Early Street Community Garden
About the Wind of the Spirit partner plot experience- "We found out how good it was for Dora and her family to be able to share family time and how the garden was even therapeutic for her daughter after their difficult experience leaving their home country for the American Dream."
Building Community
Once a littered and vacant lot, the vision and fortitiude of three women who went on to start Grow It Green Morristown raised funds to keep the property from development. Seeing the beauty of open space where others saw a junkyard, they longed for a place where "neighbors in Morristown who would not normally cross paths, could come together." The idea for a garden arose, and Early Street Community Garden became a treasured community green space for individuals/families to grow their own food, flowers and herbs; a space where strangers grow friendships.
In Phase II, the space expanded as donations allowed, and became a flourishing protected green space with a community garden and a unique public parklet. Community members from all walks of life enjoy the therapeutic benefits of gardening for a small fee or through subsidized plots for neighbors looking for a place to get outside, connect with others and grow!
Thanks to supporters the garden is a thriving community hub and model of sustainable green spaces complete with rain gardens, solar pavilion, bicycle repair station, apiary, native plants and more.
The garden hosts many community events and groups enjoying the therapeutic benefits of gardening including Colonial L.I.F.E. Neighborhood House, St. Margaret's and Morris County Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce. Gardeners actively harvest from a donation bed and their plots placing fresh produce for local neighbors in a donation bin along Early Street.
Phase III
“In order to build the movements capable of transforming our world, we have to do our best to live with one foot in the world we have not yet created.”
— Aurora Levíns Morales
Early Street Community Garden is in the middle of its third transformation. With you, we continue to strive to create a world where all creatures can flourish. Preserved green spaces are treasures as they hold the key to the care of our soil, wildlife and neighbors. We are grateful for those who have given in donation of time and funds that make it possible for us to reimagine this space. The elements weather the tools, beds, fencing and invasive species creep into the native plantings we care for. A lack of ties to the purpose of this space leads to misuse making us rethink the spaces. We believe opening up the spaces to more engagement including opportunities for education, service and fun are important for all those who interact here. We have asked questions and will continue to explore how the spaces are best used and what more you make possible to be available to groups like the seniors from the Morristown Housing Authority and hundreds of students from local schools walking to and from school by the garden and holding classes in the garden weekly in the spring and fall.
To start with, we are excited to have moved the fence along Early Street back to create a much larger public space. The designs evolve as we continue to ask questions about what impact we have when keeping ourselves open to the needs of our community.
Ideas we are working to incorporate include engagement with the community to help us design this space including the voices of the hundreds of teens that stream by the garden each day. We are looking at how this space engages more of the faces of those who live in this community to have a greater impact on physical and mental health. New designs include raised accessible beds, garden beds brimming with produce for people passing by to try and care for, spaces to hang out and enjoy the physical and mental benefits of green spaces, while also learning more about growing our own food. The possibilities for new public classes, movies and yoga sessions excite us. Individual donations are so important to be able to step into the world we are creating.
PUBLIC ART: Joining the Totems in the front parklet, in 2021, we worked with local artist Monique Sarfity to create this Community Eco Art Mosaic! Watch the video from one of our founders, Carolle Huber, to learn more about the project. This art piece was made possible in part by funding from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Garden closes for the season November 30th. Gardener registration renewal opens in January, and we'll reach out the waitlist once renewals are complete.
El jardín cierra por temporada el 30 de noviembre. La renovación del registro de jardinero comienza en enero y nos comunicaremos con la lista de espera una vez que se completen las renovaciones.
Reach out to earlystreet@growitgreenmorristown.org with any questions
View our 2024 Garden Handbook. Sign up for our newsletter to get all the details about coming changes to the parklet and garden registration!
Revise su correo electrónico y comuníquese con earlystreet@growitgreenmorristown.org si tiene alguna pregunta
Vea nuestro Manual y Acuerdo de Jardinería 2024 en inglés. Traducción disponible enviando un correo electrónico a Jenna, la administradora de su jardín.
Join the Garden Wait List
We would love to have you in the garden.
If you would like to be part of the garden, please sign up via our online form.
Únase a la lista de espera
Nos encantaría tenerte en el jardín.
Si desea ser parte del jardín, regístrese a través de nuestro formulario en línea.
Early Street Community Garden
17 Early Street
Morristown, NJ
The garden is situated on ceded, ancestral land of the Lenape people.
Turn on to Early Street off Speedwell Ave at the light. The garden is just down the hill on the right hand side across from Modera and down the street from Morristown High School.
Thank you to Nelson Castro of Jersey Gardens Landscaping Services, pictured here with Farmer Shaun and Jenna, who has been working on the garden from the beginning helping to create this beautiful space. What stories he has to tell of how much this space has changed! Thank you for our third rain garden which was lovingly built to help manage the stormwater overflow and filter out toxins helping to protect our local water supply.
PLANT HARDINESS ZONE: 7a (updated 2023)