From Susan Stephens, Chair of
the Encore Park Community Garden (EPCG)
At the Occasion of Earth Day
2014, Downtown Dallas
I was chair of the Community
Ministries committee when the congregation of FPC purchased this piece of
property several years ago with plans to restore the historic 508 Park
building, build an outdoor amphitheater and have a green space within this
corner of Downtown Dallas. As a Dallas County Master Gardner, I saw that green
space on the plan and thought a community garden would be a wonderful addition
to these visionary dreams.
The dream is coming true with
hard work and funds from many, many people and fabulous partnerships like the
Young Guns of The Real Estate Council. Our EPCG committee has been
meeting for about 2.5 years -for most gardeners the planning and waiting is
hard since we are anxious to get our hands dirty. Already in use is our
temporary bed where we are raising produce that has been distributed to the
families of the ESL program at The Stewpot and Abigail has been using the
garden with her Horticultural Therapy clients.
Our vision of Encore Park
Community Garden is a place for people to regain their roots and plant second
chances. Our community garden will break down barriers between people:
• Economic barriers
• Social barriers
• Racial barriers
• Religious barriers
• Barriers of age, physical
ability, and having a home or not
It will be an inclusive space -
open to everyone. We will start small and learn as we go but within a year or
two I hope to see individuals working in their garden plots sharing their
gardening best practices with one another – and one of these gardeners may live
in one of the beautiful new expensive town homes being built in our
neighborhood just blocks away and the other may not have a home of their own
and be a client of The Stewpot. But they see one another as valued and loved
children of God.
A little history of gardening in
downtown Dallas includes William Ross’ garden: In the mid to late -1800s
there were two brothers named Ross living in the area that is modern day
Downtown Dallas. In fact Ross Avenue is named for these two brothers and their
home was located on what we now call Ross Avenue near the current day
intersection of Ross and Akard. One of the brothers, William, was very
interested in horticulture. According to a Dallas Morning News article
from April 1922 (92 years from today’s Earth Day), William cultivated a garden
near his home in the mid to late 1880s. The skeptics thought he was crazy –
that this was not a proper place for a garden but in fact his garden is
attributed to be Dallas’ first Kitchen Garden.
With EPCG our dream is to again
take a barren plot of land and use it to reconnect people with growth and new
life in a garden in this corner of downtown Dallas.
To paraphrase the Parable of the
Sower from the Gospel of Luke, this is the story where the Sower spreads
seed. Some of the seed lands on hard ground, other seed finds shallow,
rocky soil and still more seed falls on soil filled with thorns and thistle
filled soil - but some of the seeds lands on fertile soil. Our hope is some of
today’s seed will find good soil in Encore Park CG and yield hundredfold.
