Community Gardens
 

I've started this new thread after Peacelovinman made this quote on the local economy thread I started yesterday. I thought that the idea of creating a neighborhood garden was such a simple yet profound way to promote this idea of "the ground crew" and Project Avalon's mission. I've included this link I found that should be useful to anyone who think this might be possible in their area! http://www.communitygarden.org/learn...ity-garden.php
Happy gardening!

Re: Community Gardens
 

Bump to this thread. It is exactly the form new cooperative community will work to produce their own food. It is already happening. Thank you forest for the link.

A reminder; if you have seeds, like wheat or sesame, you can make them sprout in 12-16 days. It doesn't take much resource to produce sprout beans. Some of them are extremely nutritious. You can make juice with a manual juicer. Search wheatgrass juicer. Google is your friend. Plenty information are already available.

Namaste, Steven

Re: Community Gardens
 

Big up!

And for the UK - http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/today...ty_about.shtml

Re: Community Gardens
 

Hi guys

Great to see my name in lights - always was a bit of a show off!

Self-sufficiency, in food and other essentials, has been a constant theme in my thinking all my life. Someone made the point in another thread that 1% of people growing their own food makes no difference at all unless you can convince the majority to do it.

I would profoundly disagree with this. I have grown my own fruit and vegetables for a relatively short time (4 years or so) and, although passionate about it, have never rammed the subject down others' throats.

However, I have found that people really warm to this subject. They are interested when you mention you grow your own. Young people want to know how it's done; more mature people remember when it was an accepted thing to have a veggie garden (esp. during/after WWII).

I believe one person can make a difference; if we didn't believe this, we would never begin any project!

There is something deep in our souls that yearns to reconnect with the Earth, plant a seed, watch it grow, tend it and consume the resulting produce. It really is magical.

Aside from that, a community gardening project is a great way to get to know people in your own locality and to revitalise a sense of local belonging.

If the s**t does hit the fan and you find yourself remaining within your local commnunity, at least you will have friends and neighbours to cooperate with.

That's my opinion, anyway! I'll be printing/copying a flyer this week and popping it through my neighbours doors.

Re: Community Gardens
 

Hello All, This is Kimmie from South Florida/USA.

Note:
I am offering a few suggestions , based on my gardening experiences. I'm happy to reply to any questions about the suggestions. Example: How to build a simple basic Plant stand...or what does or does not belong in a compost bucket.

Post:
Just yesterday I told my daughter I wanted to have "the boys" come up to "Nana's House" to plant some seedlings. "The boys" are my grandsons-11,4,2, (the one month old will have to wait for his turn!!)

I feel it is so important to involve the young ones, some will just "play in the dirt"-yet their minds can remember what they saw us do. They are wonderful spongues that soak up and store info, so why not show them something they will remember how to do when the need is before them!! If nothing else they will develop a JOY of gardening.

On a more serious note, I hope everyone-gardners or not- will start COMPOSTING. Each week I fill a container of kitchen scraps and place them out in my garden workbench area for future use. I am amazed how quickly it adds up. If each member of a Community garden will compost the need to buy soil from stores will greatly be deminished when times get tough.

Those of you who don't garden find someone who does and donate the compost..it's less in the landfills. Make friends with the gardener and offer to help them work their garden in exchange for food...The possibilities are endless.

Also for those who would like to have a community garden and don't have a community group (YET) start your own in containers while you network to find others around you.

My husband has built some planter box stands that bring gardening up to a comfortable height while standing. Mine are filled with herbs. This can be good for starting seedlings, and is Very good for those with health/mobility problems...great for anyone in a wheelchair.

If you live in a housing community you can find an empty lot for sale, contact the owners, through numbers on the For Sale sign and get permission to use the property. It can't hurt to ask.

NO LOCATION IS TOO SMALL-OR TOO LARGE FOR A GARDEN!!

Enjoy the process!!
Much Love to all,Kimmie

Re: Community Gardens
 

As a long time gardener and earth mother i can entirely relate to your idea about involving the kids Kimmie.

To anyone wanting to realise what is possible on a small piece of land i invite you to research Permaculture (also in another thread on here)

There is a wealth of information out there for anyone wanting to at least START growing their own food. All it takes is that first step.

