may 2005 the community gardener newsletter

8/8/2019 May 2005 The Community Gardener Newsletter

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The American Community Gardening Association’s

1 ACGA Annual

Conference

2 Thanks &Recognitions

3 Karl LinnRemembered

4 Stories from theGardens

5 Bulletin Board

New Program: Teleconference

Workshop

6 10 Tools

7 Pollinators

8 Growing Communities

Workshops

9 ACGA Board

10 Volvo Hero for Life

AHS Award

11 Starting aGarden :10 Steps

12 How Many Are We?

The Community Gardener

The Program is set. The tours all arranged.Register today — save $50 by registering before June 15. ACGA’s 26th Annual Conference is August 11-14 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota .

What a Program! Join gardeners andcommunity activists from the United States,

Canada, and around the world to engage withissues of gardening and greening. This 3 ½day conference being held at the University of Minnesota features over 50 hands-on workshops that range from innovativegardening instruction to complex issues of community and sustainability. Here is a very small sampling of the workshops:

• Therapeutic Gardens—Reality & Perspectivefrom Bosnia & Herzegovina

• New York City Rainwater Harvesting inCommunity Gardens

• How to Ensure Schoolyard Gardens Remainan Asset to the School Community

• Creating Sustainable Landscapes

• Working with the Media

• Fertilizers & Soil Building.

And the Tours! Pre-conference tours includebicycle and canoe trips, or a day-long visit tothe Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. At the Arboretum one can either exploreindependently or as part of two workshops on

School & Youth Gardening or Your GardenStory through Fiberart.

All conference participants are invited to go onone of 12 Saturday afternoon tours togardening and greening sites throughoutMinneapolis and St. Paul, including sites such

as Minnehaha Falls, Farm in the City, YouthFarm & Market Project, Green Institute’s Phil-lips Eco-Enterprise Center, and have anopportunity to meet gardeners and share theuniqueness of numerous neighborhoodcommunity gardens.

Other offerings include a film festival; dinnerand auction; and post-conference kayaking down the Mississippi River. Special pre-conference events feature community building and organizational development workshopsfrom ACGA’s Growing Communities Curriculum and a Public Policy skills workshop by the

Community Food Security Coalition.

Camp ACGA! New at this conference will be2 1/2 day program for children aged 7-12.Field trips, environmental explorations, andcreating a Memory Book are all part of thecamp program.

High quality, low-cost accommodations areavailable at the University’s Middlebrook Hall. All levels of gardeners and community builders—from novice to professional—are warmly welcome and encouraged to attend.

Limited scholarships for the conference areavailable with the application form found withthe Conference Brochure.

REGISTER TODAY

ACGA’S 26TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN THE TWIN CITIES

May 2005Volume IV Issue 1I

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Register online atwww.communitygarden.org



Let Us Give ThanksBy Max Coot

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:For children who are our second planting,

and though they grow like weedsand the wind too soon blows them away,may they forgive us our cultivation

and remember fondly where their roots are.Let us give thanks:For generous friends . . . with hearts as big as Hubbards

and smiles as bright as their blossoms;For feisty friends as tart as apples;For continuous friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants

and as elegant as a row of corn,and then others, as plain as potatoes and as good for you;

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussel sproutsand as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes,and serious friends as complex as cauliflowersand as intricate as onions;

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages,as subtle as summer squash,as persistent as parsley,as delightful as dill,as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips,can be counted on to see you through the winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-timeand young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrilsand hold us, despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;

And, finally, for those friends now gone,like gardens past that have been harvested,but who fed us in their times that we might have life

thereafter;For all these we give thanks.

(Poem read by former Board member Marti Ross Bjornson at theFebruary 2005 meeting.)

The Community Gardener is published by theAmerican Community Gardening Association.

The American Community Gardening Association

(ACGA) is a nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community

greening in urban and rural communities. TheAssociation recognizes that community gardening

improves the quality of life for people by providing acatalyst for neighborhood and community development,

stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food,reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and

creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapyand education.

ACGA is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization

American Community Gardening Association, Inc.c/o Council on the Environment of New York City

51 Chambers Street, Suite 228 New York, New York 10007

Toll-free: 877-ASK-ACGA (877-275-2242)

www.communitygarden.org

Newsletter: Betsy Johnson, Interim Executive Director,and the ACGA Communications Committee.

PAGE 2 THE COMMUNIT Y GARDE NER MAY 2005

There is always complexity to our actions, and there's always uncertaintyand unknowing about the future. Theonly thing I or anyone else can do is tocreate possibilities that support aliveness. --Karl Linn

ACGA Board recognizes Marti Ross Bjornson

for her service on the board, her yearly help

with the Annual Report, and leadership withthe 2003 annual conference in Chicago.

Sally McCabe also receives thanks for her

many, many years of service to ACGA from

interim executive director Betsy Johnson at

the February 2005 board meeting.



Karl Linn, a prominent landscape designer who created opulent spaces for some of the country’s best-known architects but

abandoned the work to spend the rest of his career building community gardens in devastated urban neighborhoods, died on

Feb. 3 at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 81.

So starts Karl’s obituary in the New York Time s. A long time friend of the ACGA, Mr. Linn was a keynotespeaker at our 2002 annual conference in New York and also at the 2001 annual conference in Salt LakeCity, two days before the September 11 attacks.

Below are the introductory remarks to his slidepresentation.

