[Community_garden] Permanent versus Rotational Custody of Garden Plot

["Simmons, Michael"]

The City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department allows gardeners 
to renew their plots each season.  Our gardening season runs from 1 
April through 31 October.  Gardeners who gardened in the previous season 
have until 28 February to renew their plots.  Plots not renewed are 
opened to new gardeners after 28 February.  Each gardener is allowed up 
to three plots (10' x 20').  Some of our gardeners have been gardening 
in the same plots since 1984, when the gardens opened.  We have enlarged 
the gardens several times, but we have never had to turn anyone away.  
We have been at 100% of capacity for the past four years.  Allowing 
gardeners to renew their plots increases their ownership of the 
Community Gardening Program and encourages better care of the plots.  I 
would develop a new garden to provide more gardening opportunities 
rather than resorting to a lottery system, if we should ever run out of 
space.

Michael 

H. Michael Simmons, Ph.D.
Adult Program Specialist
Bloomington Parks and Recreation
P.O. Box 848
Bloomington, IN 47402
Tel:(812)349-3737 Fax:(812)349-3707
simmonsm at bloomington.in.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Jamie4fish at aol.com [mailto:Jamie4fish at aol.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 1:54 PM
To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
Subject: [Community_garden] Permanent versus Rotational Custody of 
Garden Plot

Can anybody help me with the following issue: 
 
 
Our community garden  administrator (The City of San Ramon, CA) is 
proposing 
to change the usage  rule of our garden plots from where there is one 
operator 
of each plot  for an indefinite period of years (until eventually given 
up), 
to a "rotational"  or lottery system approach where every gardener must 
give 
up his/her plot each  and every year and start over, if he/she is lucky 
enough 
to get a plot that  year. 
My fellow gardeners  and I are quite upset by this proposed change and 
many 
have indicated they will  not garden a plot where they may have to give 
it up 
every year. They certainly  would not make the same type of investment 
in their 
plots. Nothing about a  "rotational" method of plot gardening seems 
conducive 
to establishing and  maintaining the true "community" sense of gardening 
that 
we now have. 
Has anyone encountered  this "rotational" type of community garden 
management? How popular is it? Does  it work better than an "indefinite 
duration" 
system? What have been the long  term results of a "rotational" system?  
Any 
insights from the membership  will be greatly appreciated.  
Thanks 
Jim Conner 
Crow Canyon  Gardens 



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's 
hottest 
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop0003000000000
1)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: 
http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20071128/316ecd0b/attachment.html 
_______________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of 
ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and 
to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list:  
community_garden at list.communitygarden.org

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  
http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org