“Love’s Garden” is 13 by 26 feet and contains 9-10 different varieties of vegetables and herbs. The current items in the garden include beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, beans, basil and a few others. Basil is the best grower so far, Ricardo Reeves said.
DYLAN THOMPSON — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
PITTSFIELD — Lindi Dagostino never thought that her friend Ricardo Reeves would be allowed to put a community garden in front of his apartment building on Onota Street.
Reeves, who was seeking a way to help the community, knelt in his bedroom, asking God for help.
His prayers were answered, as the owner of the apartment building at 279 Onota St. approved Reeves starting a community garden in front of the building, the former Bartlett Elementary School. The garden, called “Love’s Garden,” began in May and was completed by the first week of June.
Ricardo Reeves holding the pickaxe he used to start “Love’s Garden,” a community garden in front of his apartment building at 279 Onota Street. “Step by step, I figured it out and just tightened it up so it would look neat,” Reeves said.
DYLAN THOMPSON — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
“It’s been a blessing,” Reeves said. “I knew that it would help others in the community feel better. As a child of God, we’re always looking to help other people.”
The garden is 13 by 26 feet and contains about 10 different varieties of vegetables and herbs. Anyone can take anything from the garden or plant something as long as they are respectful, Reeves said, adding that he promised the owner the garden would be neat and special.
Ricardo Reeves started “Love’s Garden,” a new community garden located in front of his apartment building at 279 Onota Street. Anyone can take anything from the garden or plant something as long as they are respectful, Reeves said, adding that he promised the owner he would make a neat and special garden.
DYLAN THOMPSON — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
“It’s so beautiful,” Dagostino said. “Everybody that walks by stops and looks at it. It’s so impactful. It makes [people] feel part of something special.”
There is also a “Love’s Garden” sign that was made by Dagostino and a seating area. Reeves said that some of his former coworkers have dropped off flowers for the garden and that it’s a community space.
“The fact that he did this and he turned it into a place people look forward to … is wonderful,” Pittsfield resident Darci Hess said.
Members of the community gather with Ricardo Reeves, far right, on Thursday in front of the community garden at 279 Onota Street. “It’s been a blessing,” Reeves said.
DYLAN THOMPSON — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
Hess lives up the street from the apartment building. She often walks by the garden with her two daughters, who love talking with Reeves and seeing the garden.
“Love’s Garden,” a new community garden in front of an apartment building at 279 Onota Street has brought to joy to members of the community and children. From left, Charlotte Hess, Ricardo Reeves, Livi Hess.
DYLAN THOMPSON — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
The lawn in front of the building had been overgrown often, Hess said, adding that it’s now more “inviting, welcoming and beautiful.”
Reeves said the garden began in God’s heart and that he always planned to do something for the community. He said he wanted to bring more respect and dignity into the neighborhood.
Reeves has lived in his first-floor apartment in the building for nearly 14 years and said he is “probably the oldest resident here.” He had no tools when he started the garden and received help from many community members, including one who provided him with a pickaxe.
Reeves said making the garden got easier when someone from the neighborhood gave him a mantis tiller, and that receiving help from the community gave him “added joy.”
Reeves said he did everything on his own, including digging the garden bed, adding topsoil and planting. The current items in the garden include beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, beans, basil and a few others. Basil is the best grower so far, Reeves said.
He also cuts the grass using his friend’s lawnmower and waters the garden every morning and night, which has been a “delight.” Reeves joked that he didn’t know what he was doing at first and that the layout took him a few tries.
“Step by step, I figured it out and just tightened it up so it would look neat,” Reeves said.
Creating a safe space for the neighborhood was important to Reeves, who remembers a fatal shooting that occurred three years ago outside of the building involving his upstairs neighbor, Miguel Estrella.
Friends and co-workers question fatal police shooting in Pittsfield, as investigation begins
Late on March 25, 2022, Estrella, 22, was shot and killed by a police officer responding to an emergency call. Investigations by Pittsfield Police and the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office later determined that the officer, who first deployed a Taser against Estrella, followed “use of force guidelines” and that Estrella posed an immediate threat as he came at an officer “at a fast pace” with a raised knife.
Here are the findings of the full Pittsfield Police Department report into the fatal shooting of Miguel Estrella
Reeves said he remembers hearing the gunshots that night and was “heartbroken by it.” He is committed to cleaning up the building and making it safer for everyone, especially children.
“[I] wouldn’t want [children] to run up against something that’s going to be a danger to them,” Reeves said.
Planting more food and getting kids involved in the gardening process is important to Reeves.
“I’m envisioning kids getting in the garden,” Reeves said. “Seeing them plant and then letting them see what their hands have done.”