Anarchy in Action begins in the garden

By Aaron Garland and Brandon Schlager
BengalNews Reporters

Nestled into the corner of the intersection at Normal Avenue and Vermont Street sits a plot of land that formerly existed as an empty lot sparsely filled with grass and not much else.

Avorm Siegel prepares his plot for strawberries

Today it’s flush with budding optimism in the form of sweet strawberries, plump tomatoes and dozens of other fruits and vegetables planted to bloom for a West Side community in need thanks to the efforts of one new organization on the block.

Neighborhood residents gathered at the junction on May 4 with members of Anarchy in Action to christen the Normal Avenue Community Garden, the newest public garden on the West Side.

Drawn to celebrate a rare positive development in their community, it was a fun-filled afternoon of dirt-digging and seed-planting for community members, who learned from gardening experts the tips and tricks to growing and maintaining a successful garden as they planted their own.

For Anarchy in Action, an upstart local anarchist group focused on changing the way Buffalo thinks through education and voluntary action, it was a landmark day.

The opening of the garden marked the official beginning of the community garden initiative. It was also the first “major” outreach program carried out by the growing organization, which was established in November.

Dustin Snyder, a West Side resident and one of the founders of Anarchy in Action, said it was a simple choice to settle on a site for the group’s first project. The site was donated by Carrie Nadar, a resident on the adjacent Plymouth Avenue.

“The people who live on the West Side you’ll find have a really incredible sense of community and projects like this have a way of taking off,” Snyder said. “… That’s exactly what we wanted to do. We saw that this was a part of anarchism that was not present in the Buffalo community and we wanted to fill that niche.”

Dustin Snyder, on Anarchy in Action:






The foundation of the group is built upon the ideals of interdependence and relying on a sense of community for growth. They had been active with smaller events like neighborhood “street cleanups” until now.

But a community garden, Snyder said, best demonstrates the mission statement Anarchy in Action is hoping to get across: to put responsibility and accountability back into the hands of local communities.

“There are two things that man knows naturally,” said John Roszman, a volunteer with Anarchy in Action whose experience in gardening aids in leading the project, “That’s war and gardening.

“One of the things that I believe is it (a community garden) is probably one of the ways that we can have peace on this earth. It also shows somebody that he has a piece of land. A king has land that he can garden. It turns people from pawns into kings.” 

John Roszman, left, demonstrates seeding techniques

As part of their community garden initiative, Anarchy in Action will organize weekly gardening times to assist residents with their personal plots throughout the summer, mixing in monthly workshops for growers to hear from area gardening professionals. 

Each of the garden’s 14 plots will function as a resident’s personal garden, hosting seasonal crops that will become a self-sustaining food source for the community. Residents can grow fresh fruits and vegetables for themselves or donate them to local charities.

Michael Pacheco, who can see the gardens from the balcony of his Normal Avenue residence, was in attendance May 4 to prep his plot.

He said the values the garden adds to the community are endless, especially for his nieces. They will work together this summer to maintain their sunflowers and peas and decorate the garden.

“It will teach them responsibility and also to look out for everyone else, too,” Pacheco said. “Now when they come home from school they can always keep an eye on the lot when they’re playing and riding their bikes up and down." 
         "This is such a benefit to the community that it's a shame that there's not more," he added. "You go to any store, I would say, within 10 blocks of where we're at, you're not going to find fresh produce anywhere. Everything is a corner store, so something like this gets people thinking differently.”