F yeah starting a community garden
April 25, 2011 4:10 PM Subscribe
Give me a crash course (links, personal experiences) in helping start a community garden!
There is a vacant double lot on our street. Recently I discovered via a city council member's staff that the city is in the process of purchasing the double lot with the intention of starting a community garden. Said staff member is looking to start a committee (which would include me) of local residents to participate in the process. This is to say that I am not leading the way in this, but plan on being a participant. A stakeholder, as they say.
I'm especially interested in reading personal experiences of others who have gone through the process so that I have some idea of common concerns/sources of conflict that arise. If you currently participate in one, I'm also interested in hearing your thoughts on the whole experience.
There is a vacant double lot on our street. Recently I discovered via a city council member's staff that the city is in the process of purchasing the double lot with the intention of starting a community garden. Said staff member is looking to start a committee (which would include me) of local residents to participate in the process. This is to say that I am not leading the way in this, but plan on being a participant. A stakeholder, as they say.
I'm especially interested in reading personal experiences of others who have gone through the process so that I have some idea of common concerns/sources of conflict that arise. If you currently participate in one, I'm also interested in hearing your thoughts on the whole experience.
I remember visiting loq when he was living by the 101 and noticing how many frickin' community gardens there were along Fountain in that area. Sure enough the association has a web presence that looks promising: Fountain Community Gardens.
posted by carsonb at 5:10 PM on April 25, 2011
posted by carsonb at 5:10 PM on April 25, 2011
Oh, Christ, "mandy."
Things we needed policies on when I was Community Garden Liason at my co-op:
—Allocating space
—Retaining spaces season to season
—How active someone had to be to maintain their spot
—What responsibilities the gardeners had regarding maintaining the whole space
—Whether structures were allowed
—Whether someone could do any work on a spot that wasn't theirs
—How often to make these decisions
—Whether food grown could be sold
—Whether flowers were acceptable to grow, especially instead of fruits and veggies
—Whether pesticides and fertilizers were allowed ("organic" can require no non-organic planting nearby)
—Whether GMOs were allowed
—Who enforces these rules
—How the rule enforcers could be removed
—How often the rule enforcers could be removed.
These were pretty successful gardens and they still made me want to murder hippies pretty much every time we had a meeting.
That all said, let me know what kind of other help you need.
posted by klangklangston at 7:36 PM on April 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Things we needed policies on when I was Community Garden Liason at my co-op:
—Allocating space
—Retaining spaces season to season
—How active someone had to be to maintain their spot
—What responsibilities the gardeners had regarding maintaining the whole space
—Whether structures were allowed
—Whether someone could do any work on a spot that wasn't theirs
—How often to make these decisions
—Whether food grown could be sold
—Whether flowers were acceptable to grow, especially instead of fruits and veggies
—Whether pesticides and fertilizers were allowed ("organic" can require no non-organic planting nearby)
—Whether GMOs were allowed
—Who enforces these rules
—How the rule enforcers could be removed
—How often the rule enforcers could be removed.
These were pretty successful gardens and they still made me want to murder hippies pretty much every time we had a meeting.
That all said, let me know what kind of other help you need.
posted by klangklangston at 7:36 PM on April 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
The community garden in my area is located at a park owned by the town and managed by the Agricultural Commission I'm volunteering on.
I found the UNH Coop Extension Service helpful in understanding what is needed to start and manage a garden (check your local Extension Service for specific information for your region).
Some things I learned:
-The garden did not need liability insurance because the garden is on municipal property and covered by the town's existing insurance.
-Due to NH state laws, no pesticides (organic or inorganic) can be used on gardens located on town land.
-Getting water to your garden can be a large (and expensive) hurdle to overcome.
I'm off to the garden now to help prepare the garden. Soil in my area is perfect for growing rocks!
posted by bCat at 4:44 AM on April 26, 2011
I found the UNH Coop Extension Service helpful in understanding what is needed to start and manage a garden (check your local Extension Service for specific information for your region).
Some things I learned:
-The garden did not need liability insurance because the garden is on municipal property and covered by the town's existing insurance.
-Due to NH state laws, no pesticides (organic or inorganic) can be used on gardens located on town land.
-Getting water to your garden can be a large (and expensive) hurdle to overcome.
I'm off to the garden now to help prepare the garden. Soil in my area is perfect for growing rocks!
posted by bCat at 4:44 AM on April 26, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
http://vcan.ca/home/cg-guide-lowres/
posted by ecourbanist at 4:39 PM on April 25, 2011