The garden plots are a relatively small part of the larger Granada Park, which is used and maintained at various levels by the gardeners, the surrounding community, and the general public. Both plot gardeners and adjacent neighbors participate in designated clean up days and individual efforts that focus on maintenance of the communal and public areas – the lawn, perennial gardens and the fruit orchards (currants, grapes, juneberries, and hazelnut tree). A few adjacent neighbors volunteer their time and equipment to maintain the lawns (which are fertilized, limed, reseeded, aerated, mowed etc). Several neighbors have participated for years in maintenance of the park without having a plot. The students and teachers from the Hernandez School have had a dedicated garden plot for 15 years, and have also planted and now maintain a perennial garden. Some neighbors have been inspired to garden at home, and look to the garden for support and advice. Others are supplementing their limited garden space at home with larger, sunny space in Granada Park. Many plot gardeners are renters, and have no other access to garden space to grow food. The field, in addition to play, is used by the community for BBQ and community gatherings. The annual neighborhood summer cookout has become very popular and has led to neighbors hosting holiday and other gatherings in their homes for residents. In addition to these active uses, there is a significant “passive” use of the garden, as every day large numbers of commuters use the path through Granada Park. This path connects two dead end streets, providing a short cut from the Stonybrook T stop to Franklin Park and surrounding homes. There is increased traffic in the summer, when the general public attends summer festivals at Franklin Park, or goes to the zoo. This traffic has the opportunity to enjoy the park and gardens, which are generally unlocked, and to be exposed to food production in the city. Often, people stop and wander through the garden, or ask about it. Granada Park itself is the result of community involvement. In 1993, residents of the two adjacent streets, Chilcott Place and Granda Park (the garden has inherited the name of the street it is on), met with their local state representative in an effort to get the city to simply clean up a city-owned lot that had been empty and collecting trash for years. In spite of its condition, it was an established short cut between the two dead end streets, and a play for local children to play. One thing led to another, and the neighbors received a grant to plan and then establish the park and garden. There was never any doubt that this resource should remain an accessible to the public, and that the shortcut should be maintained. Early planning efforts were supported by the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association, and by the Citizen’s School, whose grade school students did a project that including a poll of neighborhoods, and development of physical models of the proposed open space. Today, the park is a neighborhood effort, with substantial time volunteered by neighbors who do not have garden plots, but enjoy and use the open space in a variety of ways. In 2010, the garden received 3rd place in the Mayors Community Garden Contest.