FROM RAG WEED TO COLLECTIVE GREEN SPACE!

July 11th, 2011. This morning, as I biked by the Jardin de la Liberté, I saw that someone was gardening there. Thrilled to see that someone who I didn't know working in the garden, I stopped to chat.

Donna told me she has been living in the Point for over 15 years and that she loved gardening. So when she read the interpretation panel at the Jardin de la Liberté, inviting folks to make this garden their own, she didn't need to think twice! Not only does she get her green thumbs dirty, but her dogs also get the chance to get some fresh air by the Lachine canal. She told me that she has been arranging the cobblestone into planters and transferring earth and compost into them. I told her I thought it was fabulous that she had decided to join forces in our collective efforts to reclaim space in our neighbourhood!

I also noticed that since our spring plantation activity, new flowers and shrubs have appeared. The garden is just beautiful! I guess Donna is not the only Point resident to have decided to make this garden their own! We've come a long way in 4 years. The abandoned plot of nasty ragweed that this space once was, has become a public green space where people come to hang out, eat their lunch (there is a picnic table) or to get their hands into the dirt. Our community should be proud of this transformation. The lesson to learn from this is simple - when we reclaim abandoned spaces - we can do miracles!

I am looking forward to meeting the folks who will likely come and plant some flowers in Donna's planters!

-Anna Kruzynski, Point resident and member of la Pointe libertaire