About a month ago, David McDonald's mother passed away. Now, he plants in her memory.
According to McDonald, who lives in Over-the-Rhine, his mother ran 11 gardens around the area to help feed people who could not afford to purchase items.
His garden is down the street from the Findlay Market and is able to operate because the United States Department of Agriculture granted the Corporation for Findlay Market the Farmers Market Promotion Program for Cultivating a Healthy Environment for Farmers (CHEF) project.
According to Cincinnati's Vice Mayor David Crowley, the city has about 300 vacant lots available in the vicinity of the market.
The grant helps purchase start-up equipment like:
shovels, rakes, hoes, hoses, wheelbarrows as well as seeds, compost, mulch and hay.
All participants agree to eight weeks of classroom training three hours per week.
The current gardens are along Pleasant Street directly South of the market.
McDonald's garden is near the corner of Pleasant and Liberty and he named it "Mattie's Dream."
"This is [for] my Mama. I wish she was out there with me, but she is... in spirit."
