10 YEARS WITH THE DAYTON’S BLUFF EAST SIDE GARDEN PROJECT IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE WHEN SOMEONE IS TALKING ABOUT URBAN COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
     
RUTH MURPHY - “NURTURING NATURE”
by Caroline Snyder

Ruth was born and raised in Austin, Minnesota and is the mother of 5 grown children.  She has a degree in music and taught before she became the president of the Greater Metropolitan Federation.   In the 1970s this Institute was developed to train people in the Social Action Changes of the day – peace, action and “red-lining” within the urban communities.   She became a lobbyist for the Urban Coalition and conducted a national revenue sharing study for them.  Shortly after that she became the Director of the Community Design Center that has assisted communities in enhancing their communities through housing development, organizing commercial development and doing training for community development.  10 years ago she developed the “Children’s East Side Garden Project.”  Today the Center focuses on community development through children, food and ecology enterprises. 

There are 6 garden sites at present   They are located at the Swede Hollow Cafe, Health East Nursing Home, Harding High School, the garden at Case and Forest  (Holy Trinity Church), a private residence and Dayton’s Bluff Children’s Garden at 3rd and Maria. These gardens have developed over the past 4 years.  The main “teaching” site is at the 3rd and Maria location.  The other sites are market gardens, marketing the food that is produced at the gardens.    The classes teach children involvement in the areas of nutrition, health, career and job skills, environmental education and the process of organically growing food.  Ruth’s involvement with the schools, the recreation centers and senior centers is very well recognized in our community. 

The garden project cooking classes are held year round.  In the fall, winter and spring they are held at Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School.  In the summer, classes are held at the garden at 3rd and Maria.  Cooking equipment is brought to the site and electrical connections are made.  Other classes are Garden Art and Environmental Science.  One class teaches mapping the neighborhood including the creation of a topographical map of Dayton’s Bluff.  The purpose of the mapping classes is to observe and record the community.   It is a way for the children to “see and hear” their neighborhood in new ways.

The Community Design Center is working with the Upper Swede Hollow Neighborhood Association to develop classes and curriculum around rain gardens. As part of the environment, “Eco-stations” are being developed throughout the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.  The Upper Swede Hollow Neighborhood Association developed rain gardens as a model to teach the concept of having “little wetlands” to help clean the water before it empties into the streams and creeks that empty into the Mississippi.  The native plants indigenous to the area are planted to filter the sediments from urban runoff, filtering out the toxic pollutants that create havoc with our rivers and lakes.  The Community Design Center will work with them to develop classes and curriculum around rain.

“Citizenship responsibilities” should not be underestimated when emphasizing the importance of these programs for the children.  Developing the responsibility to preserve a clean environment at an early age is tantamount to the preservation of all we cherish  - from the pristine lakes and rivers to the quality of air we breathe to the natural habitat for the plants and animals that populate our forests and wetlands.  It is a gift that instills within all of us a sense of giving back to nature an environment worthy of an education for future generations to come.

The Children’s Farmers Market and the “Salad Share Program” are other endeavors of the Children’s Garden Project, where Ruth has dedicated her time and talents.  After the harvesting of their vegetables, greens and herbs, the children sell their produce at the Swede Hollow Cafe at the end of June and at the Children’s Farmers’ Market at Swede Hollow Cafe from mid-June through mid-September.  They also sell to clients like “Zander’s” on Selby, “Big Daddy’s” at the Union Depot, Swede Hollow Cafe and “A Toast To Bread” on 7th Street.   During the winter months they are busy developing products (making cards, wreaths and vinegars.)  Field trips to museums and a trip to Dayton’s Flower Show are annual events as well as other related educational field trips.   
A special aspect in the internship program is the selection of 10 children each year.  They range in ages from 10 through 13 years of age.  Besides the initial preparation of the soil, the planting and daily nurturing, the children clean the produce and bag it for delivery.  A bouquet of flowers is always included.  

The Home Office is located at Selby and Western.  The full organization has 6 staff personnel and 40 volunteers.  An individual with a “vision and a mission”, Ruth relates the story of the young man who was with the Garden Center intern program for 2 1/2 years.  He recently moved to Chicago but before he did he told Ruth and her staff, “I will always remember this garden and what I learned here.”  He is now interning at the Botanical Gardens in Chicago.  It is a heartwarming legacy to each of us when a child finds a skill to transfer to another place.  “We need to expand our vision as to how we use green space in neighborhoods.  The Children’s Gardens are an example and help children become productive members of their communities.”

Note:  Each spring there is a 2-day planting at Swede Hollow Cafe.  There is a “rain making machine” from the Department of Energy and Sustainable Agriculture at Swede Hollow Cafe.  A demonstration of rain making will show how polluted water run-off erodes the soil and how the plantings “hold” the soil.  The children also plant the rain gardens with native plants at this time.