BACG History Post #41
Bryson H. "Tommy" Thompson was nearing the end of his time with Gardens for All. The organization's founding director devoted a decade to helping people establish community gardens.
On June 18, 1982, Thompson's parting message was published in the Burlington Free Press. He focused on the benefits of gardening and the need for land to provide gardeners with a place to grow.
Thompson described the irony of residents organizing to revitalize a rubble-strewn vacant lot in an urban neighborhood, then being dislocated from their community garden when property values rise.
The solution, Thompson reflected, was for enough people to personally witness a first-time gardener returning home with their first harvest, or a group of youngsters seeing plants bursting through the soil, when a week earlier they carefully planted tiny seeds.
He ended with a hopeful vision: "Someday, when enough people see this joy, or experience it themselves, there just may be enough land for all."
