In the above photograph, you will find the site of what was to become the Hampton Roads Community Garden (HRCG) and unfortunately, due to lack of start-up funding, this dream will continue to be deferred indefinitely.
When I first came up with the idea, a garden seemed like the perfect solution for creating a central meeting place free from the bar and club scene, and away from the shores, that could unite family friends, strangers, students, teachers, the young, the old, politicians, citizens… everyone. A hub for those interested in taking life’s struggles into their own hands, and tilling and digging and plowing them away into the culmination of fresh, organic produce. A big garden conglomerate (formed by several mini plot gardens), where the worries of the week would be drowned and consumed by the energies of preparing the land. A big garden conglomerate where old friends and new ones, could meet regularly to chat, eat nature’s bounty fresh from the earth, romp and run, and be free of the stressors of the day-to-day grind. A big garden conglomerate where family worries of what to eat for the day and the source of the next meal would disappear among heaps and mounds of harvest. A big garden conglomerate where fresh, organic produce could heal the wounds caused by fast food, preservatives, and additives….
A big garden conglomerate that would ultimately heal (many) of the wounds of a weeping region.
And unfortunately, this dream has either been deferred until further notice (of available funding and resources), or cordially discarded.
In a calloused economy, the last concern on the minds of the local governments, is the provision of such a hub; and certainly not the financial support of such a resource: a resource that has been dubbed by Department of Parks and Rec as being trivial and not of sound value. While it would be great to have an initiative of the sorts completely supported and funded by grassroots sweat, tears, and blood, reality has shown far too often, that the energy needed to successfully make that happen wholly independent of government funding/ support is unimaginably difficult to sustain.
Please do not think, that I am completely giving up on this dream. I am simply deferring the admission of this dream into the institution of reality, until financial aid is secured, and the resources are in place to get the ball rolling.
