PEOPLE FOR PALMER PARK
  • Home
  • About
    • About the Park >
      • Meet the Palmers
      • Log Cabin
      • Lighthouse
      • Habitat Restoration Project
    • About People for Palmer Park >
      • Board / Committees
      • Our Master Plan
      • Share Memories
      • PFPP in the Media
      • Organization Info
    • Log Cabin Q&A
  • Latest News!
  • Visit
    • Urban Educational Garden
    • Butterfly Garden
    • Farmers Market
    • Detroit Mounted Police
  • Events
    • Light Up the Cabin Fundraiser
    • Log Cabin Day
    • WinterFest
    • Harvest Festival
    • Palmer Park Art Fair
  • Recreation
    • Yoga
    • T'ai Chi
    • Walking Club
    • Tennis Academy
    • Basketball Coaching & Mentorship
    • Bike Rides
    • Handball Courts
    • Splash Park
  • Get Involved
    • DONATE
    • Become a Member
    • Volunteer
    • Sponsors
    • Community Calendar
    • Community Partners
    • Community House / Wish List
  • Contact Us

GARDEN BLOG: A Family Grows In Detroit

5/19/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

The garden is open!
By Amy Kuras

This past weekend, I and all my fellow Palmer Park gardeners kicked off the season in style. On a day that started out pouring rain and ended up sunny, warm and beautiful, we planted our beds, helped a contingent of volunteers from Home Depot spread wood chips, and probably ran our site farmer, Molly Leebove, ragged with all our questions.

The gardeners are as diverse as the people who use Palmer Park for any number of things; families,
singles, and groups like Yoganic Flow and GirlTrek. Some of us are experienced gardeners, some are
brand new, and we’re planting everything from arugula to zucchini.

For my family and I, this garden represents something we’ve long hoped for in a place we already love.
When my husband Paul and I moved into our house in Greenacres 17 years ago, I immediately planted a
vegetable garden and learned how amazing food can taste when it was picked mere minutes before
hitting your plate. I kept it up for a few years, but lost my mojo when my daughter Maggie (who now
goes by Max) came along in 2004 and when my son Will arrived in 2008. By the time I was thinking I
might want to start up again, the big maple tree in our backyard had grown enough to keep the whole
yard in shade for almost all of the day. I managed to eke out a few tomatoes and get an herb garden
going, but generally any really productive growing was not happening.

When I was a kid, I remember my dad belonging to a community garden, where you could rent a bed for
the summer. I work for the Detroit Food Policy Council, which has close ties with the urban agriculture
community, but my inquiries about such a thing here in Detroit came up empty. I’d resigned myself to
getting my fresh seasonal veggies at the farmers market. Then, late last year I heard about the Rent A
Bed program. To say I was excited is an understatement. We already love Palmer Park and spend a lot of
time at the splash park and on the trails when the weather is nice. I attended the annual meeting to find
out more and signed up on the spot!
​
We joined Keep Growing Detroit’s Garden Resource Program, took their basic gardening class, and Molly
kindly let us start planting all our cold crops early. At our kick-off meeting in mid-May, I dragged my kids
over to see the bed. “WE HAVE BABIES!!!” I cheered, seeing the band of lettuce seeds germinating into
little microrgreens and the peas Will had planted slowly unfurling themselves toward the sun. This was,
to my teen and tween, about the most embarrassing thing a person has ever done, but I didn’t care. We
were even able to harvest some lettuce from the plants we’d taken home from KGD and had our first
official salad from the garden (okay, with a LOT of store bought lettuce as well) at Sunday dinner.

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Bikes
    City Of Detroit
    Environmental
    Events
    Family
    Fitness
    Fundraising
    Garden
    History
    Kids
    Little Free Library
    MAPP
    Membership
    Palmer Park Art Fair
    Palmer Park News
    PFPP News
    Recreation
    Safety
    Seniors
    Storytime
    T'ai Chi
    Tennis
    Volunteer Opportunity
    Walking
    Yoga

HOME

ABOUT

About the Park
Meet the Palmers
Log Cabin
Lighthouse
Habitat Restoration Project

About People for Palmer Park
Board / Committees
Our Master Plan
Share Memories
PFPP in the Media
Organization Info

Log Cabin Q&A

LATEST NEWS!

VISIT
Urban Educational Garden
​
Butterfly Garden
Detroit Mounted Police


EVENTS
Light Up the Cabin Fundraiser
​Log Cabin Day
WinterFest
Harvest Festival
Palmer Park Art Fair

RECREATION
Yoga
T'ai Chi
Walking Club
Junior Tennis Academy
Basketball Coaching & Mentoring
Bike Rides
​Handball Courts

Splash Park


GET INVOLVED
Donate
Become a Member
Volunteer
Sponsors
​
Community Calendar
​Community Partners
Community House / Wish List

CONTACT US

 People for Palmer Park is an Adopt-a-Park Community Partner with the City of Detroit

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Website by People for Palmer Park.


Website design by fabulii.com