Host Michelle Lewis talks with Sherryl Durrant, resident garden manager and community lead at Kelly Street Garden in the South Bronx, about her shift from corporate work to nearly 20 years in community gardening after the 2008 economic collapse and training at Farm School NYC. Sherryl describes Kelly Street Garden’s history tied to housing activism after the “decade of fire,” its small 8,000-square-foot footprint, and its programming around culturally relevant food, health, education, art, and mental wellness. She emphasizes learning from community knowledge, the politics of poverty, and practical advice for new growers—volunteer, learn from elders, and follow seasonal timing. They discuss youth transformation through gardening, collaborative growing that increased harvests from about 600 to nearly 1,800 pounds, a community apothecary of herbs, and Sherryl’s hope in collective community, plus her “climate wand” vision for greener, more livable cities.
01:28 From Corporate to Soil
04:23 Kelly Street Garden Origins
12:01 Advice for New Growers
15:28 Youth Transformation and STEM
20:02 Okra Love and Food Culture
20:50 Finding Hope in Community
23:21 Growing Together and Big Harvests
25:52 Climate Stick
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