Community of Gardens

Description

Bouvier Community Garden's roots extend to its 1994 preservation by the Neighborhood Gardens Trust, but its current status most reflects the events of the last decade. The garden had to downsize in 2015 because the Neighborhood Gardens Trust only owned two of the four lots that comprised the garden. Thanks to an agreement between the Trust and the lots' developer, however, the shed and water source safely moved onto the lots during the off-season of 2016 into 2017. The gardeners elected to add a patio and shade bed in 2018, following up by installing a mosaic sign in 2019 that had been crafted by a long-term gardener about eight years before. "Bouvier, like a lot of South Philly, is small and tight," explains Bob Jobin, garden co-coordinator, "so it's a garden that, with a group of gardeners, takes care of itself pretty quickly." Besides the actual gardening of individual gardeners, the garden hosts concerts for the Make Music Philly music festival and provides a space for neighbors to get together. With the gardeners' commitment to "keeping the gates open," as Jobin says, Bouvier will continue to offer relaxation and nutrition to the Point Breeze neighborhood.

Story contributed by Joe M.