City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America [Paperback]

Laura J. Lawson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520243439 | ISBN-13: 978-0520243439 | Publication Date: May 30, 2005 | Edition: 1

Since the 1890s, providing places for people to garden has been an inventive strategy to improve American urban conditions. There have been vacant-lot gardens, school gardens, Depression-era relief gardens, victory gardens, and community gardens--each representing a consistent impulse to return to gardening during times of social and economic change. In this critical history of community gardening in America, the most comprehensive review of the greening of urban communities to date, Laura J. Lawson documents the evolution of urban garden programs in the United States. Her vibrant narrative focuses on the values associated with gardening, the ebb and flow of campaigns during times of social and economic crisis, organizational strategies of these primarily volunteer campaigns, and the sustainability of current programs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An important book about how the urban gardening movement is transforming our landscape and reconnecting us to the land." - Alice Waters, Owner, Chez Panisse"

From the Inside Flap

"The social history of American cities would not be complete without a full account of the rise of community open spaces. Lawson does exactly this by providing a compelling and poetic account of the history and making of urban gardens. Combining solid scholarship with engaging images of the gardens and stories of their makers, this book sheds new light on the value of urban open space. More important, it explains why community gardens need to stand alongside city parks as permanent open spaces. Essential reading for community developers and landscape architects as well as anyone who ventures outside, enthusiasm and shovel in hand, to improve their local environment.--Mark Francis, author of Urban Open Space and Village Homes

"The definitive history of the past hundred years of America's experience with community gardens. A labor of love by a garden activist, the book appears at a most appropriate time--today our city dwellers and suburbanites are retreating onto carpets of passive open space tended by homeowner associations and lawn care outfits. Lawson thoughtfully analyzes the weaknesses of community gardens when used as a response to social crises and, by contrast, investigates community gardens as an alternative to today's managed care of open space. Her history clearly presents a way of community living that we can elect if we choose her wisdom."--Sam Bass Warner, Jr, author of To Dwell Is to Garden

"An important book about how the urban gardening movement is transforming our landscape and reconnecting us to the land."--Alice Waters, Owner, Chez Panisse

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520243439
• ISBN-13: 978-0520243439
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The community, the crisis and the garden, January 9, 2006

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Reader from Yellow River - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America (Paperback)

In terms of the world, the idea of community gardening might go back thousands of years, to the time of King Cyrus of Persia. In terms of the United States, it might be so American an idea that it goes back to the time of European colonization. For the idea might be as old as the commons of English-speaking settlers and the town squares of Spanish-speaking settlers. But Laura J Lawson is concerned with a more limited timespan. Her book, CITY BOUNTIFUL, covers community gardening in the United States from the 1890s to the present.

What drew her to that topic? The author first turned to gardening to get through tightly budgeted college years. Gardening was such a budget-smart move that she thought she was a rural wannabee. But the green-acre life wasn't for her. Instead, she was a city girl who wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. So gardening became a research and a practical pursuit for her.

Did gardening have the same appeal to most people over time? Which time period would have a definite paper trail of written evidence and perhaps also eyewitness accounts? A CENTURY OF COMMUNITY GARDENING IN AMERICA was the topic that answered both questions. For community gardening is a popular idea with a spotty track record that`s well documented. We have over a hundred years of funding, staff and supply levels going up and down. It's not that people don't consistently like gardening. It's that community gardening has found its steadiest support during crises.

So depressions and wars have been guarantees of community gardening success. That's because people stick to large-group gardening when that gardening is part of the bigger picture. People who like gardening say it's good for character and well-being. But everything needed for community gardening to be wildly successful comes together when the bigger concern is getting our country through major crises here and abroad.

Otherwise, concerns over access, permanence and technology win out. For community gardening has often taken place on rundown and vacant lots. Sooner or later, these lots become attractive to business and investors. The land ends up in other hands, public or private. Community gardening has often depended on funds, people and support from outside, in what the author calls a top-down power structure. Sooner or later, these sources can dry up. And the community may not be ready when that happens.

But community gardening is part of our cultural heritage. What can we do about the ups and downs? The author says each community needs to be guided by a goal of building a city bountiful on earth. Such a city is possible when people are appropriately trained and socially committed to land being used resourcefully. She feels such a goal has become realistic since the last 30 years of the 20th century. For through and since those decades, some community gardening has - and more projects can do likewise - become part of a bottom-up power structure, in which there can be enough funds, people and support locally.

The author has included good index and notes, as well as clear, historic photos from each time period. Her book is nicely organized and clearly written. The book should appeal to a wide audience. As a land care steward trained through Virginia Tech's master gardening program, I'm happy to have the book. The Virginia Tech program is the model for community and school gardening programs throughout the United States, England and Canada. For the Virginia Tech program is living proof that bountiful community gardening is practical and workable.