Jason Reed - Filbert Street Garden

Power in Dirt was able to catch up with Jason Reed, the steward of Filbert Street Garden to talk to him about his decision to become a full-time gardener in Baltimore.

Jason decided to start a garden in Baltimore for personal reasons but mostly due to it feeling like the right thing to do. He wanted to have more space, access to open air as well as access to fresh food. Jason lived in Westport which is a community that mirrors Curtis Bay--the neighborhood that houses Filbert Street Garden. In Westport and Curtis Bay there is no access to food at all so healthy food is extremely hard to find. Being able to make healthy food available in urban areas was his greatest motivation for starting a community garden.

Jason began his first garden in Westport while he was a music teacher. Curtis Bay was interested in Jason taking over an existing garden as well as adding on an education component. Jason learned that community involvement is what makes a difference when establishing a garden. Those who are interested in gardening typically have gardening space available in their backyard but the educational component made Filbert Street a different gardening experience. Once the community learned about the educational component the community support for the garden blossomed.

Jason would like to leave new gardeners with a few words of advice: Do what you know is right for the community/garden, follow your spirit and start early because the process can take a long time.

Good luck and happy gardening!

To find out more about Filbert Street Garden please check out their blog.