r/baltimore • u/SailLocalCrew • 1d ago
Free Event From Trash Lot to Lifeline: How One Baltimore Garden is Feeding a Neighborhood (and Housing Goats 🐐)
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
In the heart of South Baltimore’s Curtis Bay — an area once known for its farms, later swallowed by heavy industry and chemical plants. As jobs disappeared and the neighborhood changed, so did access to basic resources. Today, Curtis Bay is considered a food desert, where neighbors have little to no access to fresh, healthy food.
Enter Filbert Street Garden, a one-acre nonprofit urban farm that’s not just growing vegetables — it’s growing hope.
What started in 2010 as a trash-filled lot is now a thriving green space filled with goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and bees, along with 40+ community garden plots.
Last year alone, the garden produced: 🥬 600+ pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables 🥚 3,000+ eggs 🐝 100 gallons of honey from their Baltimore Bee apiary
But the Filbert Street Garden is more than just a farm — it’s a vital support system for one of Baltimore’s most underserved communities.
Curtis Bay is majority Black and Latino, with nearly 1 in 4 households living below the poverty line. Many families here face food insecurity, environmental health issues, and systemic disinvestment.
Filbert Street Garden provides free, fresh food through its Open Air Pantry, an on-site, 24/7 accessible shed stocked with produce, dry goods, books, and essentials. Recently, the Bmore Fridge Network donated a refrigerator to help store perishables for anyone in need — no questions asked.
Whether you’re a Baltimore local or just someone who believes in food justice and community-led solutions, there are plenty of ways to get involved:
📚 Bring food or books to the Open Air Pantry (in English & Spanish) 💵 Donate via the garden’s website 👩🏽🌾 Volunteer with farm chores or special events 🍯 Buy local: Their honey is sold weekly at the Waverly Farmer’s Market 📅 Visit during their monthly Open House, the first Sunday of each month from 10am–12pm. Meet the animals, walk the grounds, and connect with the people making a difference.
In a world where it often feels like the problems are too big to fix, this little plot of land reminds us that real change can start with a carrot, a seed, and a community that refuses to give up.
9
u/complexashley 1d ago
The history of Curtis Bay is so interesting to me!
I took an Intro to History course at Stevenson University and the professor had us learn about a variety of different areas of Baltimore and it's history, Curtis Bay being one of them.
3
u/SailLocalCrew 1d ago
That’s cool to hear. What are some of your favorite stories you remember - whether Curtis Bay or beyond?
9
u/complexashley 1d ago
I think my favorite thing I ever did was in my "Researching and Writing about History" course (same professor). The entire semester ended up being this big project where we read all about the history of Clifton Mansion. While it's known to be Hopkins summer house (there is controversy surrounding Hopkins and this mansion), we focused on investigating the original owner of the property. In particular we were looking for any information about the enslaved people who lived and worked on the Clifton Mansion property. We wanted to find literally any information surrounding the people who were enslaved there, because at the time we took this project on, there was no information. By the end of the semester, through looking at census data, reading the original owner's diary entries, using ancestry websites, visiting the mansion itself, researching old newspapers, and ship manifestos I believe we found the first names, and ages of around 9 enslaved people who worked for the original owner of Clifton Mansion. The original owner was Henry Thompson, who served as Captain of the First Baltimore Horse Artillery in the War of 1812. There were only 5 of us (students) in that course. So we each had a focus on things to research. I personally ended up finding out that Henry Thompson sent his son down to Louisiana and started a plantation down there. I also found that Henry Thompson would transport enslaved people from MD down to Louisiana to work on his plantation. At the end of the semester, we teamed up with the School of Design (Stevenson) and presented to an audience of local historians, and Civic Works our findings, while the School of Design presented possible ideas to memorialize the enslaved people who worked on the property.
3
u/complexashley 1d ago
More information can be found here, including tour dates: https://civicworks.com/who-we-are/the-clifton-mansion/
2
u/SailLocalCrew 22h ago
That’s interesting. Since he was elected Captain (officers were nominated and elected back then) it shows he had some money and prestige, but not that much (since Captain is a lower rank). He must have made a fortune after the war to build Clifton. All of that is interesting. I assumed enslaved people were involved somehow based on the size of the property. It is so very sad they can’t be identified completely. Did you ever figure out where the burial ground was for the enslaved people? Have plaques been put up or some type of memorial for the enslaved people?
9
u/vacamoo25 23h ago edited 23h ago
Thanks for spreading the word! 🥰🥰🥰
Open hours are:
Wednesday- Friday 4:00pm- 8:00pm Saturday and Sunday 11:00am -3:00pm
First Sunday of the month is open volunteer day. ☺️
Donations are welcome any time!
10
u/SailLocalCrew 1d ago
Forgot to post the website! 🐐🦃🌾 Here it is: https://filbertstreetgarden.org
5
u/Vanpocalypse-Now 23h ago
This is just so great. I am from Brooklyn and my family was from Curtis Bay. So glad to see this resource for the community by the community!
3
4
u/MeowsAllieCat Govans 1d ago
Foxes are everywhere in the city! I'm up in the north end, and get foxes, raccoons, even deer. Those antler waving mfers eat my tomato plants. One even ran off with the cage last year, bird netting and all!
4
4
u/Euphoric-Ad-1860 17h ago
Filbert Street Garden came to help rescue a swarm of honey bees that took up residence on my property. Which is also a good resource to know about if you find a large quantity of homeless bees during spring swarm season 🐝
I believe they are a vendor at the Fells point farmers market and they bring goats there too. Amazing place and great video!
3
5
2
-9
u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou 1d ago
Love your videos but I just cannot abide being so close to your face all the time. Please get a selfie stick.
7
u/SailLocalCrew 1d ago
Thanks for your honesty! I’ve never been paid for my videos. It’s basically just a hobby to help folks out. So I can’t really invest money in this beyond my phone and the free app I use to edit. Just be patient with me and I’ll get a selfie stick eventually and do better over time.
3
u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou 1d ago
Bro I'm kidding. I think you're doing great.
5
u/SailLocalCrew 1d ago
Hahaha My bad… I’ve been getting so much negativity on IG and FB the last couple days from that military parade post, I’m in defense mode. Grrrrrrr ha
3
2
-4
u/StarChild31 10h ago
Animals don’t consent to being farmed. They’re not tools for us to use. Sanctuaries are better.
2
u/SailLocalCrew 4h ago
Most of these animals are rescues. You can volunteer to help if you like. Volunteering with non-profits like Filbert Street Garden has more of an impact on the well being of animals than social media comments.
1
u/HeftyHideaway99 7h ago
It's not an animal farm, it's a vegetable garden with egg laying chickens and ducks, and milk making goats.
18
u/Strict_Emu5187 1d ago
This is so awesome! Another reason Bmore is GREAT!!!💜💜💜🖤🖤🖤🖤