Brewed Fresh Daily

Dan Kane could be called the granddaddy of urban agriculture in Cleveland. In 1974, he was a Cleveland police officer doing community outreach when he read about other cities using gardening projects to prevent crime and revitalize inner-city streets. He recruited 23 kids to turn a neglected playground on East 65th and Kenyon Avenue in Slavic Village � the neighborhood where Kane has lived his entire life � into a miniature Eden. �Two years later, then-mayor Ralph Perk drove through the area and saw our garden,� says Kane, now 79 and retired. �It was in full bloom, a wonderful sight to see. The mayor really liked what we were doing and you could say that planted the seed for the Summer Sprout Program.� Kane still manages the garden, where he and 36 others tend the raised beds. Across the street, they�ve landscaped another empty lot with colorful shrubs and trees. �We enjoy the work and one another�s company,� explains Kane, who lives in the same house in which his mother was born. We hang out, talk, have picnics. Sometimes, people play music here and the whole neighborhood comes to listen. We�re growing a feeling of community along with the vegetables and flowers.