99. 44/99% of all NYC community gardens started off and are still poor people's gardens.
Between organizations like Green Guerillas gleaning bulbs and greenery from professional landscapers ( and garden showcases like the Rockefeller Center "islands") and what gardeners have scrounged off the streets, it's amazing what we have managed to recycle. A prime example - A landlord decides to demolish a 150 year old brownstone staircase, with cast iron bannisters and finials a few doors down from the CCG. The nice Brooklyn basedRajput gentlemen (bearded, turban wearing Hindus from the Indian subcontinent) are persuaded to let us dumpster dive and to look at the stuff they are breaking up before they go in the dumpster. We add our labor to keep them on schedule and let them chill during lunch hour during the garden. We ended up with a ton of primo stone for garden paths and beds, and a spendid piece of cast iron which we painted and moved to the back shade garden/patio. Most of our "street boutique" items are not so classy - pink flamingoes, an old wooded whisky barrel and recycled plumbing fixtures are our usual speed. Best wishes, Adam Honigman Volunteer, <A HREF="http://www.clintoncommunitygarden.org/";>Clinton Community Garden</A> << Subj: [cg] Cutting Costs in the Garden Date: 4/23/03 9:21:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jim Call) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tamsin Salehian), [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yeah, you guys are going to love this. Speaking of using materials in the garden that "cut costs", here are a few items. Wood Chips - for garden paths only (not in actual garden, nitrogen sucking medium) - Delivered free to the garden from a tree service who is on contract with the city to mainly trim trees (helps keep the lights on during those ice storms). I've given them instructions to dump only "clean chips" and not ones which includes limbs. Leaf Mulch - Our garden is located next to the city's leaf pickup storage area (a stone's throw from the garden). They deliver (using a front loader) great leaf mulch to the garden. New this year - Believe it or not, we have actually started visiting the local funeral homes . You see, traditionally in the South, after the graveside funeral service, the flowers from the wreaths are taken from their metal stands (trianglar) and thrown onto the casket, then buried. After the family leaves, the funeral home workers gather up all the metal stands and take them back to the funeral home where they throw them away in their dumpster. We have one funeral home that actually places them next to their dumpster (if we call to arrange it) so we can just drive by and pick them up. Anyway, this year, we used a vise to straighten out the main stand support. When straighten, its about 8' long. They work great for supporting floating row covers. We hope to find other uses for them as well (maybe small garden banner supports). Soon, I hope to have pictures of our "mini-planters" for the garden this year. The city had about 60' of 12" plastic corrugated perforated pipes left over from their garden drainage project. We are cutting them up into small sections to make "mini-planters". Details at 11. Anyway, these are some of the "free" items that can be used in the garden. I guess in my case, growing up poor in the south sometimes has its advantages. Maybe next year, someone needs to conduct a session on "Cutting Costs in The Garden" at the ACGA Conference. This session would probably have good attendence. Kindest regards, Jim Call, CASA Community Garden Volunteer Dir. >> ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
