A Pumpkin Grows in Detroit: North Cass Community Garden

By: Katherine Montalto | August 13 2010
Posted in Grow It - Detroit

The North Cass Community Garden is in the Midtown neighborhood of Detroit. The neighborhood has long been known for cool college kids at both Wayne State and CCS campuses, local brews concocted at neighborhood bars, and just enough grit to keep it from getting too gentrified. "It's on the corner of 2nd and Willis." Marilyn, a gardener, explained to me over the phone. The 75 four-foot-by-eight-foot plots are visible in the satellite view on Google Maps.

Photo: Katherine Montalto

Urban Restoration

Now in its second summer, the North Cass Community Garden was an idea that came from The University Cultural Center Association (UCCA), which approached Marilyn and a few of her neighbors about creating a garden. The plan was to clean up an abandoned, trash-filled lot that was once an old Texaco station. The pumps and gas tanks had been removed long ago, the crumbling concrete left to rot under soiled mattresses and tires.

The community garden was right in line with the purpose of the UCCA: an association started in 1976 to "support the physical maintenance and development of the area and to enhance public awareness, appreciation and use of Midtown Detroit."

Many Hands, Light(er) Work

The development of the garden moved quickly, with the help of 70-plus volunteers who came on a Saturday to clean up the lot. By Monday, machines were brought in to break up all the old concrete. The top foot of dirt was removed, a barrier was put down, and then covered with a foot of new soil.

The UCCA worked with investors to get money for things like wood to build raised beds, hoses, and a locking wrought iron fence to keep the garden from being ransacked.

Photo: Katherine Montalto

Satisfaction

The community garden is beautiful. The front gates open up to two large planters, up-cycled from abandoned playground equipment rescued from the Willis Playground, three lots west of the garden. A gravel path winds around the beds, which are overflowing with plants heavy with produce.  

Feeding the City

Each small plot is $25 for the year, plus community work in garden. The eight-by-twelve commercial plots at the back of the lot are $50 for the year and are bursting with dwarf pumpkins, wormwood, and sage that will be used by neighborhood bars like Motor City Brewing to make pumpkin beer and absinthe, as well as fruits and veggies that will end up on the menus of Majestic Cafe, Atlas Global Bistro, Mario's restaurants. The garden has a community herb patch, bean wall, and compost bins.

More Than Just Plants

I ask Marilyn how the garden has changed the neighborhood. She tells me that it's brought it closer together. Master gardeners give tips to those who've never even had a house plant. A harvest feast is planned for October. All those involved in the garden will bring dishes made with ingredients grown over the summer.

The North Cass Community Garden has been so successful that the UCCA, with the help of residents, has started work on a new community garden in Midtown, the Art Center Community Garden on the corner of Kirby and John R.