Making Emerald Garden Greener (Video)

The evolution of a street corner: Haverhill & Cornwall from 2008 - 2022

If you build it, they will come. On those hot summer days, this was my mantra while tilling the soil at Emerald Garden MorningSide at Haverhill and Cornwall, digging up hundreds of rocks and other strange debris. Sometimes I felt and looked like Noah, Don Quixote, or the Old man and the Sea.

A lonely soul on a quest that only made sense to him. At other times I felt like Auguste Rodin, sculpting a masterpiece from a solid granite rock. I sometimes wondered what people thought of the site of an old gray-haired man toiling all along in the hot sun. Then slowly, they came.

First came my family and friends, probably out of obligation and concern for my physical and mental health...

Then came Cheryl English, Advanced Master Gardener, who advised me on which plants to select...

Then came more volunteers to help plant over 200 native plants in the garden...

Then came The Greening of Detroit and Impact Detroit with a few more trees...

Then came more volunteers to clean up the adjacent lots...

Then the City of Detroit "showed up and showed out" by planting 12 trees and replacing numerous sidewalk slabs that had been damaged for years...

Then came Keep Growing Detroit to assist in applying for a USDA grant to defray the cost of Hoop House, and to lead the effort to install it...

Then came you. A generous donor who understands and appreciates community, beauty, and the power of one.

Thank you all for your kindness and support.

Please consider donating to our efforts to build a greenhouse at Emerald Garden.