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| Kantner and Smith |
Community Garden at
Church of the Intercession
501 NW 17th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
By Jane Feehan
A community garden grows in Fort Lauderdale, transforming
what was once an eyesore of abandoned cars and dumped garbage into a green area
of repose and productivity. Located on land owned by the Church of the
Intercession, the garden is carefully tended by church-appointed co-gardeners
Steve Kantner and JoAnn Smith.
Built in the 1950s, the church was once the center of a thriving
mixed-race community. It was first in the
Episcopal Diocese of
Southeast Florida to be
integrated. Over the years, the neighborhood entered into decline, with rival
gangs and drugs dominating daily life. People moved away. Church membership dropped. Few cared about garbage
accumulating in the vacant church-owned lot.
One civic group decided to do something.
“The South Middle
River Civic Association (SMRCA), under the aegis of Donna Collins, was the
prime mover,” said Kantner, better known for his fishing exploits in South Florida
and beyond. “They approached the church and offered volunteers to clear the
site. The offer was gladly accepted.”
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| Garden of Mark Adler & Mason Wagner |
The cleanup occurred more than 12 years ago.
Today, former SMRCA board member Kantner is a church member.
He spends between 20 and 30 hours a week on the lot-turned-garden cultivating ornamentals - of interest to his wife,Vicki - and an array of vegetables they donate or bring
home to cook.
“It’s taken that long to develop this soil into a viable
environment for cultivating vegetables and fruits,” Kantner said as he showed
off cucumbers, onions, carrots, collard greens, eggplants and melons. “Some might call me an organic grower because I don’t use commercial products; I have a source for horse manure to use as
fertilizer.”
Smith also has a green thumb. Currently president of the
Fort Lauderdale Woman’s Club, Inc., she brings her expertise as Master Gardener
to this peaceful neighborhood plot. “I grow herbs, flowers, and heirloom tomatoes,” said
Smith. “I also use what I grow to make floral arrangements for the Woman’s
Club.”
Others participate in the acre-and-a-half-community garden;
church affiliation is not required, Kantner emphasizes. Neighborhood residents and partners Mark Adler and Mason Wagner cleared out a space in the undergrowth and put up a fence. They planted tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes and other vegetables in and around a
picturesque raised garden.
Adler serves as executive director of Meals on Wheels
Broward. He appreciates the benefits of fresh produce. “We [Meals on Wheels] plan to
include locally-grown food on particular days of meal deliveries.”
He also understands the problems neighborhood gardens confront.
“It’s difficult to sustain a community garden unless a paid person is assigned
to the project.”
That of course, requires money and this community garden
gets very little of that kind of support. A recent – and to date the only – contribution
of $3,000 paid for fertilizer, tools, mulch, fencing and a well pump. A well sits on church property but gardeners need two pumps to deliver water to the garden. Other than an additional pump, they need a soil
tiller, fertilizer and fencing.
The gardeners have dug deep into their own pockets to keep
the community garden going. Additionally, the Kantners paid for the neutering of
eight cats living there. Vicki Kantner stops by twice a day – on the
way to and from her job as case manager for a Broward judge and two magistrates
– to feed them.
There are more creatures … Smith feeds Guinea
fowl that live harmoniously with the well-fed cats. Adler and Wagner
oversee a friendly peacock. Steve Kantner hopes the controlled population of animal
residents will add to the nature-focused mission of the community garden. It
underscores good stewardship.
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| Vicki Kantner tames feral cat with love |
Other than money shortages, gardeners are facing a chance
the church property could be sold. On the bright side, an ordinance was passed
to zone the four-and-a-half-acre church property for farming. According to Kantner, negotiations
with a developer to establish a farm to grow restaurant produce with proceeds going to the church stalled months ago.
Currently 10 gardeners till the soil. “More diggers – preferably
those who are solidly committed to seeing this
work – are welcome,” Kantner
said. “It’s not only a commitment to
gardening that’s important. This garden is about revitalizing, strengthening the
community. Neighborhood students and at-risk teens learn about gardening from
us. People can grow food. Since we’ve been here, things have improved, the
neighborhood is coming back. People are proud to live here.”
A sign at the restored lot greets visitors with this: To grow a garden is to believe in tomorrow. Residents now know there will be many more tomorrows for this once-neglected community.
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Contact Steve Kantner or JoAnn Smith about plots and donations,
which are tax deductable, to sustain this community garden. Email Steve Kantner:
Steve@landcaptain.com or JoAnn Smith
at club10@aol.com.
Tags: neighborhood green initiatives, community gardens, Fort Lauderdale community gardens, farm to table produce, sustainable planting, neighborhood stewardship, Fort Lauderdale inner city farms
