Ana I just finished a project in Berkeley California that was part of a research project at UC Berkeley, where 10 community "teams" were given plots (20'x60') to see how much produce we could grow (Aug - Nov). Because one of the primary aspects of the project was to measure what we produced, we very carefully weighed everything that we picked, and recorded it in a spreadsheet. We used a digital scale which was pretty convenient, although it was sometimes necessary to break up the weighing into smaller increments.
We kept the scale at the site, in a container so that it would be protected. Even though it is a bit of trouble, I do think that carefully recording what you produce (as well as how it is distributed) is a valuable discipline to develop. It allows you to see what crops do well, what doesn't, and will give you a sense of the overall effectiveness of your gardening methods. We haven't implemented this in the community garden that I work with, but by the spring, we plan to have a digital scale (stored in a waterproof / bang-proof Pelican case) at the garden -- then we just have to get everyone to put their measurements in the log file that will also be in the Pelican case. I also bought a used hanging produce scale but because it is big and heavy, and our garden is "unsecured", we can't leave it out and it is too much trouble to set up and take down each time we need to use it. Hopefully in the future we can also take advantage of that scale. So for now the small digital scale is the best option for us. Also, I can share the spreadsheet we used if you want it -- it is a google doc spreadsheet, with a tab to keep track of nutrients as well as weight. It isn't very fancy, and you will probably want to modify it for your own needs, but it would give you a place to start. Robin -- Robin Mitchell El Cerrito Community Garden Network Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.sites.google.com/site/elcerritocommunitygarden/ On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 10:26 AM, Bruce A. Hamilton <[email protected]> wrote: > In the two community gardens where I have worked (affiliated with Wasatch > Community Gardens in Salt Lake City, UT) we use a combination of hanging > produce scales and visual estimates to record weekly harvest totals by > weight and by vegetable type. We report annual totals in an annual report. > > --Bruce (Bruce A. Hamilton, Salt Lake City, UT) > [email protected] > http://bhami.com/ > > > At 06:13 PM 1/4/2014, Ana Rasmussen wrote: > >> We have a small-but-growing community agriculture program in Santa Cruz >> County, CA working with low income families to grow organic produce for >> their own tables. >> >> One of our funders has requested we find out what other Comm Garden >> programs are using for best-practice measurable outcomes. I agree, we >> haven't been so good at that aspect of our program yet. >> >> I would really appreciate any of you sending along the kind of goals and >> outcomes you have found to be both useful in helping you better understand >> your program and guiding you toward improving it. >> >> Any suggestions welcome. Thank you, >> >> Ana Rasmussen, Program Director >> Mesa Verde Gardens >> [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: > http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list. > communitygarden.org > <https://www.sites.google.com/site/elcerritocommunitygarden/> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20140105/39434aa9/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ 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: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
