Hands in the dirt: Meet some of NYC’s community gardeners

Many gardens grew out of urban decay due to the hard work of volunteers, who reclaimed abandoned trash-strewn lots in their neighborhoods over the years.

By Enrico Denard and George Bodarky
Gothamist
May 13, 2023

Excerpt:

Nadege Alexis is one of the leaders of the St. Nicholas Miracle Garden in central Harlem. She was born in Miami, Florida, but would frequent her family’s farm in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. There, she said she remembers her grandmother singing to the plants on the farm. She said she didn’t get it at the time, but now she is very much aware of the significance of being one with nature.

“People talk about soil like it has no value,” she said. “And meanwhile, the soil is one of the main things that is actually doing the work and providing us air and food.”

Alexis said the abundance of easily accessible food found in grocery stores leads people to overlook the value of homegrown produce and knowing where their food comes from. She’s embarked on a mission to combat that disconnect alongside Judi Desire, her fellow leader at the garden.

Alexis also established Regiven Environmental Project, a grassroots organization that upcycles trashed materials like cardboard and paper for do-it-yourself fashion and art projects. She said she and Desire acquired the plot of land in November of 2021, after the previous neighborhood residents who were leasing the property under the GreenThumb program moved away. And since then, their goal has been centered on promoting a culture of being good stewards of the earth in Central Harlem.

It is a mantra that reverberates in their personal lives, but also in the history of the garden itself, according to Alexis. St. Nicholas Miracle Garden predates the GreenThumb program, as it was first created in the 1950s by students who saw an opportunity to transform a garbage-filled abandoned space across the street from their elementary school to grow vegetables. The property was then abandoned on and off again for years, Alexis said. The space is now much smaller than it once was and in the shadow of a high-rise residential building – one of many that have sprung up along the block.

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