Monday, October 22, 2012

Pomona's Growing Community Gardens and Shrinking Smoke Shops

I realize I am probably a couple years after the fact, but the pictured community garden made me do an impromptu u-turn Saturday. I caught it out of the corner of my eye while driving by on Holt, since it is located only a half block north of Holt on Center Street. I snapped photos with my cell phone, but this photo from the garden's website is taken from a better angle and captures how the garden actually looks right now.

The Center Street Community Gardens appear well-tended and loved. Per their site, they have Saturday work days, and locals can buy their own little plot of Pomona heaven for a mere $15.

An L.A. County registry of community gardens lists another Pomona community garden as being at 1170 W. Fremont Street (cross South Hamilton). I've never seen it, except on google earth just now, but I think this garden is connected with South Hills Presbyterian Church.

As for Pomona's most famous community garden, Tri-City Community Garden up on North Garey Avenue: I hear Farmer Randy will lease that space for one more year before the garden is closed down permanently in order for Tri-City to build on the plot. I have no idea what will happen to the grove of fruit trees there. In addition to the brick buildings that make up Tri City on upper Garey, there is now a Wellness Center located further down on Garey, south of Orange Grove. Hopefully Tri-City will one day also takeover the land now housing the smoke shop next to the new Wellness Center. That land, if turned into a community garden, would make a complimentary companion to the Wellness Center's site and mission. Unlike the smoke shop there currently, which seems to offer visitors and passersby the choice of wellness behind door number one, or smokes behind door number two. Perhaps these businesses (which literally share a wall with one another) are a symbol of the old and new Pomona. I just hope wellness is the future choice for Pomona.

I have my hands full in my own backyard most days, especially now that I have chickens. But I do get excited when I see another community garden pop up around town and a chance that another smoke shop will bite the dust.

I guess we are lucky that there are so many vacant lots and potential farmers here in Pomona, and thus so much potential for more and more community gardens. So that's a good news day when I realize we have two more c.g.'s than I even thought we did. If you know of any more, please let me know. If you are alive and reading this blog, please let me know that too. Surely not everyone has given up their privacy rights and moved to Facebook have they?

THE END

THE END

13 comments:

calwatch said...

Well I'm still reading and tweeting. Not having enough time to write long form, plus the reduced attention span thanks to Twitter doesn't help.

Ren said...

Hey Goddess been down to that garden it's great. Talk to the people and it was $20 a month for a lot. Also I have a new site address it's imagesofpomona.blogspot.com

cool take care now you hear

Goddess of Pomona said...

So two readers. That sounds about right. This is just like the old days!!

LinknPark said...

You definitely had more than two readers. We just stopped following because you stopped writing. Glad to see you posting again.

Goddess of Pomona said...

That's true I had more than two readers at one time. But I think for the first two years that I wrote the blog, I had almost no readers. Yet I posted more.

I guess it's always been cathartic more than anything else to write the blog. And meeting people online who feel the same as I do or at least care enough to disagree is icing on the cake.

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Anonymous said...

Rumor is the city of Pomona is going to sell the lot they are leasing to the Center Street Garden. Sad to see a good thing shut down.