Growing Hope

It's been much too long since I last posted, which is never a good idea for a blog just getting off the ground. I've actually been away at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and although I had a great time and learned a tremendous amount about how my church governs itself and makes decisions, I also spent 10 days in a hermetically sealed, over-air conditioned environment that not only cut me off from being outdoors but helped bring on a nasty summer cold.

Despite the sniffles and sneezes, I spent yesterday afternoon with Bill and Billie Hickey of the Detroit Bioneers. The Hickeys are champions of the urban sustainability movement, having moved to the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit about two years ago with the intention of taking part in community  building and food justice through urban farming. Brightmoor is a blight-ridden neighborhood with high unemployment and many abandoned buildings, but there is also a spirit of hope here through the urban gardening initiatives that have taken hold. After a delightful lunch, much of which came from the community garden that the Hickey's have planted, we toured the neighborhood and had a good look at the backyard gardens, community plots, and pocket parks that now dot the area.  Despite my raging cold I was thrilled to see all that's been accomplished here and how growing food and tending animals have given this community not only a sense of pride, but access to healthy food and some economic independence as well. To read more about the Brightmoor urban farming project, clicky here.

In the meantime, my own garden is really pushing out the green beans and zucchini. The tomato vines are heavy with green fruit, the spaghetti squash are coming along nicely, and the first stalks of corn are starting to appear. Unfortunately, the resident groundhog has been enjoying the watermelon and cucumber vines and I'm not sure how well the plants will recover. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it because animals will do what they do, but it is a bit frustrating to see all my hard work get eaten up by critters.