[Community_garden] 4. Starting a community garden (julie young)

[Don Boekelheide]

Hi, Julie,

Hey, neighbor. If you (and some potential gardeners
and allies) would like to come visit some community
gardens in Charlotte, please let me know. 

I'm delighted to hear about your work in Shelby. Every
year, there's more community gardening in the
Carolinas, with folks now working (among other places)
in Asheville, Durham, Gaston County, here in
Charlotte, in the Triangle (argueably the first
community garden in the US was in Old Salem - more
recently, NCA&T in Greensboro has been active
organizing statewide community gardening conferences).
To the south, some interesting things are happening in
Columbia SC, at Clemson and in the Low Country (Myrtle
Beach, of all places, has a big community garden).
Hope you and your garden will join ACGA, which is a
good way to build a wider network.

In brief response to your good questions:

1. In Charlotte, there are different arrangements for
plots. Some (Park and Rec sponsored, church (Charlotte
Green) sponsored...) have individual plots, where some
gardeners choose to  'plant a row for the hungry' or
otherwise share. Others (Urban Ministry, a cg for the
homeless - plus the entrepreneurial SEEDS garden for
youth in Durham, a partnership with their local food
bank) are managed as group projects with food going to
soup kitchens or direct to hungry folks, or for sale
to generate income. My suggestion is to start by
asking your potential community of gardeners how
they'd like to see the garden set up and to make that
your starting point (you can add or change elements
later). Note: Some CGs don't grow food, but do
beautification, or herbs, or environmental
restoration, or a playground, or ... What they have in
common is building community.

2. There is no one 'right' size for individual plots.
Here in Charlotte, for 'drive to' gardens (where
people drive to get there, usually in suburban/rural
fringe spots but not always)  20ft x20ft (400 ft2) is
a common size, with enthusiastic gardeners renting two
plots. For 'walk to' gardens (often in more urban
areas,where folks live close), sizes range from about
10ftx15ft to as little as 5ftx5ft. Some highly
successful gardens, like Adam's in NYC, combine a
generous common area that serves as park and
playground with a section set aside for modest
'urban-sized' plots. A caution: Plots should be small
enough that gardeners can take care of them.

3. Two answers: You can plant virtually anything in a
community garden - I've seen apples and peaches in NYC
gardens! 

More practically, at this time of year in the Carolina
Piedmont, my suggestion is to do good soil prep over
the next 3 weeks and then plant summer crops
(tomatoes, string beans, squash, cukes, sweet corn)
after April 15, our 'frost free' date. Add peppers,
eggplants, okra, blackeyed peas and melons in early
May, and sweet potatoes in mid-May/June. It's a bit
late for most cool season things now, especially since
it has been such an unusually warm winter and spring.
You could still do potatoes, and maybe broccoli or
videlia onions if you really really like them - just
don't tie up a lot of garden space. I'd wait to do
cool season crops (leafies, roots) in the fall (plant
in late July/August). Look around for experienced
gardeners and ask them - you'll be amazed at the
knowledge that's out there, especially among seniors
who grew up on farms. Also, cooperative extension is a
good outfit with good info. Last plant advice - don't
forget easy summer flowers (sunflowers, cosmos,
cleome, zinnias...). They transform the look of a
garden.

4. Budgets, funding and organization are handled in as
many different ways as there are gardens. If you are a
non-profit or guerrila group, you might want to start
small and build interest. You've got great dreams, but
it sounds like you are just at the beginning stages.
You may want to start with a relatively modest 'pilot'
project for starters, to build your team and learn
from experience. Then, step by step, you build from
there together.

Good luck, and come visit,

Don Boekelheide
Charlotte NC

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:43:34 +0000
From: "julie young" <theyoungwoman at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Community_garden] Starting a community
garden
To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
Message-ID:
<BAY120-F183A2B3502F0B3CDCA6F07A66E0 at phx.gbl>
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It has always been my dream to have a community garden
where people can 
come 
in and take what they need, people can learn about
vegetables, see a 
child 
taste a fresh tomato. Now I am starting one in Shelby,
NC. We have been 
provided a site by the city in an area of town where
churches and civic 
groups have rallied together to remove drugs and crime
and brings back 
hope 
to a part of that neighborhood.
We are having an planning meeting at the site on April
5th at 5:30pm 
but I 
have some questions for those of you who have been
here.
1. Do you have groups take a plot or just have
everyone help 
everywhere? If 
so how do you define what goes back to those in need?
2. What is a good sized plot?
3. What is the best thing to plant for new gardens?
4. What is your budget and how is it provided for?
Any other suggestions would be great. We want a
children's area, raised 
plat 
for wheelchair access, and  benches for education
area.
Julie Young