Our StoriesLessons from the Plot
On Growing, Learning, and Letting Go with Glazer Community Garden member Ariel Williams-Lewis.
Can you tell us about yourself?
My name is Ariel. I am a newer transplant to LA. I've been here since 2017. I work in public health, supporting the built environment and building community capacity for National Health Foundation. I'm a member of the Erika Glazer Garden, and I'm a mom.
What are your favorite parts of being a member of the garden?
Building community is a huge benefit for me. I like to be able to grow fresh food and share with my neighbors. I think that's one thing that's really cool about this garden, there are many native plants from a lot of different cultures.
And my daughter gets to accompany me here. She sees things grow and we get to talk about sowing and reaping. We get to have many lessons in the garden that are not always related to gardening. She loves to water the plants, help pull weeds, and get into the dirt and meet some of the bugs that are renovating our soil as well. We have tons of rolly pollies in my plot. My daughter loves to play with those. It really reminds me of innocent moments of my childhood as well. We've also come here as a family to grieve certain things, and we've had some really tough discussions at this garden. I think it's drawn us closer and helped us understand the world together through this little lens.
Why do you think green spaces support healthier communities?
It connects you with people from different walks of life. Different generations are in the garden. Young people, all the way up to retired adults, people who have been born in LA, and some of us transplants as well. People in all kinds of different industries. It's a great variety of people.
Being able to disconnect from pressures and stress is very important for all of us. But there are also so many physical impacts of green space. The air quality, shade, cooling, and of course, there's a food access component where a lot of families in this neighborhood do struggle with being able to get fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. That could be the cost of those things or issues with access and availability. We don't have great stores in this neighborhood, per se. I think for a lot of families, being able to grow something organic, at a pretty affordable price, is life changing.
What lessons have you learned from the garden?
I really wanted this garden to look great all the time and be super productive, and that's not how nature works. I've tried to apply that to my own life as well. I'm able to be a little bit more organic with my connections, letting things grow as they want to grow.
Seeing the seasons change in the garden has also been really metaphorical for myself. Things are not always blooming. They have to go dormant for a while so that the soil can regenerate and things can be restored. And then there's blooming again.
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