Follow Me To ... The Farm Upstairs (#47)

H Street Farms - Cultivate The City, NE Washington, D.C.

Imagine walking into a hardware store, following the steps up to the roof, opening the door, and walking out to a "Green Dream" - a roof covered with eye-opening colors, plants and gardens of all kinds, and rich, robust LIFE!  This is H Street Farms of Cultivate the City atop the roof of W.S. Jenks & Sons in the middle of the Ward 7 food desert (see blog post #45).  Here, grows all sorts of fruits, vegetables, herbs, plants, and flowers that are then sold to the public and Community-Supported Agriculture members, many of whom are restaurateurs, who wish a special connection to producers.  H Street Farms and Cultivate the City also host numerous educational workshops and teaches families how to produce their own food.

Though I don't have a green thumb at all, I had an interest in urban gardening and wanted to learn about this "Green Dream."  I was greeted by a kind young man who smiled as I rambled off my gardening disclaimers and was handed an apron, a pair of gloves, and scissors.  My first job was to harvest kale.  Yes, I'm a kale harvester now!  (Add that to my resume!)  When the potted kale plants started to look like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, I knew it was time to bring the kale inside to be weighed, bagged, and prepared for sale.  Later, I watered vegetable plants, mixed piles of soil, and boxed herbs.  Maybe I'd develop a green thumb after all!?  As I worked, I enjoyed the conversations around me as usual.  Most were gardeners, foodies, or educators who had so much to share about urban gardening, the surrounding community, and the people who create and support it all.  Everyone was so interesting! ...

My shift wasn't particularly long or productive and yet it was very rewarding.  It opened my eyes to something I knew little about and yet now could want to know more.  As I walked back down through the hardware store, I watched as my green thumb returned to its natural color - I suppose all of the magic lay hidden atop the roof of W.S. Jenks & Sons. 

My Takeaways:  (1)  Sometimes, the less you know the better!  Though I think anyone who walked out on to this rooftop garden would have been impressed, it had such a big impact on me because I had never seen or interacted with anything quite like it.  Perhaps I even saw more of its beauty because it was all new to me.  (2)  This was really like a living art gallery atop the streets of NE D.C.  I wonder how many other hidden gems there are in the City and in my community.  The sky's the limit I guess, so I'll keep looking up!