Plot 17 is designed and maintained by amateur gardener Gita Hashemi. I expect to post on average once a week.
Plot 17 is located at the Oak Street Community Garden in Toronto. Don’t try to locate this garden on Toronto Community Garden Network‘s map. This community has not yet made up its mind whether it works as a community or as a group of people. Oh, wait, that is a community. Really, we could not agree whether we should join the TCGN, in fact we could not even talk about it. You see, this garden is troubled with lack of community development. Located in a neighbourhood rapidly undergoing gentrification, the community of the garden is a microcosm of its larger area, troubled by highly visible power imbalances due to conflictual economic and social conditions.
The land belongs to the the City of Toronto, entrusted to Toronto Community Housing Corporation that runs the city’s social housing with all the attendant deficiencies of a government-coroporate model of “managing” the underclass. 220 Oak Street is the TCHC building that is nearest the garden. The land used to be a city parking lot which was left unused for many years. A group of residents from 220 Oak Street and Oak Street Housing Co-Op reclaimed the land and started the garden some years ago. Over a few years, they developed the garden and some rules of self-governing through small grants from the City and TCHC. However, in the past few years, the community of the garden has changed significantly and new tensions and conflicts have arisen on the one hand between the residents and the management of the TCHC building, and on the other between garden members who are residents of 220 Oak Street and those who are residents of the Oak Street Housing Co-Op.
The result is a situation where the previously developed – albeit insufficient – self-governing rules are set aside, and the garden is being run – if we can call it that – by one dictatorial personality after another. Add to that layers of racism, sexism and homophobism, and voila, we have Oak Street Community Garden. Last year, these conflicts were further exacerbated by the highly questionable conducts of TCHC’s regional top brass in handling renovation funds and such on the one hand and on the other trying to use the garden as a show piece to appease the City Councilor in a proposed development/renovation scheme without proper consultation and involvement of the community. That’s when things came to a screeching halt in October 2009. And I was one of the people who dug in my heels and refused to collaborate with the said top brass, kept raising questions and basically became a shit disturber. I’ve never been a believer in top-down community building.
Anyway, the current king of the garden has not yet made up his mind whether his kingdom should be on the TCGN map. He seems to feel threatened by that. Some long time members are dropping out as the King rules the territory according to his vision of “communal gardening” which does not involve community consultation nor consensus. Although last years was very stressful, I have decided to return to the garden. It’s the only place I can have access to land.
This is my third year at the garden. May the Creator save us all from in-fighting and protect the garden and its bounty. May the garden be a source of joy and nourishment. May we learn to work together like the plants growing in the garden. May the garden become a site of joyful collaboration in building a refuge from gentrification and an alternative to state and corporate style management.