new to community gardens

18 years ago

I'm a student at Warren-Wilson College in North Carolina, and have recently begun to put together a community gardens program within our vegetable garden. It's slowly taking hold with some grant money, resources and infrastructure but I have lots of questions about how to make it truly work.

I would love some advice.

1. In the past, the community gardens have been taken over by the few individuals who really know how to garden. show I encourage good gardeners by allowing them bigger plots or should I continue giving plots out to beginners even if I doubt their commitment? mainly students have neglected their plots while faculty expand.

2. Is there any way to clearly mark the boundaries of plot? I would like to build a box around each one, creating a permanent raised bed that would look tidy and encourage the owner to keep it so. what materials would I use?

I appreciate the help! thanks!

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Comment (1)

hagey
18 years ago
Sophia,
We volunteer at the Community Gardens in the Lansing, Michigan area. Our volunteer hours for this past year (both combine) was 620 hours.
1. All people who sign up for a Community Garden is given a 25 X 25 plot. However, if any extra gardens are left people can have extra 25 X 25 plots. Each garden is staked off and a string is tied to the stakes.There are paths on all sides of the plot.
  There are people that take great pride in their gardens and others do a hit miss job. We have helped some that have been sick, out of town on their job, and other things that they cannot keep them up. During the winter we are in Florida and they have a system where people are notified to clean up their garden or it will be taken away from them after two weeks. However, it depends also on why it has not been kept us, and that is what they try to do in MI.
  The Community Gardens also have gardens that are called the Demo Garden which is near the building that they hand out plants, seeds, canning items, hand our gardening tools, and have classes.
  This is where Hubby and I do all our volunteer work. We help contacting the nurseries in the area for plants, haul them to the building and distribute them to people. We also have a personal garden in this area and it has been used by the Assistant Director to show people how to plant and keep the garden up. We have done some planting of 25 X 25 for viewing. One year we had 25 X25 plot with 24 different varieties of Cherry Tomatoes, the next year it was 24 varieties of Peppers, and this past summer we had 10 different varieties of carrots. This was a fun one as we had the purple, yellow and the carrots that were suppose to be healthier.
  In this same area we have a 25 X 25 of Strawberries and Red Raspberries. This was great as the school kids that had a plot next to this area were treated to pick a Strawberry and eat it. One little guy about six said, so this is where Strawberries com from.
  We also take care of the perennial flower beds which are sun and shade plus a plot and a half of Holding Bed. People donate plants from time to time and are put in the perennial beds or holding bed. In the fall we have a plant exchange amongst all the people plus the neighborhood area. This year we had over 400 plants to put out in exchange from the holding bed. One of the nurseries that donates gave us an additional 180 plants. It was a fun day for all.
  I should also mention that there are people that have these gardens as well as people who own their own gardens that receive help from this program.
  If you need more help I can give you the name and e-mail of our Director. She is an excellent Director and is very helpful in making this program work.
  Good Luck.