Urban Gardening 101

Perhaps you’ve noticed, even admired, the once-vacant city block at the northern edge of Yale University that is now teeming with exotic herbs and vegetables.   But, have you wondered how this curious little garden came to be, or why its’ even there?

The urban garden, still under the ownership of Yale University, began taking shape a decade ago, a product of the school’s expatriate community of students from China. Today, the trellis-filled garden is tended by groups of grandparents who have moved to New Haven to look after grandchildren, as their own children cultivate careers at Yale.  The gardeners are from a mix of urban and rural areas of China where a community garden was a traditional way of life and, with great pride, passed on through generations of family.   Here in the United States, these small patches offer the newcomers a routine for daily life in unfamiliar surroundings, and an opportunity for a social life as they make friends with other gardeners.

Yale’s ground crews have helped to provide compost to the gardeners.  Fertilizer is allowed but pesticides are forbidden.  The produce, grown from seeds found in New York City’s Chinatown and some local Asian markets, include varieties of beans, scallions, tomatoes and cilantro that are used to season dumplings and other dishes, and are shared with other Chinese families even if they choose not to participate in the gardening.

“I wasn’t farming anymore in China.  Why should I do farming here?” said Wang Lunji, 65, from Anhui province in eastern China, where he once worked the land.  Wang, whose son studies biology at Yale, said he nevertheless appreciates the vegetables shared by his neighbors.

Guo Zhirong, 71, the self-professed overseer of the garden, was a farmer himself in Sichuan province and has taught many of the newcomers how to properly water, fertilize and harvest the plants.  “It’s easy. They just watch and learn,” he said. “Some are not doing excellent, but they are doing OK.”  Yet, there’s no denying the pride he has, knowing the tradition of the garden carries on – the #1 rule in China is still enforced in the States; find another family to work your patch when you leave New Haven.