The vegetable gardens planted around the city's War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall have produced more than 1,500 pounds of vegetables for the kitchens of Our Daily Bread, which feeds the homeless.
But perhaps just as important is this news: "The garden has been respected," said Melissa Grim, acting chief horticulturist for the city's Departments of Recration and Parks.
Except for the odd head of cabbage or sage plant going missing, there has been no theft or vandalism in the multiple beds that surround the plaza. The gardens are lush, productive and unharmed.
"And no rats!" said Angela Treadwell-Palmer, who designed the gardens for the city.
Because of the abundant spring rain, the gardens produced hundreds of pounds of lettuce and beans and is still producing kale, collard greens and Swiss chard.
Now the summer crops are maturing: Cherry tomatoes are just about ripe and there are blossoms on the squash, peppers and eggplants. The onions are nearly as big as baseballs and the corn has just been transplanted from the city's greenhouses.
This week, there will be "mailboxes" in the garden with recipes and information about growing and eating vegetables as part of an education campaign Treadwell-Palmer believes is needed.
"I think it is really cool that the homeless are eating better [at Our Daily Bread] than most of the citizens in the city of Baltimore," she said.
Those who stop by the garden, she said, will ask what the plants are because they have either never seen where vegetables come from or because vegetables are not part of their daily diet.
"We offered broccoli to people when we were harvesting it and they turned us down," she said.
From her point of view, and that of the master gardeners such as Larry Kloze and Ursula Scheffel who are among the volunteer gardeners from Cylburn Arboretum, the gardens are a huge success and cheaper to manage than the city gardens planted with annuals that must be bought and maintained.
"The seeds were donated by Meyers Seeds," she said. "And the master gardeners are here every Thursday working for free."
The harvesting of the spring crops took place every week. There will be a lull now until the summer crops mature. A public harvest event, to be attended by Mayor Sheila Dixon, is set for July 23, just before the City Farms potluck picnic on July 25.
Just how many ways can you cook Swiss chard, the gardens' bumper crop?
"We will keep sending it to Our Daily Bread until they tell us to stop," said Treadwell-Palmer.
