And while you are the ACGA websiteBe sure to join ACGA! I encouragel everyone who subscribes to the listserve to join
Where else can you get great first hand info from folks Sent from my Motorola Smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint! -----Original message----- From: Don Boekelheide <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, Oct 2, 2013 11:35:02 PDT Subject: [Community_garden] Subject: Estimating demand for community garden space Good questions, Jonathan, and good responses, Tanya. Picking up on things Tanya said, I'd add: 1. Grow in phases. Don't try to do everything all at once - start with a small, successful garden and expand. Take the smallest garden you can imagine, and cut area that in half for your first year. Be sure to put it where there is absolutely reliable water and eight hours or more of sun a day. But I completely agree it is very wise to put it where it can easily expand. 2. You need gardeners. You can't do it for them. Set aside a reasonable space for the garden (see below) and do your homework, but also make sure to include recruiting and sensible guidelines for the human part of the garden right from the start. You, as a planner, probably won't be around to see this through, so find allies in the on-the-ground management (if it exists). 3. Look around where you are. Two parts to this: Most important: Who is doing community gardening in your area (check ACGA's website, state websites, extension, park and recreation, faith-based orgs, non-profits...)? Enlist their help early - they are going to be totally stoked to hear about what you are proposing. Also important: What is your local ecology and food growing calendar? Will the garden be in use all year? When it isn't, what's happening there? Might there be interest in current foodie favs like hoop houses? 4. 2500 residences? Whoa! So, you must have 'open space' and/or 'recreation', not to mention 'landscaping and common lawn areas' in the overall design. Think carefully about siting your garden in the context of all these other factors, before deciding on things such as plot size. Will people walk to the garden or drive? If they drive, where will they park? Is safety a factor? Can it be close to or part of a community center? If it is in the viewscape, can you include a budget for maintenance/lawn folks to keep it looking nice? (Walk to gardens often have smaller plots, 10x10 ft or smaller is common. Drive to gardens are larger, 20x20 plots and up are common. There tends to be a growth curve - first couple of years, nobody may seem interested and it can be quite discouraging, then a garden can take off and suddenly there are long wait lists and people clamoring at the gates. This curve is influenced by the economic and political situation, too.) In community gardening, community comes first - for good reason. Along with the obvious food and health benefits, a community garden can also help you build a sense of community engagement and pride within that big development. I commend you for your vision. Good luck! And talk to as many people as you can - ask two community gardeners, get three opinions. Don Boekelheide Charlotte, NC ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 12:00 PM Subject: Community_garden Digest, Vol 1660, Issue 1 Today's Topics: 1. Estimating demand for community garden space (Jonathan Berlin) 2. Re: Estimating demand for community garden space (tanya) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 11:21:33 -0700 From: Jonathan Berlin <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [Community_garden] Estimating demand for community garden space Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I can use some help with planning a community garden for a residential development. This development would have up to 2,500 residences total, and I'd like to set aside enough acreage to meet expected demand. Do you have any experience or advice? 1) A ballpark figure on the percentage of residents in an area that would participate in a community garden would be great. 2) What size do you recommend for individual plots? I've seen that 10x10' and 20x20' are common. 3) Any other suggestions for designing a community garden? Thanks for your help, Jonathan Berlin, MESM Associate Environmental Planner [cid:[email protected]]<http://www.rinconconsultants.com/>Rincon Consultants, Inc. 805 644 4455 EXT 22 www.rinconconsultants.com<http://www.rinconconsultants.com/> Environmental Scientists Planners Engineers Ranked "#1 Best Firm to Work For" - CE News -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20131001/636f7599/attachment.html> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 1626 bytes Desc: image001.png URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20131001/636f7599/attachment.png> ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 12:00:36 -0700 From: tanya <[email protected]> To: Jonathan Berlin <[email protected]> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Estimating demand for community garden space Message-ID: <CAA-ju_eGGVw2M35EiDFoaJqOBeKRmKoFhCUrd=uDpXe=r-u...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Interesting questions. I have no data, just some ideas. Will the residents have any space at all to garden around their homes, or is the community space the only option for gardening? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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