If you wander around New York City like I am fortunate enough to do and actually pay attention to your surroundings or the things that you are passing you might very well happen upon one of the many Green Thumb garden spaces. Obviously the term “green thumb” has something to do with gardening and what this organization does is take barren and often neglected lots and turns them into things of beauty and inspiration for all to enjoy. It’s not just relegated to our city of course and is an initiative of people across the whole country but one would have to agree that seeing these every few blocks or avenues is so much more pleasurable than seeing yet another condominium being built.

I had made my way downtown after enjoying a film screening with another writer friend of mine and since the sun was bright above us we took a quick walk through the shade of this Green Thumb garden. Since I always carry my camera with me (either the SLR or one of the point and shoots) I decided to snap some shots and share them with you on the PiercingKen blog. After all, this is why this particular dotcom was launched in the first place. I will not be offering up narrative much on this posting as its more about enjoying the scenery.

All of the gardens I have been lucky to see have a stone or gravel path to allow for the visitors to not walk on mere dirt.  This one had both at some parts of it.

This visit found us arriving at watering time so you had to guess when the perfect time was to continue along without getting wet.  I kind of managed in this but still had some of the cool water raining down on me.  I was not going to argue as it was still a hot summer day.  It felt nice.

This garden has a pond but I am not too sure if there are any fish in it.  I need to look next time I am there and I can always add additional photos to this posting for your viewing pleasure.  There is a small shed which I neglected to photograph and one time I saw some of the volunteers convening in there.  It seemed cozy.

I’ll close up this one with a shot of one of the very lovely sunflowers that are growing in the garden.  Please remember to only look but not touch or remove anything from the garden.

I encourage you to pass through these garden spaces if you happen upon them to enjoy their beauty and their sense of piece of mind in nature’s wonders.  It’s five or six minutes to walk through this one if I didn’t mention that before and everyone can afford that amount of time out of their day right?  You are also welcome to remain longer of course and sit on one of the many benches and relax and perhaps read a little bit.  I’ve seen that happening each time I have wandered into this particular garden.  I now return you to your already in progress life.  Have a nice day.

HOW DO I FIND THIS? This Green Thumb garden is located on the corner of Bowery and East Houston Street in NYC and as mentioned is maintained by volunteers. If you are visiting one and see someone watering or sweeping or tending to the assorted plants, be sure to thank them for their efforts. It will be appreciated for sure.

Learn more about the Green Thumb projects: http://www.greenthumbnyc.org/