In 2019, HeightsNEXT was interested in starting a food forest, and searched for a possible location. The City of Columbia Heights kindly provided an unused baseball field in Łomianki Park and tilled the overgrown diamond. A chain link backstop still remains. Dozens of volunteer gardeners spent the first year preparing the soil with compostable barriers, mulch, and other natural nutrients. Volunteers also planted a separate pollinator garden on the western boundary.
Blooming Sunshine grew its first edible plants in 2020, including vegetables and fruits. Over the summer, a park bench was built by volunteer craftsman David Szurek, and installed by the city staff later that autumn among a ring of young fruit trees in the food forest. Additional benches are planned as resources allow.
In 2023, the garden adopted a new layout with some attractive geometry.
Gutters and a rain barrel system was added to the Łomianki Park building.
Underground plumbing was installed throughout the garden for easier irrigation.
Although still in its infancy, the Blooming Sunshine food forest becomes more diverse and intricate each year, thanks to the generosity of volunteer gardeners from all walks of life.
