Community Gardens

[Little1]

I am interested in the concept of a community garden. I think people who live in apartments or the areas where home owner associations do not allow you to garden are stifled and might like to take advantage of a community garden. Can they be private and how would one go about starting one with some donated land from the city. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this?

 

[JessiFox]

You know, I do not have personal experience with this but I am very interested to know as well. There's some land very close to my apartment that really isn't serving any purpose right now and doesn't seem like it has any plans coming up...a community garden would be such a fantastic use of the space .

 

[DancingLady]

It's a nice idea but at the same time people are bound to take advantage of it. If the people caring for it are really just doing it for fun, it might work out. But there are always those mooch type people who will put in little to no effort then come with a big basket and load up.

 

[JessiFox]

It's a nice idea but at the same time people are bound to take advantage of it. If the people caring for it are really just doing it for fun, it might work out. But there are always those mooch type people who will put in little to no effort then come with a big basket and load up.

Hm, I hadn't thought of that aspect of things :/. I suppose it's a possibility but maybe in some communities it could work? It's a shame you have to consider the less stellar aspects of human nature in things like this.

 

[Rosyrain]

There are some community flower and vegetable gardens in the city around where I live and people do a good job keeping them clean and respecting the hard work of others. I am sure that some people sneak a free veggie here or there, but they don't go around ransacking them or taking the food from those who it is intended.

 

[claudine]

There are no community gardens in my area. I don't think we need them. My city is full of parks, flowers and trees. It's a lovely place However, I believe it would be nice to have some land where everyone could plant something.

 

[marlingardener]

Community gardens need a strong supervisory team. I would suggest getting two others who are interested, drawing up guidelines about communal use of water/tools/mulch or compost, and laying out the plots before letting anyone sign up to use them (cuts down on complaints about size, sun exposure, etc.).
Then, have a contract that each gardener signs, agreeing to be neat, not plant tall crops like corn that will shade the next plot's tomatoes, clean and put away communal tools, and participate in a spring and a fall clean-up day.
Before the gardening season starts, have a meeting where everyone meets the other gardeners, the rules and expectations are explained, and any questions are answered. I also strongly suggest that you have a minimum fee--even if it is $10--because people value what they pay for more than what is free.
Then, when the season is over, have a pot-luck communal dinner and congratulate everyone on a great gardening season!

 

[megankl]

Thank you all for your inputs! I will be taking all the pros and cons and looking it over to debate what to do! I am a little bit nervous but it could turn out to be a good thing since we are a very close community and are always doing things for one another.

 

[marlingardener]

Meganki, let us know what you decide, and how it turns out. It sounds as if your community has the basics-- we are a very close community and are always doing things for one another. That alone will make the success of your community garden very likely.