>One Circle complete nutrition garden planning (though at best one UK sized plot would only get one person through about 5 months of food)
***This should read One Circle complete nutrition garden planning (Though at best, one UK sized plot would only get one family of four through about 5 months of usually chosen food growing in a sustainable way It's enough for food and soil fertility for one person plus a few other desired items.) And I also hit the wrong button before spell check was completed. ******* Full corrected version ***Class*** >Next question: In my biointensive minifarming class my final project, Sounds interesting. I'd enjoy hearing more about this class. ***Organic*** >to design a permaculture plan for a community garden. How would you start something like that, especially in the mid-Atlantic area? Part of the project is to make the argument that a community garden must be completely organic. People can't just do what they want with their plots beyond limits. They shouldn't be able to use chemical fertilizer (except possibly as a one-time addition to get the garden going), they shouldn't be able to use pesticides or Roundup to kill stuff, etc. In addition to what's been said, you could also talk about sustainability and the benefits of that. Also, I'd make it clear that chemical fertilizer in the traditional sense would be best avoided, though people might want various types of rock dust as an initial amendment to provide nutrients that are missing in that particular piece of land. Also, you might mention avoiding animal manures that are laced with herbicides that make it through the animals' digestive systems from herbicide laced feed. Any wood structures need to be made out of nontoxic wood. ***Other Places to Ask*** Before I forget to mention it, let me suggest 3 other lists to ask about this project on: 1) An International Permaculture list with a number of US permaculturists: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture 2) UK Permaculture list [EMAIL PROTECTED] I can't remember if this is a listserv or majordomo subscription process or ??? Anyone else remember? In the UK, the word allotments is used in place of the words community gardens. You might also specifically email Graham Burnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] who is a member of both Permaculture lists and who has a plot in a regular community garden/allotment and a second plot in a permaculture allotment which he is turning into a food forest. You can see some of his work and photos at http://www.landandliberty.co.uk/ . 3) UK allotments list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***Permaculture Community Garden Wish List*** ~~~Site~~~ Big-many acres Permanent Accessible to users by foot, bicycle, and public transport Community focus groups for initial and ongoing overall design Plots-UK sized (30 feet by 100 feet) rather than US sized, allows each gardener to do more permaculture aspects Group Pond--maybe do aquaculture there too Amphitheater area for classes, concerts, weddings with landscaped back drops for photography Covered area for classes and events--Have seen this done as a building and also by having a wall planter for the outside of the building with trees growing in it along with a dome arbor being covered by hops vines Small campground for multiday workshop participants Community kitchen, Grill Restrooms including showers Fencing to keep out deer, rabbits, raccoons, vandals, groundhogs Water to each plot Greywater treatment creek and pond and/or greywater pumped to group orchard/woodlot A live on site manager with enough land at the manager's site for a family mini-farm Bird houses--focus on insect and rodent eating birds, bat houses Group ordering Group processing tools of various sorts such as oil pressing, seed cleaning Really big and wild dream wish--A garden cafe supplied by an onsite permaculture biointensive four season harvest minifarm with hired gardeners and cafe workers and 90% of food grown onsite. Open to gardeners and general public. All whole foods made from scratch menu. ~~~Community Plantings~~~ I've often thought that it would be helpful to have a section of plantings that benefit everyone, and which are managed by knowledgeable people, and which might not be as suitable for individual plots. People wanting to share in produce could work together under the direction of that section's expert and split the yield in proportion to labor provided. Items might include: Fruit and nut orchard Fruit and nut hedgerow--could hide the fence and serve as a windbreak too In some places brambles are mixed into the hedgerow and it IS the fence. However this makes it a bit dicey for the human user. Bamboo (contained planting) for stakes and fishing poles Coppiced Willow for basketry material--Wouldn't it be fun to carry home the day's produce in a basket or pack made in the garden? Rice paddy--See the Power of Duck for ideas http://www.permacultureactivist.net Herb nursery--food, dye, medicinal where people could harvest cuttings and seeds for their own plots Coppiced wood for furniture, building, trellis, arbors, sheds, greenhouses and group drying and sawing facilities Coppiced wood for firewood On site nursery Donation garden for local food banks, cafes, and centers ~~~Individual Plots~~~ Permaculture and biointensive plantings and site design Collaboration between adjacent plot holders--Perhaps to run trees along the north side or put them at adjacent corners of four plots Small sheds and green houses, trellis, arbors Water collected from roof of sheds and greenhouses and kept mosquito free Four season harvesting techniques Heirloom seeds, non hybrid seeds, seed saving Small animal raising, beehives ~~~Workshops, Classes, Training~~~ Community building Permaculture Biointensive Basic Gardening Four season harvesting Orchards, Grafting Food shrubs and vines One Circle complete nutrition garden planning (Though at best one UK sized plot would only get one family of four through about 5 months of usually chosen food growing in a sustainable way. It's enough for food and soil fertility for one person plus a few other desired items.) Food crops of other ethnic groups and countries (Other can be anything depending on what your group members are familiar with. Good place to start is with foods that grow well in your area and from the expertise of your community's gardeners and cooks.) Cooking with food crops of other ethnic groups and countries Greenhouse design, building, and use Shed construction Arbor, trellis construction, children's bean tepee Water permeable path construction Solar and Rocket stove construction and use Herb growing and various classes aimed at utilizing them for food, dye, medicine, soap Hybridizing, seed saving Fiber growing and processing (Cloth, Paper) Coppicing Basketry Food dryers and drying Canning--basic and value added like salsa and jam Fermenting--pickles, sauerkraut and kim chee, beer, wine Mushroom logs and beds Simple instrument making such as bamboo flutes, drums, gourd rattles Chicken tractors Beekeeping, honey processing, candle making Oil pressing Growing and processing plants for biofuels Classes, perhaps focused in the winter, where gardeners share their other knowledge which might be less directly garden related such as languages, playing garden grown instruments, weaving your fiber, Ukrainian style egg decoration (using the garden's beeswax and dye plants with the eggshells from the inhabitants of the chicken tractor), garden planning and record keeping using computer databases and programs, converting motors to biofuels, bicycle powered tool conversions Sharon [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________ 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
