garden member brought to fruition by fellow SCG leader Sam Marrero and Allen.
McKinney, who has been working with the SCG for about two years and plans to be an urban farmer, said first-time visitors to the gardens who live in the neighborhood “can see different projects to get involved.” The Southwest Community Gardens, for example, has 32 plots, with ten reserved for communal purposes, four for neighborhood public housing residents and two that are handicap accessible. For those who don’t live in Ward 6, there are other community gardens popping up around the city to work with.
McKinney said D.C. has “a lot of potential for urban gardens.”
“I think there’s space for it, there’s interest for it,” he said. “I guess the main thing is balancing urban gardening and all the development that’s planned for D.C., and reserving space for gardens and not turning everything into expensive lofts or these big buildings.”
McKinney, who interned with City Blossoms, a nonprofit that works to give kids access to gardens, said he’s been “inspired to see the local garden movement growing.” He said while he interned with City Blossoms they built six or seven gardens in two months.
“It’s definitely growing and it definitely has the potential to grow,” McKinney said. “It just needs to get the backing and support.”
Here’s the schedule for Sunday’s tour:
Noon: Meet at Southwest Community Gardens (I Street and Delaware Avenue SW)
12:30 p.m.: Arrive at Virginia Avenue Community Gardens (1098 9th Street SE)
1:15 p.m.: Arrive at Rosedale-Kingman Park Community Garden
1:45 p.m.: Arrive at Walker-Jones Urban Farm (1125 New Jersey Avenue NW)
2:15 p.m.: Arrive at Marion Street Intergenerational Garden
2:45-3 p.m.: End at BicycleSPACE and Passenger
