Alexis Sanborn’s mind is clear when she’s in the garden.

“Everything kind of falls away when I’m here and I’m really able to see and notice things closely and intimately,” Sanborn said.

The Washington Heights resident started the community garden at the Fort Washington Collegiate Church in 2021. She said there aren’t many spaces like this north of Harlem, and this small piece of the neighborhood was in need of tending.

“I guess that feeling, that desire, was always there, that this space could be something more. It had much more potential,” she said.

Sanborn had that desire — even though she didn’t have much gardening experience.

“My mom had tried to get me involved in the garden when I was a kid, but I remember seeing the grubs in the soil and I got freaked out,” she said.

Her need to get her hands dirty, her need for nature during the pandemic kept her going.

Sanborn now has a garden committee and a cohort of volunteers, both big and small, who show up to work in the garden twice a week.

“Community gardens serve as a way for people to gather, a way for people to connect with the natural world,” Sanborn said.

The team grows biodiverse plants like milkweed, bear berries and bee balm. They donate most of it to the community fridge outside the church.

“To be able to give back to the community, to be able to give back to others when we have really enjoyed the richness of the land here,” she said.

And they unwind. They’ve hosted planting ceremonies, arts and crafts events and a spot for viewing the eclipse.

“Celebrating the seasons together is something that is fundamentally about the human existence and we want to be able to provide that here in this space,” Sanborn said.

For rooting a sense of community in Washington Heights, Alexis Sanborn is our New Yorker of the Week.