The community garden in the south Tel Aviv neighborhood of Florentin is a genuine marvel: At the heart of a densely populated, gray urban environment, dominated by bare concrete and amid construction work in full swing, a small farm is hidden. Locals are growing herbs, fruit trees, potatoes, cucumbers, chili peppers, tomatoes, corn and even sunflowers.
On a visit to the community garden on a recent Saturday, the day of the week usually dedicated to gardening work, Hila Harel, who runs the activities at the garden, took out two pita breads filled with produce from the garden that she had collected the day before. She walked over to the cucumber patch, picked two cucumbers and sat down to eat. "Instead of going to the grocery store to buy vegetables, you can just walk through the garden and look for whatever has ripened. It's really cool!" she told Al-Monitor.
