I've recently joined a garden, and the whole place is very political. Lots of fault lines, undercurrents, and feudin'.
I like my plot and want to stay. Just want to connect with the earth and grow things. Am also using natural gardening techniques (Fukuoka, Stout, Mollison, etc.). This results in a more "wild" look. I think some folks mop their plots with bleach every 2 weeks! ;)
Any ideas?
Thank you!
Dear Pea,
There are politics any time there are several people working together. Ours are horrendous, but are getting better. Be sure that you read the Rules and Regulations of the Garden that you joined, then take a look at the RR of many others. All of them have the same theme: keep your lot cultivated or mulched year-round, and keep your lot and adjoining pathways weed-free and tidy. Your comment about mopping with bleach is exactly the judgemental attitude that you don't want applied to your space. As the Manager of our garden, I need to acknowledge the different gardening styles of our members, while assisting them to follow those basic rules. A Community is a group of people working together under a common set of rules to achieve a common goal -- that being creating a beautiful haven for all the members to enjoy. Have you spoken to the membership at your monthly meetings regarding your techniques? Also, sometimes it is only one or two of the most vocal who speak up about "eyesores." I absolutely think that it is possible to create a native (wild) garden in a community garden. We have at least one in ours! Think about it, though: those plants that we calll "native" or "wild" are often considered weeds by other gardeners. Things that they try very hard to keep out of their own gardens! Is it possible for you to take very special care not to let your plants go to seed and spread to your neighbors' lots? I sincerely hope that you are able to resolve this. A community garden is such a wonderful place to be!
Back in Baltimore it was essential that everyone talked to eachother in order to understand what each person was planning on doing. Those people who were using products like Miracle Gro or chemical pesticides had to make sure that their products didn't leach into neighboring plots that were opting to grow under a completely organic method. I met people in my community garden that I would have never met otherwise and I found it really expanded my universe. But only if I talked to them. And most times I would have to approach them since I was the newbie (some gardeners had been in this particular garden for over 15 years). I think if I hadn't gotten to know my gardening neighbors that I would have probably left because of the perceived politics set up around me. As it happened I managed to teach a die hard miracle gro user into trying deep mulching, earth worms, and sea kelp. Another wonderful return on basic conversation was that people who were growing things that I wasn't were willing to trade at harvest time for things that I had that they didn't. So the politics aren't all bad. Just monitor your own actions. Keep the gossip to a minimum. Judge only your own garden by your own standards. And always always always try to smile and say hi to at least 2 people in your garden each time you go. It'll open such wonderful doors and people will respond to you the way you respond to them. Stick with it. Community gardening is a wonderful experience.
-Felicia
Thanks, everyone, for your kind input. And I do apologize for my display of attitude and frustration. I don't talk like that to people from the garden! :) In response to what you said:
I do weed my plot. But I don't put things in nice, neat, widely-spaced rows. (This is borrowed from various techniques.) And I use mulch. Even when I explain, I'm thought weird.
I know there are lots of different gardening techniques. And I don't particularly care (in a busy-body way)what anyone else does on their plot. My frustration was mostly because of attitudes toward *mine*.
Unfortunately, there were problems *long* before I came on the scene. Lots of back-biting and criticism and power plays. New people are viewed with suspicion. Old-timers keep to themselves, and talk around newcomers who are right in front of them. And people have given up and left the garden.
I have no intention of leaving. *I need my earth-space!* I try very hard to be nice, greet people, and converse (if people have time). I would *love* to have friendships there. There's also the matter of everyone being there at different times, which makes it hard to keep up a friendship.
Please understand: I came to this forum--anonymously, at that--because I don't want to stir up trouble. Just find a healthy way to navigate rough waters so I can happily continue to garden.
Thanks again for your input! :)
