[Community_garden] Community Gardens in Public Parks

[Powellharris at aol.com]

We were faced with relocating our oldest community garden last year and  
successfully negotiated with
our City Commission for new space within a public park to gain land  tenure.  
Our city has one other
community garden and our county has two gardens.  All three of these  gardens 
are located in public
parks.  
 
We did extensive research and found that community gardens are included in  
parks all across the country.
The "Bloom to Grow" article is excellent.  You'll also see that  community 
gardens are included in the Master
Plan of some pretty important cities.  Burlington (VT), Seattle, and  
Portland (OR) are some of the places 
that I recall from my research. You'll find that many areas consider  
community gardens to be a function
of parks and recreation.
 
You must identify your supporters and capitalize on them.  You also  must 
identify your adversaries and
their specific complaints so that you can address them.  The support  that we 
received during the whole
ordeal was overwhelming.  People came from out of the woodwork on our  
behalf.  No one came forward
to support our opposition. Reach out to the people around the garden and  let 
them know of its function.
Make sure that the garden is not seen as elitism, but as inclusive and  
diverse.
 
If you would like further insight, email me direct.
 
Good Luck,
 
Barbara Powell Harris
Florida Master Gardener Volunteer
Community Garden Coordinator
Rosemary Community Garden/Orange Blossom Community Garden (opening Fall,  
2008)
Sarasota, Florida
 
 
 



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