Sheryll Durrant left her family farm in Jamaica in 1989 and embarked on a career in corporate marketing. Now she runs a thriving urban farm wedged into a triangular plot in the Bronx, between the Grand Concourse and the Metro North railroad tracks. “Just putting your hands in soil is a form of healing,” Ms. Durrant, 63, said. The plot she has managed with volunteers for eight years sits on city land and is among more than 500 community gardens in New York City. About a third of them have sprouted in the Bronx, where the gardens are emerald oases, providing residents a respite from hot, treeless streets clogged with traffic, as well as a bounty of locally grown food.

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Persons: Sheryll Durrant, “, Ms, Durrant Organizations: Metro, International Rescue Committee Locations: Jamaica, Bronx, New York City