I love your idea of composting ... My advice is even if you can't donate it to someone at least find ONE square metre of open soil - dig a hole and BURY it. Feed the soil. Give it back what you took from it. Granted it will still go back to the soil as landfill but who wants to go plant a corn crop on their local rubbish tip?

If nothing else - try this little experiment. Anytime you peel a potato (assuming you do and it doesnt come prepackaged!!! lol) Dig a hole in your backyard, verge, lift up a paver - and bury the peels
fill the hole in and i promise you within a year with absolutely no other intervention you will be suprised how many potatoes are growing deep down there! My kids have done this all over various spots in our newish garden (2 years old) and just LOVE digging down to reveal yummie new potatoes completely for free!! Potatoes are a great source of concentrated carbohydrate - take up little space and are relatively hardy. They also store well via clamping.

My other passion is "Heritage Plants" those that have proved to be reliable over a long long time and are not hybridised either so they will produce viable seeds that you can collect each year and resow over and over again. Save the seeds from the plant that was the absolute BEST of the crop that season and you are effectivley culturing your own BEST variation of that crop pertinent to your own soil, climate and environment. Simple but true.

If i can inspire one person to grow one thing in their life and experience the joy of eating something you helped to grow - then i am a happy person!!

Enjoy !!!

Re: Community Gardens
 

Hi Genevieve et al,

Well I hope you are now a happy person! As soon as I read your post above I went out and emptied my long-full Bokashi bin and dug over my sparse area of soil out back, then planted some heritage seeds (beetroot, tomato, brocolli, broad beans) into the soil and into some pots I've been meaning to use!!!

I'll let you know how it goes. Keep up the inspirational nudges! :wink2:

Thanks,

Graeme

Re: Community Gardens
 

Grazzab!!!!!!!!!!! You have made me one very happy person hun!!!!!!!!!!!

Love and light to you and remember it wont happen overnight but it WILL happen!!! :thumb_yello: lol

Re: Community Gardens
 

Your absolutely right, trying to ram lifestyle changes down people's throats by legislative fiat isn't going to work.

No the only way you can educate your neighbors is by example.

They must see you living on, and benefiting from, your garden.

If everyone in this project immediately committed to creating their own garden, turning lawns into gardens, or supporting community gardens, we would be a "movement." Arguably the ONLY movement so far with a real answer to the problems that plague us.

Allow me to share a short list of the potential benefits of a mass local foods/family gardens movement.

1. Currently large corporations control our food, shipping it in trucks from central warehouses to our local supermarkets. Supermarkets never have on hand more than a few days of food supplies, they and we are completely dependent on that continuous stream of trucks. A natural disaster, or terrorist attack that stopped that flow of trucks for even a short time could turn into a major catastrophe . By returning to local, small holding agriculture we can solve this threat to America's food security.

2. Every cucumber grown at home is a cucumber that wasn't grown on a monster farm using huge farm machines powered by petrochemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers based on natural gas, and petroleum. It is a cucumber that hasn't been shipped across the continent in a truck, or refrigerated in a large expensive building, or brought to our table by a trip into town. Also it is a dollar or so that we didn't spend on a cucumber and that we can spend elsewhere. So it's like growing a raise.

3. Every time we make something for ourselves and grow food and trade with each other is a time when wealth is created and shared but does not go through the current system or support it. Our "Economic Vote" has always been the greatest source of People Power.

4. The current system is based on giant agrifarms which in essence "mine" the soil for nutrients. The system's heavy use of tillage and agricultural chemicals have left vast areas of America's soils arid, and lifeless. Carbon dioxide release from tilled soil is the single greatest source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If we are to survive at all we must rebuild the soils and make them productive again. Without chemicals. Organic farming is labor intensive, but it is the only growing system that can reliably take crops from the soil for generations and leave it in better condition.

5. Gardening is regarded as such healthful exercise that hospitals use it as therapy for traumatized or recovering patients. Most of the people of Western Civilization would benefit from the stress reduction of some daily gardening activity.Eating fresh vegetables, with no burden of chemicals, has known health benefits that will result in fewer catastrophic doctor bills and illnesses. Doctor bills are currently the single greatest cause of household bankruptcies in America.

Question is; Can we do it?

Re: Community Gardens
 

We can, and we will!