Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[yarrow@sfo.com]

Yes, yes I do belong to an organic community garden. We don't have 
anything in common -- the only requirement is to be a resident of 
this town. Each person signs a one-year lease, renewable as long as 
you keep on paying the city and keep the plot more or less ok 
looking. A few of us garden year-round, here in this wonderful 
year-round gardening climate. Some plots get weedy and the city 
mostly does not enforce the lease terms because it has been sued in 
the past by folks who felt "entitled" to keep the plot even if they 
do not follow the rules. One person said there was nothing in the 
lease about not providing rat habitat (in his untended raspberry 
bramble), so that provision was added. Everyone is supposed to keep 
the plot planted or mulched year-round, but in practice from fall to 
spring too many plots go weedy. Few people follow the rule to keep 
the paths mulched and weed free.

But on the whole, it works. It's been going for at least 30 years. 
The uncooperative people get weeded out, though they do make life 
difficult for everyone else while they're sorting themselves out. We 
have a place to leave extra produce, plants, and supplies, for anyone 
to take.

A nice thing about this garden -- what makes it different from others 
I know of in surrounding counties -- is that plot sizes are bigger. 
Average is maybe 300 to 400 sf, but a few are up to 1000 sf or so. By 
contrast, a couple others in the area that put a lot of emphasis on 
community building have 64 sf (16 x 4) plots.

Of course, I can't plant fruit trees or build permanent structures, 
but then I can't afford a million-dollar starter home in the area, 
either.

One of the longtime gardeners used to volunteer as the coordinator. 
She knew everyone and helped people plant and weed, but she quit last 
year when the city refused to kick out noncompliant lessees. She's 
still a gardener and still helps people with their gardens, though. 
We have work parties about 3 times a year (to weed and mulch, build 
and fix fences, and do other projects) and a potluck in the fall (it 
hasn't fit into my schedule so far, though).

The main community building thing is being in the garden and 
gradually getting to know other gardeners who come to the garden 
regularly. Also, it's open to the community (sort of like another 
public park, with no-picking signs posted), so we get children taking 
tours, people wandering in (it's near the main library), artists 
coming to paint, lots of dogwalkers using the perimeter path, etc.


> In theory community gardens sound like a great idea. But as they 
> say, the Devil is in the details. From what I've read community 
> gardens only work out where those involved belong to something in 
> common, an organization, an apartment complex, a church, whatever, 
> where they know each other and hence have some consideration for the 
> others. A loose neighborhood collection of unrelated people can 
> quickly lose interest and let weeds go to seed, or spoil others 
> plots with sprays or just steal others produce. I'd be curious if 
> anyone has actual experience to the contrary.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 5/29/2008 at 7:57 PM yarrow@sfo.com wrote:
>
> > At 11:16 AM -0700 5/29/08, anna Lorrai wrote:
> > Even if people lived in cities there are ways to grow food.  I few
> > days ago I watched Bill Mollisons " Global Gardener " on Youtube.  In
> > the urban section he showed many city farmers but the most impressive
> > to me was the forward thinking developer in Davis California. This
> > development has many homes but is built in such a way that the
> > commons are self watering and growing food bearing trees. The
> > children can ride their bikes about on the bike paths, pick fresh
> > fruit and it is a very beautiful place to live. If more developers
> > would build with self sufficiency in mind there would be less "Need"
> > ....
> >
> >
> > Yeah, but being in California, those homes cost a bundle these days.
> >
> > One thing that has sprung up in lean times, over and over again, is
> > victory gardens. There was a school garden movement at the turn of
> > the century (19th to 20th!), and victory gardens were popular and
> > productive in the U.S. during both the first and second world wars.
> > The community gardening movement, if you can call it that, has
> > persisted and is a terrific way for urban/suburban gardeners to grow
> > food.
> >
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