CURTIS BAY — For decades Curtis Bay has been known as a food desert. Neighbors in that area say the lack of grocery stores and other resources in the community, make it hard to survive, which is why many depend on a community garden.
Filbert Street Garden, located in Curtis Bay, is a one stop shop, where neighbors can get fresh produce, free Wi-Fi, and cuddles from a few furry friends.
"It really can't be understated the food desert we're in. It is a 40 minute walk over to the closest grocery store that is in Brooklyn Park over there…so the residents here, about two thirds of them, have cars and a third of them don't. They're very dependent on the corner stores here, which is like a 25% markup. Unfortunately, it's very expensive being poor," said Charles Debarber, Animal Husbandry.
Which is why this garden is free to the public. Anyone can grab items from their twenty-four- hour food pantry.
Additionally community members especially kids can benefit from the garden’s free Wi-Fi, as there’s no library in Curtis Bay.
"Only a third of our residents have internet that's not on their phones so we installed free internet here, and made it a public hotspot," said Debarber.
The community also lacks recreational activities, organizers say oftentimes kids are found playing in abandoned homes because the parks aren't safe, that's why staff work hard to keep the garden alive.
"We pay local youth workers from the neighborhood that serve as our garden stewards. Each spring we have open hours here, we have four hours a day for four days a week, when that's going on…kids can come around, pet a lot of the different animals, honestly just come in here and play," said Debarber.
The garden is all about expanding knowledge by giving opportunity and support.
"It's the lessons and things that they learn here are things that they carry on. And one thing that I adore is our stewards, which are all teenagers. You literally have kids in the neighborhood kind of emulating them, we have like the fancy shirts and a kind of the ranger aesthetic for them here. And there's kids that want to be that," said Debarber.
Additionally, thanks to new legislation that's awaiting Mayor Brandon Scott's signature. The city can sell the lot to the garden. And last year, the state agreed to a bond proposal that will invest thousands of dollars into upgrades at the garden, like bathrooms and other ADA amenities.
The Garden is open for visits from May 1-November 1, Wednesday-Friday from 11am-3pm.
For more information on the garden, click here.