Helping communities take root:
Grassroots gardens of buffalo

By Lisa Kane
Mehrdad Hadighi
Jim Pavel, board president of Grassroots gardens.
Photo by Jim Bush.
A few daffodils, delphiniums, and marigolds can make a world of difference. That’s what J. Milton Zeckhauser believed when he founded Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo in 1995—that flowers, trees, herbs, and vegetables, when they’re planted and nurtured by a community, provide beauty and happiness, increase safety, and enhance residents’ sense of belonging and ownership. Working primarily in low-income neighborhoods in the city’s east and west sides, Grassroots Gardens has played a vital role in creating more than forty existing community gardens. Although Zeckhauser passed away a year ago this April, his work is carried on by the organization’s dedicated gardeners, board of directors, and staff, including its first full-time staffer, Heidi Freedman, whose new position was created through Americorp. Freedman agreed to answer a few questions about the organization.

How does Grassroots Gardens work?

When a group of interested people identifies a lot or public space they want to turn into a garden, they contact us. We work with the City of Buffalo to secure a lease (nearly all of the lots are city-owned properties), then Grassroots Gardens insures it and arranges for large debris to be cleared so the gardeners can get to work designing, planting, and maintaining their gardens.

How do the gardeners get plants and other material?

We coordinate the efforts of city and county workers, volunteers, and donors to have soil, plants, tools, and other supplies delivered to the site.

Who are some of the organization’s donors?

The organization has been supported so far through individual donations and some corporate support in terms of supplies and materials. Nurseries and landscapers have been wonderful. Local towns and the county have been generous with material like topsoil. As a grassroots organization, our success so far has been driven by local community. We’ve had phenomenal community support through the schools and block clubs that have gotten involved. And of course we have wonderful, passionate board members and volunteers.

What other groups do you work with?

Grassroots Gardens has always served as a liaison between groups interested in community gardens, including schools and other groups, getting the pieces in place to build the gardens. We have an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Avenue Project’s Growing Green initiative. As an office of the city, we work closely with other city offices. We’re also a member of the American Community Gardening Association.

In closing, what are some of the benefits community gardens provide?

There are so many! Neighborhood beautification, having produce to distribute in the community and the self-reliance that comes with growing your own food, the educational aspects, physical and mental health benefits, and getting people out of their houses and talking to each other. Particularly in areas where crime and personal safety have been compromised, gardening keeps people in contact and looking out for each other. Old and young, people who’ve never met, it gets them to make the connections that make neighborhoods neighborhoods, not just places where people live.

For more information or to get involved, go to www.grassrootsgardens.org.


Lisa Kane is a freelance writer who is lucky enough to live in a West Side neighborhood with several beautiful community gardens.


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