Peace Garden

  Conceived in 2008 to bring peace to the neighborhood after the killing of a young man, the space at the corner of 1st Street and Nevin Ave in Richmond was donated by a local business owner who also commissioned the containers' construction. Since then, people in the immediate neighborhood have been cultivating each other while growing their own food, medicine, edible flowers, and native plants.

The fenced corner lot of eleven raised beds is very visible to the community at large. It's often a scene where people come together not only to garden, but to check in with one another, feed the homeless passing by, and offer a kind word by inviting everyone into the garden. It is a haven in a place some people are hesitant to visit.

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Depending on when you visit, you may meet either Jimmie Cry or Iyalode, who will also be sharing host duties at the Gaza Garden.
Visit the CURME website to learn more about these garden hosts.
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artichokes and view of street
Participants are charged a small one-time fee for a key.  Herbalist and healer Iyalode Kinney conducts monthly workshops in the garden.  Everyone who has a space in the garden is present for all decisions regarding it.  “It's an all inclusive garden,” says Iyalode,  “one person making all the decisions doesn't work for us.”  This means things change slowly, but every decision is a group one.

A wide variety of vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, flowers, berries and fruit grow in this diverse garden.  Thanks to the 3-bin compost system and participants bringing in their food waste to bury in their own plots, the soil is built organically and does not need to be bought.


 
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harvesting feverfew

Medicine Making:  Passionflower Tincture  12:00 to 12:30

Please join Iyalode Kinney in a hands-on demonstration, creating a passionflower tincture. Participants can eat the flowers in order to get a feel of what this remarkable plant is all about. Properties, actions, precautions, indications of the passionflower will also be briefly discussed. There will be a passiflora giveaway to those interested in cultivating this incredible plant medicine.

They Were All Here

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A remarkable sculpture, “They Were All Here” by Scott Donahue, speaks to passersby, reflecting the diversity of the neighborhood and of the garden.
 
"I made the sculpture originally as a test to see if I could make a figure composed of multiple people from multiple places and times.  My goal was to make someone who is not a blend of people, but rather a composite of different people who are one.

"I want to make sculptures for our cities which are accurate to who we are--people from all over the world who somehow have to find a way to coexist regardless of our incredible differences.  We need to celebrate who we are--composite people!" 
Scott Donahue