Community and Urban Gardening

[nghd]

Hi everyone,

Just interested to see if there are many Community or Urban Gardeners out there on the Forum. I'm relatively new in my position as coordinator of an Urban Community Garden and would be very interested in getting advice from veterans in either category.

Thanks!

[cynthia_h]

Have you gotten in touch with the American Community Gardening Association? Their site is a terrific source of information.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[nghd]

I have. ACGA is a fantastic resource with a wealth of information. Unfortunately a lot of their information isn't free. Rebel Tomato is great though!

[Marlingardener]

A few of my gardening friends and I help with the gardens at the local housing authority. Some residents have containers on their patios and some have miniscule plots at the vegetable garden in the open space.
We found that setting the rules governing tool use (we share tools), watering, and planting to not interfere with the next garden plot (shade) and making sure everyone had a copy of the rules really helped avoid a lot of heated discussions with the plots. We also discouraged garden art since it takes up space and these gardens are intended for food production, not craft projects.
I don't know if you will encounter any of these issues, but we did.

[nghd]

Marlingardener, have you run into many issues with toxins in the soil? Lead, arsenic etc.

[Marlingardener]

No, we were fortunate. We did have the soil tested so we could determine what amendments we needed to add, but the small space in the "open space" that we were allotted was not a construction site, and had been pasture for many years before the housing authority built there. You may want to get the soil tested if it's a new garden spot.
We did have to limit the kind of mulch the plot gardeners could use. Bless their hearts, this was the first time some of them (in their 70's yet!) had grown anything, and they would use anything they could get their hands on for mulch (old tee shirts?). We ended up having the municipal tree crew bring a load of chipped wood and we are using that exclusively. Not the best solution, but one that works!

[pj4c]

There is a new site starting up: https://www.facebook.com/growunity
Growunity is dedicated to empower and connect local growers to their community, bringing awareness of local produce to your neighborhood. Exchange or trade produce such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers with people in your neighborhood or buy from local growers.

Check them out.

[tomf]

My first garden was a community garden, I rented a spot for the season. I learned a lot from the other gardeners.

[pow wow]

There are a few large vacant city owned plots in my area that I have always thought would make great community gardens. Close to apartment and condo complexes.
Last summer was the first time I visited our Fort Calgary community garden. I have no idea what took me so long. There is no private plots, all produce is donated to local charities and last year that amounted to over 3,000 pounds of produce donated. It's organic and they only grow veggies that would have been available to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stationed at the fort and the early settlers during the 1880's.