Buster English, Urban Gardener

The New York Times has been running a great series called “One In 8 Million: New York Characters in Sound and Images.” Yesterday, Buster English, an urban gardener in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, was profiled.

English, who lives in the Walt Whitman Houses—“projects” according to English—has been gardening there since 1994. He grows a variety of vegetables, which he both feeds to his family and gives away to neighbors.

My favorite lines from English:

• “I know a lot of people they use this Miracle Gro, fertilizer, and whatever. I don’t use none of that. I like for my plants to grow natural. I figure if the dirt and the rain don’t grow it, it’s not meant.”
• “A lot of kids in New York, they don’t even know where their food comes from.”
• “I had a lot of people offer me money for [my vegetables], but I don’t receive the money. I just give it to them from my heart.”

Click here for the Times' online feature on English.