Where do you find peace in this crazy world?

When I search for peace, I always find it in my garden. I also love to visit the Urban Food Forest at Brown’s Mill and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. While I’ve valued these magnificent grounds for many years, I never recognized the biodiversity in my backyard.

I read a fantastic article by one of my favorite writers Dr. Preeti Singh about a walk in nature that brings peace, calm, and exhilaration. She is my go-to writer for finding peace, positivity, and fascinating writings. She never fails to inspire me.

When I read her article, I didn’t understand the meaning or realize there were several biodiverse gardens in Georgia. My first thought was to write about the most prominent urban food forest in the nation.

The Urban Food Forest at Brown’s Mill

This biodiverse Urban Food Forest is one-of-a-kind, and; it is currently the most prominent public food forest in the country. It serves as a model for integrating food resources into equitable park development plans to provide long-term benefits for local communities.

Neighbors still talk about the land’s former owners, Ruby and Willie Morgan, who left excess produce from their farm on fence posts for neighbors to claim and enjoy. Community leaders invited the City of Atlanta, The Conservation Fund, Trees Atlanta, Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, and others to kick off this project to benefit the community and educate other communities about replicating their unique model.

The Urban Food Forest “approaches conservation through the concept of Agri-forestry — using agriculture that integrates trees and shrubs with food production to create healthy and ecologically resilient landscapes. That means using native trees and plants that produce nutritious foods, but that also provide resources to local wildlife and pollinator species, capture stormwater and mitigate flooding, filter air, and water, and create a more sustainable urban landscape.” The map below and more information can be found at the following link:

This community undertaking is the definition of resilience. I was privileged to volunteer and write grants for this one-of-a-kind garden providing fresh produce in a community with limited access to affordable, healthy foods.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Opening in 1976, and according to the website, “Renowned plant collections, beautiful displays, and spectacular exhibitions make the Atlanta Botanical Garden the loveliest place in the city to visit.

An urban oasis in the heart of Midtown (Atlanta), the Garden includes 30 acres of outdoor gardens, an award-winning Children’s Garden, the serene Storza Woods highlighted by a unique Canopy Walk, and the picturesque Skyline Garden.” I couldn’t have said it better.

At the Garden

The Garden has over 30 years of experience conserving and recovering rare and threatened plant species through research, propagation, collaborative restoration, and habitat management. It provides spectacular events and exhibitions, classes and education, and conservation and research.

Affordable admission options are available for individuals, families, and donors. Visitors come from all over the world come to take part in once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

A New Twist Taking Covid Into Consideration

Starting off the holidays, the Garden presents the Reindeer Parade in November. You can participate at home by submitting a photo of your dog(s) dressed in holiday fare. An internal review panel chooses the top three finalists in each category.

The public assisst in determining the winners in each category. Categories include Best Holiday, Best Holiday Pack, and Best Botanical. The rules and prizes are explained in detail on their website.

Holiday Model Trains

The Garden invites kids and kids at heart for this holiday favorite display, running day and night on the Alston Overlook.

Atlanta Orchid Society 2021 Orchid Show

The Orchid Show is one of my favorite events! This holiday extravaganza dazzles the Garden nightly with millions of brilliantly-colored LED lights and displays.

For an orchid enthusiast like me, a vast orchid hothouse is open year-round and features some of the most diverse, beautiful, and unique orchids worldwide.

Kids Classes and Education

Anything to do with children’s learning warms my heart! The Garden offers classes and education for kids of all ages. The holiday events are always a hit! The Garden offers an always sold-out winter break camp for kids to discover winter’s botanical beauties and learn about winter wildlife.

Events continue with camps and educational workshops throughout the year!

The Learnings

1. Never forget to look for the unique people, places, and things in your community

2. We all play a part in understanding the impact of biodiversity

3. Vacant and neglected land can be transformed into a community asset that provides a safe place for kids to play and families to gather

4. Biological diversity is the resource that families, communities, nations, and future generations depend on.

5. Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease, and fresh water is in irregular or short supply.

6. There is a growing concern that the high rates of modern extinctions — due to habitat loss, over-harvesting, and other human-caused environmental changes — could reduce nature’s ability to provide goods and services such as food, clean water, and a stable climate.

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Everyday life can be so stressful. Politics. COVID. Inflation. A short walk in nature is a breath of fresh air. I can walk in my two favorite biodiverse gardens and catapults me in to another world. I stand in awe of the beauty. Now that I understand more, I not only see the beauty; I see my responsibility in maintaining it.

I can’t imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive. David Suzuki

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