What work has been done to improve this site for birds and other wildlife? How long did it take?

B.E.E. (Birmingham Eastside EcoGardens) is not a typical community garden. It is a biodiverse ecosystem of plants and wildlife. We have community garden beds, culinary and medicinal herbs, a native orchard, pollinator meadow, a greenway trail…and more. We are redefining urban farming, community, and relationships with nature.

Are there any tough decisions that had to be made regarding its management? How were they handled?

We’ve encountered challenges with maintaining two acres with a handful of volunteers, no funding, and rainwater cisterns as our only source of water. We have, however, learned to work with nature and remain an off-the-grid, natural garden. We’ve decided to minimize our need to overly manage our landscapes and, instead, spend more time observing nature’s interactions.

Also, being a public space, we are mindful of maintaining open pathways and trash cans, while creating educational signs for visitors. Another aspect is dealing with well-intentioned visitors unknowingly clearing a native habitat, or pulling “weeds” that were intentionally planted or left. We have learned that education is the most important aspect of all that we do, and how to implement the education is a constant challenge. We are working to develop more signage and host more classes and community events while maintaining our social media presence.