A Community of Gardeners

Cintia Cabib's documentary examines the renewed interest in community gardens, with a focus on several such enterprises in Washington, DC. As places where people come together to cultivate food and friendships, each locale has its own personality. One garden in an economically struggling area is set up to trade produce for labor; another at a school provides scents to savor and textures to touch to help educate disabled children. Elsewhere, neighbors band together to transform a forgotten lot into a productive plot; young people's effort on the grounds of the National Arboretum brings families together for Saturday work parties; and in a section of Rock Creek Park, urban dwellers find relief from the condo lifestyle by literally getting their hands dirty. The narration-less film draws on the comments of a wide range of articulate gardeners, including children. Reflecting the fact that the movement has enjoyed resurgences at various times in the past, Cabib presents a history via old photos and some interesting text facts: in 1906, there were 76,000 school gardens throughout the U.S.; by 1918, 5 million gardens were helping on the home front during World War I; and in 1944, 40 percent of the nation's produce came from victory gardens. DVD extras include the bonus featurette A Garden Grows at 13th and C Streets, which relates how committed community members turned a sea of asphalt into a park with space for community gardening. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)