Emerald Garden MorningSide is Thriving

Aerial shot of Emerald Garden MorningSide. Image courtesy of Jim West

It has been a while since I last wrote about Emerald Garden MorningSide. I came out of semi-retirement when our newly elected Councilwoman, Latisha Johnson, asked me to be her Chief of Staff. I thought being an urban farmer was challenging work, but it’s a cakewalk compared to my new job.

Fortunately, I have a secret weapon, my wife Sharon, who has assumed the role of Executive Director of Emerald Isles CDC. She has excellent administrative skills, but you should not expect to see her with a shovel or a wheelbarrow. Under her leadership, we plan to raise funds to add some needed and exciting new features to the garden.

This October, we plan to add a 20’ x 50’ hoop house next to the cherry tree orchard, and we hope to add fencing next spring. The hoop house will enable us to extend the growing season for the market vegetable garden we plan to plant next year. The fence and a couple of pit bull dogs will help to discourage people from raiding the cherry trees when they begin to bear fruit.

Some of you have visited, passed by, or helped to establish the large oval flower garden, which is the centerpiece of Emerald Gardens MorningSide. The oval is the perennial propagator, made possible by a grant from Detroit Future City and hard work by a few volunteers. This garden has over 200 native plants that attract birds, bees, and people. Among the plants are black-eyed Susans, purple cone flowers, butterfly weeds, bee balm, asters, cup flowers, swamp milk weed, and common milk weed, to name a few. Starting next fall, we intend to divide and share the plants with our volunteers, so come out and lend a hand.

You may have noticed the 12 trees that were planted by the City of Detroit General Services Department, which is led by our EEV neighbor Brad Dick. He must plant 10,000 trees to keep his job, so give him a call at 313-871-5461. Trees help to beautify the community, reduce global warming, and keep Brad employed.

Last year we had a small group of community gardeners who planted a bumper crop of kale, tomatoes, collards, watermelons, and other vegetables and herbs. Unfortunately, we were unable to plant a community garden this year, but we will set aside some beds in the future for the community. We also plan to celebrate more as we did in the past. Emerald Garden MorningSide is alive and well. We are looking forward to helping to build a more healthy and beautiful community.