BROOKLYN, N.Y. — “We call this a farm, not a garden, because the purpose is really to grow as much food as we can,” Garrison Harward affirms looking around at all the thriving plants behind him.
What You Need To Know
- Garrison Harward restarted the garden as a way to grow nutritious food for his block and to get to know his community
- Everything planted at the Urban Street Farm is designed to be a vegetable someone in the community will appreciate
- Harward loves showing the community what is possible and just how much you can grow in such a small space
It’s already Harward’s fourth harvest of the year at Union Street Farm.
Since 2016, this space has served two purposes: it brings nutrient-dense, organic food to the neighborhood and—more importantly—has become a gathering space for the block.
“Green spaces like this, it’s a place for people to come together and build community even more than the crops we are growing,” Harward explained.
When Harward moved to this Crown Heights block, he didn’t know anyone. He saw a way to use his love of planting and gardening as a way to meet his neighbors. After being introduced to the old community garden’s now vacant plots, he got to work.
“Who doesn’t like a garden?” Harward said with a shrug. He was excited to make things grow.
After a relocation, over $4,000 and more than 10 new plant beds later — plus some old fashioned hard work — Harward brought new life to the area and made many friends along the way.
Harward plants with others in mind — growing more than 100 kinds of vegetables and herbs; from Caribbean hot peppers, to Mexican chiles, to two types of bitter melon and everything in between. He’s always willing to take suggestions on what to plant and how to help the garden grow.
“Availability of green space isn’t just about the product you’re going to produce from it, it’s about the knowledge you can gain from having that green space in your life and in your neighborhoods,” Harward said.
Every Sunday, Harward sets up a table outside the garden and gives this produce away for free to anyone who passes by.
“It’s just beautiful to be out here on the street and actually know your neighbors and ask about their lives and their kids," Harward commented. “Teaching people how they can grow their own food, I think it’s a real source of freedom and pride, to be able to grow your own food and share that with your family and your community.”
So, for planting the seeds that grow his community, Garrison Harward is our New Yorker of the Week.