Sacred Places
The Mulberry Gander at Filbert Street Garden
A refuge rooted in justice, where those who feel lost can be found.
WHERE
Baltimore, MD
SETTING
Community Farm
PARTNER INSTITUTION
Filbert Street Garden
Visit
Where it is
1317 Filbert Street, Baltimore, MD
What happens here
The garden keeps sheep, chickens, bees, and rescued goats that like to say hello to passersby from the street, and hosts native bats. Visitors of all ages come to be around the animals. Fifty community plots are worked here, FilbertNet provides free internet, and a curbside pantry runs against the food desert. The garden employs local kids through summer and fall, in neighborhoods where there are no other local jobs and only a third of residents have a car. It holds an Autumn Faire. The site is gated for security but keeps regular open hours and programming to bring neighbors in.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Built by refugees of gentrification.
Drag to see the transformation.
01
The Need
Curtis Bay and Brooklyn have taken in immigrants since 1900 — Polish, Italian, and Irish then; Hispanic, Russian, and South Asian now — and more recently residents priced out of a gentrifying Central Baltimore. The neighborhoods face poverty, industrial pollution, growing drug problems, and a shortage of internet, libraries, and food access.
02
The Vision
The garden was established by those "refugees of gentrification" and became a safe place for the lost and displaced. Filbert Street's own vision statement for its Sacred Place puts it directly: to revitalize the shared habitat of the garden's many creatures and caretakers, re-envision its capacity to serve the community, and make the space accessible to all visitors — growing a refuge rooted in justice, where those who feel lost can be found. The Sacred Place process supported broader engagement and openness within the community. Out of it came a masterplan naming what mattered most: move the bird coop to cluster it with the other animal enclosures and expand it significantly; formalize the pathways to ease access, wayfinding, and the garden's ability to give tours; use the ground freed by the coop's move to enlarge the outdoor classroom and gathering areas; and add a portal that is itself a gathering space. The expanded coop and the pathways were named highest priority and became phase one.
03
The Transformation
The old bird coop sat apart from the other animals, and the paths were informal. Phase one moved and significantly expanded the coop, clustering it with the enclosures, and formalized the pathway system so the garden could be navigated and toured. That freed ground for a larger outdoor classroom and gathering area. The beeyard remains the largest community beeyard in Maryland, its honeybees pollinating a two-mile radius. Firesoul Charles DeBarber and Ron assembled the goat bench on site.
WHO TENDS IT
Amber Peters
Firesoul, The Mulberry Gander at Filbert Street Garden
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