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Bringing green thumbs to urban blight A group of “garden activists” is creating the Wangari Gardens in the District’s Park View neighborhood.
Lettuce grows at the Wangari Gardens near MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Astrid Riecken
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For The Washington Post
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Sarah McLaughlin, 25, left, is part of a movement around the District to do more gardening in urban neighborhoods. McLaughlin and her boyfriend, Josh Singer, are behind the new Wangari Mathai "parken," a 2.7-acre plot of park/garden named after the Kenyan activist who founded the Green Belt Movement. It is in a neighborhood in Park View near the MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
From left, Marcie Neil (green plaid shirt), 27, Sarah McLaughlin, 25, Heather Carter, 36, and Aurora Munoz, 24, attend a "seed bomb" workshop." Participants make balls of wildflower seeds and fertilizer that can be thrown into vacant lots to create "guerrilla gardens." The workshop was at Old City Green Garden Center in the District, where McLaughlin works.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Gardeners make "seed bombs" during a workshop at Old City Green Garden Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
A participant mixes clay, dirt and seeds during a "seed bomb" workshop at Old City Green Garden Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Emmy Gran, 25, teaches a "seed bomb" workshop at Old City Green Garden Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Emmy Gran, 25, right, teaches a "seed bomb" workshop at Old City Green Garden Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Heather Carter, 36, left, and workshop teacher Emmy Gran, 25, write the word "nourish" in moss on a curb during a workshop at Old City Green Garden Center. It is a lesson in how to make graffiti with moss.
Sarah L. Voisin
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The Washington Post
The word "grow" is written in moss on a curb as part of a lesson on making graffiti with moss at Old City Green Garden Center.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Wangari Gardens is a 2.7-acre plot named after a Kenyan environmental activist, in Park View near the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Mathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization that plants trees and promotes conservation and women's rights. She died in 2011.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Seeds were given away at the Wangari Gardens.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Sophia Benn, 2, of the District, plants seeds with her father, Gabriel Benn, 37, at Wangari Gardens.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
The Wangari Gardens is built on public land given to the founders by the District's Department of Transportation.
Astrid Riecken
/
For The Washington Post
Josh Singer tends to the Wangari Gardens. Singer, who studies history and is a semester shy of a master degree, says he fell in love with planting trees a while ago. "I actually wanted to become a teacher," he says. Instead, he now works for the nonprofit Casey Trees, which is dedicated to planting trees throughout the District. Singer bought much of the equipment and material used to build the garden with his own money. "I put everything on my credit card," he says and adds that he hopes that the garden's founders will receive some grants from the city to help them develop their project.
Astrid Riecken
/
For The Washington Post
Alexandra Smith, 19, of the District plants strawberries at Wangari Gardens.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Sarah McLaughlin, right, and her boyfriend, Josh Singer, left, work behind the new Wangari Gardens.
Sarah L. Voisin
/
The Washington Post
Wangari Gardens has about 60 plots that are tended by neighorhood residents, who pay dues and receive use of the land and advice from experienced gardeners in return. Only 25 plots were originally envisioned.
Astrid Riecken
/
FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
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