These achievements will be showcased this Saturday, August 6th at the Nightingale Grand Opening, preceded by a bicycle tour of Dorchester’s other gardens led by the Boston Natural Areas Network and Dot Bike.  As we were planning for this event, we jumped at the opportunity to talk with some of the Nightingale gardeners who also share our passion for biking, and hear about their experiences both biking and gardening in Dorchester. 

I met with Yvette Fair, Trudy Cox, Smokey Montgomery, and garden manager Elnora Thompson at the garden one evening last week.    Yvette, Trudy, and Smokey all bike to tend their plots at Nightingale; Trudy and Yvette also have plots at Cooper Garden in Mattapan.

Yvette Fair, Smokey Montgomery, and Trudy Cox with their bikes 

Elnora started out by giving a little bit of background on the Nightingale garden.  Though she’s been gardening in the spot for 21 years, the garden in its current spiffed-up state was re-opened in June by the Boston Natural Areas Network with new pathways, watering systems, shed, and occupants.   The space is used by many neighbors to the garden, with people from the Caribbean, Egypt, China, Cape Verde, Japan, Haiti, Portugal, and everywhere in between bringing their own crops and styles of gardening.  Besides individual plots, there are also several beds of “Produce to Pantry” vegetables, which get donated weekly to food pantries.

Yvette, who was at the garden that evening with three of her four kids, is a prolific gardener.  Besides her plot at Cooper and the new one at Nightingale, Yvette also cultivates her side and back yards at home.  “My kids all grew up vegetarian,” she says, and gardening is the best way to provide them with fresh, healthy, and affordable vegetables.   Sons Absalom and Nechemiah were cruising around on their own bikes while we spoke, and daughter Sheiry wandered around picking blueberries.

Trudy also gardens at Cooper, but the new Nightingale garden is just minutes from her house in Ashmont .  She likes to bike here; in Mattapan, she uses a combination of bus and bike to get to the garden.  Trudy hasn’t always been a biker; it had been over 20 years since she had been on a bike when her son got her back on the saddle to train for a charity ride. Trudy rides a foldable commuting bike, which makes getting around with both bike and garden bounty extremely easy.  Trudy and Smokey both carry their supplies and harvests in big backpacks when they bike; Yvette fills her bike trailer with vegetables –in all the space not occupied by her youngest daughter Sheiry. 

Yvette's bike and trailer

All the gardeners cite different reasons for wanting to bike.  Smokey, who lives in Mattapan, loves biking as a way to stay in shape; like gardening , he sees it as a way to connect with his environment and his community.  “If it’s nice out, I’m on my bike” he says.  Taking different routes and side streets on his way to the garden helps him connect with the neighborhood.  Though a long-time biker, Smokey is new to gardening, having only started with the opening of Nightingale.  His three daughters are also learning with him.

Yvette, who owns Peace Market on Washington St,   says that gas prices are a major motivating factor for biking, as well as staying fit.  “My life is fast, with four kids and a store to run,” she says.  But with the kids on bikes as well, or in a trailer, it’s a great way to get around and get some exercise.  She’s hoping to start biking with her daughter to daycare, but would feel safer doing it with a group of other parents.

Yvette with sons Absalom and Nechemiah, and Trudy

Elnora has been gardening her whole life since growing up in Mississippi.  Every time she has moved homes, the first thing she did was set up a garden.  Though not a biker, Elnora is a walker; she used to carry all of her tools in a cart to and from the garden, becoming a fixture on her bus route by bringing green tomatoes to her bus driver.  She swears by gardening and walking as the best physical therapy she could ask for, and loves walking as an opportunity to see new streets, new yards, new neighbors. 

Yvette learned to garden as a kid when she would spend the summers with her grandmother in South Carolina.  She also taught herself through Youtube videos by Roxbury’s Garden Girl (Patti Moreno) and others, starting out by building a raised bed in her back yard.  Her husband was skeptical at first, she said, “but then when he realized he could make a great salad out of our own yard, he was on board.”  Needing to expand, Yvette’s father-in-law let her take over his plot in Mattapan, and when Nightingale opened, the opportunity to garden even closer to home was impossible to pass up.

Everyone praised the strong sense of community at Nightingale.  Innumerable types of plants and styles of gardening are present.  Elnora joked about how all the veteran gardeners are eager to give advice to the newbies like Smokey--though no two people ever offer the same tips.  Even language barriers don’t prevent collaboration and sharing.  Events such as cooking classes, yoga, zumba, and concerts offer opportunities for people to meet and share skills.

Trudy reflected on the rapid growth she’s seen in recent years of both gardeners and bikers. “I think the two communities are really converging; environmental awareness is the way things are heading.”  She is also excited about the potential of Nightingale to help the neighborhood coalesce around a shared space.  “We’re often out here till 9:30 or later—until we can’t see anything at all.”

The Dorchester Community Garden Tour will leave at 10:00am from the Fields Corner T Station, ending at Nightingale Garden at 12:30 for the grand opening.  For more information, please see http://www.bostonnatural.org/calendar.asp?M=8&D=6&Y=2011