Are Community Gardens Obsolete?

[Matt Mayer]

I have a post up on the main site that might be of interest.

http://henandharvest.com/?p=346

Should we have some discussion?

[FarmerAmber]

I work with a community garden that is almost a hybrid. We work together on community related projects once a week - weeding, planting, maintenance, building new plots, etc. We plan communal areas for fruit trees and perennial crops like asparagus, strawberries, and rhubarb. We also have individual plots for the members and plots that are managed by the community with the produce being donated to the greater community (food banks and such). We also do communal garden planning and there are families who plan their gardens together (you plant the lettuce, I'll plant the onions, etc) and there are families who plan only their own plots. We have found that this allows those willing to look at communal planting to do so while also allowing the individuality that some others want.

I think that his assumption that you can always get higher yields through more centralized management is a false premise. More centralized management can mean that fewer people are involved in food production (in the case of hiring a farmer to farm community land) and it can lead to feelings of inequality (I worked more than that person, why don't I get a bigger share of the produce). These are basic human reactions to situations found across the globe - it is foolish (IMHO)to ignore them when planning for communal food gardening space. Any loss in productivity of the plots would be made up for in increased knowledge and ownership of the members. For instance, in a case where all are involved and feel ownership for their plots and certain communal features, it is more likely that they will plant something in a pot at home also if they want more food. It is more likely that they will have a positive experience that will encourage others to garden, thus increasing the overall number of gardens.

That's just my 2 cents worth based on working with folks at a small community garden in Kansas. I'm sure others have different opinions.

[Josh]

Sounds like a communal garden that we have here. As long as people are given a choice on what to do and how they can work things out with others, it seems to go along nicely. Being too strict with guidelines and requirements can be a big problem, but so can being too loosely organized. Finding the happy medium is the key and that depends on the people participating. Community gardens being obsolete? I don't think so. Not only does it help provide food, but also a sense of community and fellowship.

[amygwh]

The question about whether such gardens are obsolete is interesting to me because I'd never even heard of them before reading the two posts. How can something become obsolete when it was never really around? I had heard of allotments, which seems like a subset of community gardens, but never as something that was available in the US until I read Matt's blog (he has an allotment! even though it is prone to flooding, I am a bit jealous ;-).

I grew up in eastern Oklahoma, have lived in south Texas, on the Eastern Shore of VIrginia, and now (for 18 years) northeast of Atlanta in Georgia. All of this time I have been interested in plants and gardening, but the idea of community gardens never seemed to come up. It is an interesting idea.

For the last few years I have been involved with a group-gardening effort that is similar to the community garden, but it is a garden that we tend for charity--a Plant a Row for the Hungry garden. Most of the produce goes to a local food pantry. We (the gardeners) take home the damaged produce. The garden is on property owned by the town, and the volunteers are mostly members or "friends" of the Master Gardener program. We met a couple of weeks ago to plan this year's garden, and we made most of the decisions through discussion followed by informal (and friendly!) voting.

It helps that the leader of the group is a very sweet lady, but I think it also helps that our own families' food security doesn't depend on this garden. If our own families' eating were at stake, the discussion might have taken on a different tone. Some of our gardeners have more experience with growing food than others, some are totally committed to heirloom varieties, some are adamant about following all-organic practices, and others are focused on increasing the pounds-at-harvest by any means that work. It really is a great group to work with, and our discussions are often educational, but all these different points of view have to be taken into account since the garden is a group effort.

The most recent Master Plan published by the city for the garden area where we grow our veggies shows our space becoming a parking lot in a couple of years. I am thinking that city revenues will be low enough over the next several years that we will get to keep the space. Paving is expensive, compared to seeds.

[kimlasusa]

funny,i was just researching community gardens this morning. I found these two sites and the was some cool info on now to find one in your area and there was more than I had originally thought...

http://www.communitygarden.org/

http://www.earthlypursuits.com/Feed-The-Hungry.htm