Video - Community Harvest

submitted by Stella Tarnay

meridianhillpictures.com - Directors: Brandon and Lance Kramer - Editor: Cameron King

Community Harvest celebrates the natural and cultural harvests of our community, documenting the dramatic transformation of a forgotten vacant urban alley in our Nation’s Capital into a majestic, public garden and collaborative green space.

Created by an inspiring recipe of community volunteers, neighborhood youth, local non-profit organizations and city government support, the North Columbia Heights Green is ultimately a story about reconnecting people to the land. A longtime abandoned vehicle dumping ground, now the North Columbia Heights Green is a vibrant, sustainable and beautiful natural oasis nestled within the diverse urban fabric of Columbia Heights. Located in the alley space behind Red Rocks Pizzeria, off the east side of the 3300 block of 11th Street NW, the Green features dozens of community gardening plots, an orchard, a berry patch, a rain garden, butterfly gardens, a greenhouse, public learning and demonstration spaces, a stage for music and artistic performances, and an outdoor movie screen.

The story of the North Columbia Heights Green creation offers a powerful example, demonstrating how dark alleys and abandoned lots across the city could also undergo a similar transformation, using public gardens and green spaces to build and strengthen communities.

http://www.meridianhillpictures.com/ourfilms/film/community_harvest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jWXKDRUFvMo#!