“After
a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.” - Oscar
Wilde
A quick Google search
is all it takes to learn the basic information on a wonderful technique of
gardening called Companion Planting.
The approach can be simple enough for a beginner or can contain intricacies
that only the most learned botanist can pull off. However the basic idea is the
same: companion planting allows for plants to work together in a garden space
to help each other not only grow, but flourish in the most optimal way
possible. Tall plants, for example, provide shade and protection for more
fragile varieties. Vining plants will cover the ground or thrive on trellises
to allow others to grow upwards towards the sun. This symbiotic technique can
even allow certain plants to steer insects and other pests away from others, so
that the garden has the best chance for optimal beauty and a long life. It’s a
lovely and enriching process that has been a time-honored method for gardeners
and nature enthusiasts everywhere. It’s also a perfect metaphor for what Dallas’s
wide array of urban gardens are all
about.
Community gardens and
urban botanical areas have become a natural and ever-growing part of the Dallas
landscape, and are now quickly changing the very idea of area food culture as
well. The Pyramid Restaurant inside
the Fairmont Hotel, for example, dazzles patrons with a 3,000 square foot herb
and vegetable garden on the rooftop; the East
Dallas Community and Market Garden on Fitzhugh Ave. regularly offer fresh
produce to the public (with the proceeds going to fund the garden itself); the Live Oak and Lake Highlands Community Gardens provide similar opportunities for seasonally-fresh
ingredients complete with nearly 100 plots, bee-keeping for natural, organic
honey and breathtaking butterfly gardens.
Inherently, urban
gardens are nothing new. In fact, cities other than Dallas have been utilizing
them for rooftop ambience, land conservation and city-wide beautification for
ages. But only in the last several years has the idea of community gardening
and urban botanical grounds become tied directly with healthy, organic eating
and life-changing education for young people as well. Schools are now not only
using the gardens for outings, but for vital student-led learning opportunities
on eating properly and encouraging families and communities to choose the
healthiest and most beneficial ingredients possible on an everyday basis.
Dallas restaurants
have also begun to more regularly utilize the organic ingredients found in the
gardens for their own businesses. Some of the most famous chefs in the country
now turn to their own community gardens for regular restaurant produce, farm
raised meats, and some of the newest seasonal items available. Dallas’ own Chef
Chad Houser, of Parigi and Café Momentum fame, first became
interested in organic food as a boy when he would accompany his grandparents to
local farmer’s markets to help them sell their own small batches of natural
produce. “The idea then was just to have enough to go out for hamburgers at the
end of the day”, he said. “But all of my memories as a child involved good
family and large meals with quality ingredients on the table every Sunday. I
had a healthy respect, even then, for what goes into our bodies”. When asked
about the impact of what these urban gardens have to offer, Chef Houser isn’t
shy about his passion for them. “They impact everyone around them”, he says. “I’m
no doctor, but it’s been proven that
natural, healthy eating and food choices increase student graduation rates when
it becomes part of the school menus. The kids are more engaged and inspired. It
nourishes them both in mind and in body”.
It was would be easy
to write the idea of urban gardens off as a nice idea for foodies, or for
professionals looking for the best ingredients for their customers. But in
speaking with the individuals who have devoted their lives to making the world
a better place with the gardens, the benefit of these locations goes much, much
further. Elizabeth Dry is a long-tenured educator and founder of arguably
Dallas’ most famous community garden, Promise
of Peace. This garden and educational facility was
established with one goal in mind: to instruct families in Dallas and around
the country on the benefits of healthy living and horticultural education. Promise
of Peace offers everything from cooking classes and learning programs, to
demonstrations and culinary events from the top chefs in Dallas. P.O.P also
regularly features live music and seasonal happenings like Saturday Peace Market and Brunches, Eco Fest and OkraPalooza.
As enriching as these
events are, it’s the young people that come to the gardens that matter most to
Ms. Dry. In speaking with her, she enthusiastically recounted a time when a
large group of exchange students were visiting the Promise of Peace grounds one
afternoon and were multi-tasking with various outdoor projects. Considering the
diversity of backgrounds, languages and cultures, not many of the students
initially spoke or communicated well with each other. However, the “beauty of
what they were doing”, said Dry, “was universal”. They were working with their
hands, planting soil, decorating clay pots, seeding the ground, and a variety
of other separate tasks. At one point, someone started to sing. Dry remembers
vividly that the song was Leaving on a
Jet Plane, by Peter, Paul and Mary. As Dr. Seuss would say, the song
“started in slow, then it started to grow”, and it wasn’t long before the
entire grounds were filled with the sounds of a classic rock ballad, sung by
dozens and dozens of strangers who had somehow been unified by the shared
experience of what the gardens had to offer. Dry still gets emotional when
remembering the incident, and in her own words, believes that the story is “symbolic”
for both Promise of Peace’s mission statement and the benefit of the gardens
themselves.
Whether the goal is
to provide education for young people, or simply the best local ingredients available
for restaurants and top culinary game-changers, the bottom line is the same.
The urban gardens that continue to blossom and spread in Dallas are changing
the way individuals, companies and families think about food and nutrition.
Economically depressed areas that would otherwise continue to struggle now have
something that they can be proud of, learn from, and send their children to.
Restaurants now have aesthetically pleasing areas that also serve a much larger purpose for their customers. Urban gardens
have quite literally evolved the food culture in the Big D, and those that
would not have given a single thought to the type of meat they purchase or
produce they buy are now looking at the labels and adopting a quality over
quantity mind-set.
As she was finishing
her thoughts on the impact of these urban gardens, Ms. Dry generously offered
up one last anecdote. About a year after Promise of Peace opened its doors to
the public, Dry was arriving to the grounds one day, preparing to begin the
day’s events. She remembers being pleased that in the year that the location
had been opened there had been no vandalism or thefts of any kind, which
unfortunately was somewhat surprising considering the area of town at the time.
As she approached the building, she saw that the electrical box outside the
building had been spray painted with graffiti. Frustrated, she went inside to
get some cleaning products to remove the paint. When she got closer to the box
and was preparing to clean it, she suddenly stopped and couldn’t help but feel
a rush of emotion when she saw what had been painted on the unit. In large
capital letters with traditional urban scrawl font were the words, “THANK YOU”.
- Richard Dennis
Originally Published in Where Dallas Guestbook
