Beth Mancuso remembers working in her mother’s garden as she grew up. She hated the weeding, it was boring and hot. “I’d put it off as long as I could, into the afternoon,” she laughs. “And by then it was even hotter.”

When she and her husband Al moved to Ohio City, Beth managed the St. Paul’s Patch Community Garden for eight years and began to garden in their own two-lot section near 45th and Lorain. “It’s quiet,” she explains, “and it’s taking care of those plants that I put in to grow to feed my family, so weeding became part of a bigger picture. It’s not a task in its own right, it’s part of the overall nurturing of the garden.”

The Mancusos used to grow commercially, but for the past three years have become a private garden for their family. The garden competes with the toys and playground equipment for the Mancuso kids (there are four, from ages 10 to 4). The garden sports a wide variety, including herbs, potatoes, Swiss chard, lettuce, broccoli, squash, and asparagus. A passive solar greenhouse lets lettuce overwinter for spring planting, and allows Swiss chard to flourish.

Whether private, commercial, or volunteer, Ohio City is a dense residential community that’s also full of people who are powerfully drawn to raising their own food – for themselves, for local markets and restaurants, and to support community hunger centers.

But are they farmers or gardeners, and what’s the difference?  Peter McDermott of Urban Growth Farms, 2049 W. 48th (http://www.urbangrowthfarms.com/) replies, “Depends on who you ask. The difference could be scale (gardening small, farming large) or end-use of the products (home consumption vs. selling at market).”

Is urban farming harder or easier from that in rural areas? McDermott says, “It can be similar in many ways, easier because you are closer to markets, harder because of space limitations.”

Urban Growth Farms, in its fourth year, raises 50 kinds of vegetables plus chickens and ducks. It sells at the Tremont Farmer’s Market and also partners with Erie’s Edge Farm (http://eriesedgefarm.com) in offering Heart of the city Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Customers sign up at the beginning of the season to receive fresh vegetables weekly. Sign up for next year at either website.

Erie’s Edge has two plots, one near Columbus and Abbey, another near W. 45th and Clinton. They’re run by Molly Murray and Erin Laffay, who both came to Ohio City from other farms in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. Murray says, “Things were happening in Cleveland I wanted to be part of it.” Laffay says, “It’s a way to be creative in expressing the way we want to live in terms of consumption, energy use.”

Murray and Laffay joined forces, according to Murray, “to promote healthy lifestyle and healthy living.” They also like to teach customers about seasonal eating – choosing produce that is grown locally and doesn’t have the negative effect on the environment as crops that are trucked or flown in.

In its third year, Erie’s Edge grows mixed vegetables, herbs, and flowers – both edible and not – helped by a grant from the city called Gardening for Greenbacks. Murray and Laffay specialize in heirloom varieties. In addition to their CSA marketing, they also sell at the Tremont Farmer’s Market and to local restaurants.

Kentucky Garden (http://www.kentuckygardens.com/) sits at W. 38th and Franklin Blvd. (The website Kentucky Garden was taken, hence the confusing web address.) Leased from the city, it’s an all-volunteer garden, with 133 gardeners and 155 plots. Steering Committee member Gail Long says the garden has been there since the 1950s, and, “I believe it was in 1976 or 1977 that I started to garden there.” Though many gardeners are from the area, many others come from a distance. The charge each year is $12 for a full plot (20 ft. by 20 ft.) or $6 for a half plot (20 ft. by 10ft.) Interested gardeners can sign up for next year at the website.

Long says, “What is wonderful about Kentucky Garden is that it’s a community garden where people from all walks of life (religion, race, socio-economic background, gender) gather to play in the dirt.” Besides those of white European background, there are volunteers whose background is Bhutanese, Nepalese, Asian, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Latino and African American.

A non-commercial garden, Kentucky Garden volunteers determine what do with his or her produce/flowers/herbs, and much of it goes to local hunger centers, including St. Patrick’s Pantry and Lakeside Men’s Shelter, or to members of the community.  

Michael Mishaga, also on the Steering Committee, says, “This is a beautiful place, a safe place, free of stress.” He is particularly enthusiastic about the workships sponsored by the OSU Extension. This year there were courses on how to grow raspberries and strawberries, what to do about predator insects, pruning, and composting. Both Long and Mishaga appreciate the support they’ve received from Ohio City, Inc., which acts as the fiscal agent for Kentucky Garden.

The Ohio City Farm (http://www.ohiocityfarm.com/), at W. 24th and Bridge Avenue, is a collaboration among the Ohio City Near West Development Corporation, Refugee Response, and Great Lakes Brewing Company. With almost six acres, it’s one of the largest contiguous urban farms in the country.

Shawn Belt of Refugee Response came to OCF from the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Green Corps. He explains, “We employ refugees from Liberia, Burundi, Bhutan, and Burma. We provide English and other job skills so refugees will leave our program with skills necessary to find other long-term employment.”

The farm grows over 80 different kinds of fruits and vegetables, sells to Ohio City restaurants, and has a 50-person CSA this season. “We donate food to St. Augustine’s Hunger Center and much of our food goes home with our refugees.” Internships are available; check the website.

Northeast Ohio’s climate doesn’t deter some of these gardeners/farmers from winter growing. High tunnels, or hoop houses, are plastic-covered structures that provide environmental protection somewhere between heated greenhouse and open field conditions. Low tunnels are lower versions of the same thing. Row covers use a different material for the same effect. The sites in Ohio City are enjoying success with the different technologies.  

So whether it’s playing in the dirt, weeding without being bored, or growing beautiful flowers and healthful crops, Ohio City gardeners and farmers are part of a nationwide commitment to raise their food closer to home. But, honestly, it’s really about playing in the dirt.