Contact your county Cooperative Extension advisor as a first step. Among many other things, the Extension advisor will know ALL of the 4-H leaders for the whole county. S/he can also tell you whether there's a Master Gardener's group in your area and give a lead on gardening clubs.

I'm thinking you're going to be better off joining some sort of club and getting the club to start the community garden. You could be chair of the committee, but you wouldn't have to do the whole thing. It's really way too much for one or two adults, even with a bunch of enthusiastic 4-Hers helping out.

My one solid piece of advice would be to have a constitution, bylaws, or at least a very clearly written set of rules before the first spadeful of dirt is turned. If you have good written policies, everybody knows what to expect in every situation, so there won't be problems with community members thinking that some people get special treatment. That's probably the greatest issue in any community project; it's very easy for someone to get their feelings hurt if they think anything's unfair, and before you know it folks have taken sides and half your group stomps off in a huff. To paraphrase Frost, good guidelines make good neighbors.

Contact your Town Government. They may be helpful in renting some plots for the season. Some Town Governments will plogh the plots and provide water facility also. They will charge rent for this.

chiman

I've been considering starting a community garden also, and am taking the Master Gardener training. The Extension Service and Master Gardening programs can be very helpful - I think. The American Community Gardening Association has free publications on their web site about starting community gardens - good outlines and information. http://www.communitygarden.org/publications.php

Here is a link that might be useful: American Community Gardening Association