Our Changing Landscape

July 12, 2017/Nedra Deadwyler
Atlanta neighborhoods are changing rapidly. Every day that I fail to travel to a neighborhood, ride down a certain street or simply stay home to work in my garden, I miss the opportunity to say good-bye.  Good-bye not just to a felled building or trees but those seldom lamented flowering plants, shrubs, vines, any type of green plant.  Plants are champions in the landscape.  Their roots keep soil in place, bring beauty, create a sense of place, and are potential medicinal in nature.  Exploring the history embedded in the landscape also includes delving deeper into the plants that exist there too, not just buildings, murals, or art, parks but plants and trees, they are just as much part of the Atlanta story.

One of my passions includes gardening, currently ornamentals, a few herbs and a pepper plant.  I’ve practiced vegetable gardening as a for-hire gardener, scratched the surface of permaculture, and some volunteer gardening with a couple of groups but still feel like a novice when it comes to plants.  Farming is part of my paternal family’s story in Madison County, Georgia, as a kid following my dad around the yard, learned from working with him in the yard and family garden plot.  Plants and growing them still holds a bit of hold over me and so, curiosity leads to a tour. Rebeca Rosas of Cordillera Apothecary, is a medicinal herbalist and we’re co-hosting herbal plant tours!  Our goal is to take participants on rides through Atlanta’s neighborhoods, one at a time and locate plants that can be used for health, comfort, and medicinal purposes.  Our first neighborhood is Kirkwood, a small community on the east side of Atlanta, annexed into the city in 1922 and is only 1.5 square miles.  The route will take us through parks, community gardening plots, sidewalks of businesses, along residential streets and on a off-road path.  We will talk, listen and write what we see and hear- plant-lore, medicinal uses, and how to maintain in our own personal spaces.  Afterwards we’ll sip on some tea.  How southern!

Don’t miss your opportunity to explore an Atlanta neighborhood before it’s gone. Find out more information on how you can join a tour!

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