Tiptoe Through Flowers, Fruits and Farms

Wow! Over 100 places to discover, all in one day… you’ll want to choose a few so you can stop and smell the roses during GardenWalk Cleveland. Stroll, or tiptoe (you wouldn’t want to bother the squirrels and the bees), from 11AM – 7PM on Sat 6/25. The free, self-guided event (with no tickets required), shows off some of the green spaces in the Cleveland area. Whether it’s the perennial garden of a home near Gordon Square, vineyards in Hough, or community gardens in Tremont, they’re yours to discover and appreciate.

Is it daisy season yet? Are azaleas still in bloom? Are the apples green or red on the trees right now? How large are the grapes? Can we pick lettuce for our salad tonight? How about tomatoes? Go to http://GardenWalkCleveland.org for a map or pick up a hard copy at the Farmers Market at Gordon Square, the Hough Branch of the Cleveland Public Library, the Tremont West Development Corporation at 2406 Professor Street, or the Harvard Community Services Center at 18204 Harvard Avenue. Visitors can spend the day at one or more of four Cleveland neighborhoods – Detroit-Shoreway, Tremont, Lee-Harvard, or Hough.

This first-of-its-kind Cleveland event was inspired by a similar event in Buffalo, which had 353 gardens take part in their garden walk last year. Jan Kious reports that the event, which transformed inner-city areas of Buffalo, inspired her and co-founder Bobbi Reichtell to start a similar event in Cleveland. One result of the Buffalo campaign has been a higher demand for living in neighborhoods that have become more garden-like.

GardenWalk Cleveland planners wanted to do it small this year, but Clevelanders are proud of their communities and their homes — even after the deadline, people kept calling to ask if their garden could be part of GardenWalk Cleveland.

“This is an event to build community within neighborhoods east and west, and beautify the city… what’s already happened, is people in those communities have cleaned up their neighborhoods,” Kious reported in a telephone. “It was wonderful; people just volunteer to show their gardens. Each year we will have the same people, plus more people, and everyone will improve their yards more. Next year we will include four more neighborhoods.”

Kious and Reichtell formed a committee of 20 people, which met a number of times over the last year. Not only is this a chance for Cleveland residents to visit different neighborhoods and for areas of town to become more green and beautiful, it’s an opportunity for people in the suburbs to see what’s happening in Cleveland. There are 24 urban farms, 150 community gardens, and 35 Re-imagining Cleveland projects in the city. GardenWalk will feature over 100 private gardens plus orchards, urban farms, community gardens, vineyards, and eleven special feature areas like the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Stanard Farm.

“In each neighborhood there’s a headquarters site with parking, water in compostable cups, maps, a place to make donations, and posters,” Kious explained. They tried to cluster gardens around headquarters as much as possible. “We would like people to bike as well; next year there would be a biking map.” A volunteer garden finder will be placed in each neighborhood to help people find garden locations. Educational programming on gardening techniques, how to have a garden in a small space, and keeping small animals to be used for food encourage people to become self-sustainable.

Tiptoe through the flowers, fruits, and farms of Cleveland, and find out why Cleveland is a green city.

Log onto http://GardenWalkCleveland.org to find out where to start, then put on your walking shoes and grab a camera to capture the beauty and chronicle ideas for when you get home. GardenWalk Cleveland is from 11AM-7PM on Sat 6/25.

Claudia Taller’s book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries was just released by Arcadia Publishing. Find out more about the book by going to http://OhioLakeErieWineries.blogspot.com.