Community Garden
A reader wrote in asking about the Grove setting up a "community garden".
She says: "Maybe a private group would donate some land or finance purchase of a lot (Maybe somewhere they are trying to slap up another mega condo), or even the city could maybe donate some land or finances. Just think, we could grow our own organic produce without having to pay the outrageous prices they charge at the Glaser Market."
She says: "Maybe a private group would donate some land or finance purchase of a lot (Maybe somewhere they are trying to slap up another mega condo), or even the city could maybe donate some land or finances. Just think, we could grow our own organic produce without having to pay the outrageous prices they charge at the Glaser Market."
She has a point there, they have these gardens in larger cities. Just recently I was in Boston and not too far from Fenway Park, they have something like this in a field. Each little garden was fenced off and seemed to be looked after by one or two people for each section. There were trails going through the gardens from one to the other. It was very organic, in more ways than one.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:10 AM
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14 Comments:
I went to college in Amherst, MA and there was a farm where you could "rent" a little piece of land and grow veggies. It was cheap and the veggies were always great. Plus it was cool to grow your own. Miami could use an idea like that, even if it means putting it away from the city.
It would take a lot of land to grow produce for everybody in the Grove. And why should the City subsidize it.
Here's an idea: Do what my grandfather in Tennessee used to do -- plant a veggie garden in your back yard.
Of course, with all of that pesky tree canopy, it might be difficult to get enough light to your tomatoes. And you can't clear any of those trees without getting permission from the Grove's own, condo-dwelling "tree lady."
Swilp, every party has a pooper thats why we invited you. why should they city subsidize a community garden? how about the same reason they build skate parks, playgrounds, dog parks, ampatheaters and all kinds of other projects.
and news flash not all of us in the grove have a yard. Maybe you will let us plant in yours?
Swlip, this isnt someone that EVERYONE would want to do, so I dont think you have to account for everyone in the Grove. The places I used to use in MA certainly didnt account for more than a small amount of their respective townships. It would be nice to just have the land area large enough to accommodate, say, 50 little gardens. Then again, the Grove probably isnt the proper venue for such an endeavor. Something further south or west would likely have better growing conditions.
If I seem like a party pooper, it's only because some of the ideas I see kicked around here remind me of summer evenings in a college frat house, listening to the stuff that people would say after their tenth bong hit.
Any group of ten or more people who think that a community garden is a swell idea should form a non-profit corporation in which every participant is required to make a "membership" contribution, and buy a plot of land. There is no reason for the City to subsidize anybody's vegetable garden.
In Europe, these kinds of community gardens are specially zoned so that you can't build anything more than a garden shed on them. Maybe you could advocate a similar system, here. Good luck.
Gee, I dunno', "anonymous". I tried to kick out some practical ideas about how a "community garden" might be brought to fruition (no pun intended), despite my skepticism about city government funding.
How many ideas have you proposed?
Um, oh, yeah... Zero.
I should probably add, "anonymous," since it is too obvious a point to have occurred to you: Parks, playgrounds, and amphitheatres constitute legitimate uses of public lands, because they represent accommodations that are open for use by the general public. That's quite a different thing from subsidizing a communal vegetable garden that would necessarily be limited to a finite number of persons.
The only possibility I could see along the lines of a government subsidy would be a publicly chartered, non-profit corporation, similar to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, that would be granted a lease on public land. Membership would work in a way similar to the CGSC (presumably, though, without the bar and restaurant).
But I doubt that sufficient public lands would be available, at least not in the Grove, for such an undertaking. Which is why a membership non-profit, purchasing a lot somewhere, would probably be a more practical solution.
I think it's a neat thing. They don't take up much space at all (, and many community gardens donate some/all of the food to those in need within their own community. They are usually done on land that is abandoned/too small to build on.
SWLIP - it isn't vital to a city, but it's the kind of thing that illustrates the character of a community.
There is a neat site that gives a better explanation.
http://www.mindspring.com/~communitygardens/
ashley well said. And i too think the land doesnt have to be that big. I suggested the idea to grapevine and I think that setting up some system be it city or non profit where members of the community could lease some land would be great. It could be partitioned into individual units or one communal space were people share the work and output(OMG CAN YOU IMAGINE SHARING. i think even an area the size of that empty lot on the corner of day and Matilda could serve as a communal garden. If people plant in raised beds rather then rows(frankly the way it should always been done in the tropics) you could fit 20 something units in there.
i think even an arbordom would be cool. We could use the trees grown to plant throught the grove. I am a returned forestry peace corps volunteer and while serving in benin was africa. (I grew some 1500 in west africa in a 15 by 15 foot area. I also think it would be cool for free classes/discussion on various garndening topics. I would love to teach people how to tree graft.
meredith
I see none of you are proposing a community garden in West Grove. There is vacant, SUNNY land and much need for non-exploitative development of the surrounding area. A community garden would benefit those in the area whose section 8 housing doesn't afford them a yard and the neighbors who need to mingle outside their priviledged tree canopy. Let's get Meredith to teach tree grafting on the weekends at the Barnyard. We could get the kids involved in green living too.
Not to get confused with the Anonymous engaged in dialogue with SWLIP, but...
The history of the community garden is rooted in the city sponsored gardens set up during WWII as a way for urban dwellers to be more self sufficient during hardships of war.
As a long time resident of Boston, walking through the "Victory Gardens" in Boston are not only relaxing and a summer must, but they can also be educational and encourage great community spirit.
The most known garden is in the Fenway. Another is located in the South End and has become a cultural melting pot. You'll see a traditional Chinese vegetable garden next to an herb and cutting garden with bistro tables.
Gardening can be a great common ground, whether you have a yard of your own or not.
www.fenwayvictorygardens.com
there is a piece of land at the end of center street....
this is the stupidist thing i've ever heard on this blog. If you want to know what is going to happen to your nice home grown veggies, just put a bag of tomatoes in a vacant lot in the west grove and see if theyb are there in the morning. you all should save yourself time and money, by just buying some veggies from fresh market, and giving them away on Grand ave.
actually not too far away, in lake worth florida, there was a kick ass co-op that organized community gardens, and they weren't in the very best areas but the gardens did fine. my friends from the co-op would get all the little kids from their neighborhood to help with the gardening and they had a great impact on all those kids' lives when sometimes not even their families did. when they harvested all the fruits and veggies, all those kids were able to take some home, and a lot of it was used to cook their free wednesday night dinners, open to all.
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