A Day In An Urban Oasis
The COVID-19 Pandemic forced many Americans to dip into their savings and retirement funds to fulfill life’s daily necessities. Supply shortages ran rampant and prices of fresh produce skyrocketed in New York City. One New Yorker got creative with offsetting the cost of produce by using her skills to grow them herself.
On the west side of Harlem lies the apartment of Michelle Hudson, a PhD student and experienced gardener. Lined along the sills of 3 medium-sized windows in her bedroom are mason jars with budding, green herbs and terracotta planter pots housing newly planted vegetables. Ample sunlight breaks through the windows supplying her produce with the perfect touch of love. After 10 years of working in her family garden, Michelle has turned her NYC apartment into a garden oasis.
With price increases still lingering, and the healthy living trend booming on social media, Many New Yorkers are taking a similar approach with this green DIY method. In fact, GROWNYC reported that in the year 2021 alone they built 135 gardens around the five boroughs to accommodate the growing demand for fresh produce. I spent the day with Michelle and got in sight on her experience going from a large, backyard garden to gardening in the city.
- What made you want to start growing your own herbs? At what point did you realize having access to Fresh Produce was important?
Whenever I went grocery shopping with my mother as a child, I noticed we never had any green vegetables in our carts. And the veggies we did have were incredibly low quality, and it frustrated me so much! I wouldn’t ask my parents about eating healthy and their responses were that fresh vegetables were hard to come by. My mom and I started a garden for our family in response and working in the New Garden was so fun that I knew I wanted to do it long term.
2. Do you ever worry about space?
My roommates are nice enough to let me grow in their windowsills too! (Lol) But, also I always know that if I ever needed extra space during the warmer months you can rent a specific sized plot in a greenhouse as your own garden.
3. When you first moved to New York were you surprised to see Community Gardens and fresh produce farms in such a crowded place?
I wasn’t too surprised although, I would say I was more surprised at the quality of the gardens here. I would expect lower-quality vegetables, but the people working the gardens are so passionate and devoted that the gardens are always kept beautifully! I thought everyone would move too fast and the city like New York to care about fresh vegetables but, I was wrong.
4. What do you find most challenging about trying to grow herbs, vegetables and fruit in New York City’s climate?
Finding a space with good lighting! The buildings in New York are so tall that they block sunlight and it makes it hard to grow plants that need sun! There are apartments that have great lighting however, those 10 to face the street so it’s a lot noisier and if you decide to open your windows during the summer you’re probably going to get a lot of toxic chemicals from Cars into your plant’s soil.
5. Where did you gain your knowledge of growing herbs? Was it through a traditional education or trial and error?
I had a bit of both. I watched master classes and took local gardening classes but the truth is outside of classes gardening is really trial and error. The plants will let you know when they’re unhappy and you won’t know until they grow (or don’t! LOL) I have met people who are very experienced gardeners and still find themselves losing plants, herbs and fruits and vegetables because mistakes happen no matter what part of your journey you’re in. Plants are like people and each plant has their own mind.
6. With the knowledge that you gained can you describe how it felt in terms of wanting to share that knowledge with your friends and family?
The minute I started gardening I started sharing the knowledge with anyone within earshot! My family must have been tired of me! I post on social media whenever possible also! It’s so important that people know how to grow their own food because as we saw during the pandemic food price increases can happen and so can food shortages. For those families who were heavily impacted financially, not having some sort of Education when it comes to Growing their own food probably hurt them more than had they had this knowledge. I welcome questions from anyone about anything gardening related.
7. Historically the black community used scraps to create meals that developed into what we now know as soul food Cuisine. What do you think has sparked the Healthy Living phenomena amongst the younger Generations in the black community?
I think realizing that the food we eat culturally really should be eaten in small doses fueled a lot of people’s desire to eat healthier. And honestly, as tastier and more flavorful vegan options become available and people realize incorporating nutrient-rich Foods didn’t mean sacrificing paste. People started trying it more. Honestly, I think eating at vegan soul food restaurants really sold our community on eating healthy! We got to have foods that we were used to having growing up at our grandma’s house but, we left behind all of the negative health effects that come with eating those Foods.
8. Roughly 1.4% of farmers in America are African American. When visiting City Gardens have you noticed an increase in African Americans or people of color volunteering and renting garden plots?
Honestly, most of the community gardens around me are worked by mostly black people. I think it speaks to how little access we have to healthy foods in our awareness of that limitation. Like we know and we know we have to work harder in response. It’s not fair, but we got to feed our families healthier foods,period! It makes me sad that more African-Americans are involved in the farming business. Especially given our history in this country.
9. As We Know Traditions die hard and being that African-American people have not always had access to fresh food and even struggle with food inequalities in present-day, do you find that younger people are more interested in growing their own food compared to older Generations in order to break this cycle?
Younger Generations are definitely more vocal about eating healthier, but I think it’s because the people before us warned us about eating healthier. They lived the effects of doing the opposite and wanted to spare us that pain. Like my grandma constantly warned me about diabetes in my family. She lost siblings to it and I think past Generations were so in survival mode that they didn’t have the time to think about gardening their own Foods. Because of their sacrifice those after hit them have the time to dedicate to it. I know so many people who used their time during the pandemic to educate themselves about growing their own food and either have already implemented it or plan to start as soon as spring time comes.
