Drake standing proudly in front of her new Urban Farm Garden and Art Gallery, Senior Rock!
Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA) alumni, Joyce (Joi) Drake stood loud and proud on her newly adopted piece of land in Baltimore City on August 16.
“The land was adopted to provide a space for senior citizens to come and help children in the community learn while being surrounded by growing vegetables and flowers,” said Drake at Senior Rock, an urban garden farm and art gallery. To kick off production at the garden, Baltimore community members gave the garden a little color by painting raised beds, logs, and signs blue, green, red, and yellow.
Drake graduated from the IAA in 2017 with a certificate in sustainable agriculture. The IAA gave her the opportunity to begin her journey in making this project come to life. It all started with hands-on research here at the ‘Tute and an internship with Real Food Farm, a Civic Works’ urban agriculture enterprise.
Now, Drake has partnered with Civic Works, a non-profit organization that prides itself in building a better Baltimore through education, skills development, and community service.
Senior Rock, once a vacant lot now has a rain garden, three raised beds, and a meeting space thanks to Drake’s hard work, inspiration, and endless persistence. The garden will soon produce tomatoes, peppers, string beans, and more. The meeting space will be an area for children and senior citizens to comingle for educational workshops on topics including math, English, nutrition, and agriculture.
One day, Drake hopes to create an entire series of gardens around the city. This is just the beginning, but the first garden is almost done and opens to everyone in September.
The garden is located at the end of the Coldstreet-Homestead Montebello Community between Harford Road and Kirk Avenue. For more information, contact Joyce Drake at (410) 967-9031.