COMMUNITY GARDENS BECOMING

NEIGHBORHOOD COMMONS

Witnessing the impressive growth and effectiveness of the ACGA since its founding has been inspiring andencouraging. Throughout the years I have reconnectedwith its founding members such as Tessa Huxley, SallyMcCabe, Andrew Stone, and Libby Goldstein to name a

few. Meetings with them were rewarding experiences thatgive sustaining continuity to my experience of life thatonly friendships of long duration can generate. To give abetter understanding of my concerns and hopes, andwhat motivated me to do my work, I will share in myaddress some benchmark experiences in my life.

Community gardens have become accessible, vitalneighborhood meeting places, extensions of hometerritory where people can interact casually, as part of their daily routine.

I view the destruction of community gardens that ishappening in New York City as the final enclosure of thecommons; following the enclosure of neighborhood

streets by the automobile. This crisis dramatizes thefragile hold gardens have on public land leased to themon a temporary basis by city governments. If every vacantlot is developed for in-fill housing, even for affordablehousing, the growth of neighborhood community will be

jeopardized. In a city, it takes a neighborhood block toraise a child. With the creation of community gardens,neighborhood blocks can become arenas for a new kindof extended family living not based on blood relationships,but on friendships, mutual aid and intergenerationalsupport among neighbors.

In Berkeley, California, developing a successful trackrecord in building and managing community gardens and

conducting a public debate that alleviated apprehensionabout them, created a climate of goodwill and support.Inspired by the City of Seattle, Washington, to secureland for community gardening, Berkeley finallyincorporated supportive guidelines for communitygardens in its General Plan. The city of Berkeley alsoprovides insurance for plot-holders and features amushrooming school garden program.

During the last eight years, I have engaged residents,students, Americorps teams, volunteers, city agencies,and local businesses in the building of three uniquecommunity gardens in which works of art mingle with lush

vegetation. The gardens feature networks of wheelchair-accessible pathways, common spaces, anddemonstrations of eco-friendly technologies, which willshown in a slide presentation.

In a Spring 2002 Community Gardener article, Anna Wasescha describes: At the end of Karl Linn’s talk, theaudience stood to applaud and then we all left to takehome the message that community gardens buildcommunity. We need community and therefore, as the ACGA members these days say, we need “MoreGardens!” Linn had said it all: they are necessary,

critical, indispensable, actually key to the survival of the human race.

Thank you Karl Linn


One of his gardens, the Peralta Community PeaceGarden in Berkeley is the subject of Rick Bacigalupi’saward winning film: A Lot in Common, which isavailable from Bullfrog Filmshttp://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/lot.html. Visit (www.alotincommon.com.)



Stories From the Garden PAGE 4 THE COMMUNIT Y GARDE NER MAY 2005

Patchwork Stories of gardens and community in

Burlington, Vermont

Community gardeners everywhere will recognize them-

selves among the gardeners Beret Halverson and Jim Flintintroduce in their newly published book about community gardening in Vermont’s unique environment. But youdon’t have to be from Vermont to enjoy and benefit fromreading these stories.

The reader not only meets and gets to know a cast of gardening characters, but also gets to enjoy rich andenriching photographs and poetry. The words of wisdomoffered in the “Editor’s Journal” section at the end of eachprofile binds together the common threads of community gardening, just as each story becomes a “patch” inBurlington’s garden “quilt.” These notes, offered by life-

time gardener and long-time community gardener JimFlint, provide insight into the relevant details of eachgardener’s story. They also identify the universal aspects of community gardening with which most readers willidentify.

Jim’s poetry provides insight into the hard work of gardening and the thought-provoking beauty that mostgardeners discover as they work the soil. His “Ode to thegardeners” is a simple gift:

hands of many

ages

colors experiences sowing seeds

making patterns on the earth

finding in our diversity

a common thread of community

Copyright by Friends of Burlington Gardens, Patchwork was written in memory of Tommy Thompson,Burlington’s leader of Gardens for All, the grassroots non-

profit organization that organically grew into the NationalGardening Association.

The book ends with acknowledgments, resources, and twosuccinct pages that describe the “Benefits of community gardening” and “Pathways to action,” which reveal someseeds and roots of community gardening and the paths togrowing both gardens and community, based upon thesuccesses and failures the Patchwork gardeners themselveslived (and from which they and we all learn).

Marti Ross Bjornson

Cultivating Common Ground

Another collection of stories, recipes and garden wisdom isCultivating Common Ground published in 2002 by ACGAGreening Review editor, Don Boekelheide. Together with

project manager June Blotnick, they engaged teenagers to“harvest” stories from the Wilmore Community Garden inCharlotte, North Carolina. As described in the resulting 80-page book, “Cultivating Common Ground worked directly to strengthen bonds of friendship and respect betweengenerations.” In addition to story recording sessions, theyouth and seniors got together for three cooking nights, as well as garden workdays.

The book includes Aaron Collins’ interview of WillieColeman and Carry Gaddy’s interview of JamelFunderburk, as well as eight other interviews andphotographs taken by the teens. The extra treats are the

recipes: cantaloupe pie, sweet potato casserole, cabbagerolls, squash pickles, and more.

A Story From Salina, Kansas

The impact of a community garden cannot be measured in pounds of produce or number of participants. In fact, the real impact may never be known and if it is known, is not measurable. Occasionally one does catch a glimpse, “ says Ted Zerger, new ACGA board member from Salina, Kansas. For future newsletters, he invites others tosubmit stories from their gardens. Here is one of Ted’s stories:

Jonathan lived with his grandparents across the street fromthe garden. Jonathan was large for his nine years of age.He was given a label and placed in special classes in school.He did not know how to read. He said he was not good.

He loved to come to the garden to talk and to eat carrotsand peas from the garden. Jonathan tended to be physically aggressive. When I asked him why he beat up one of theother children he said, "because he gets to see his momand I don't get to see mine". What he didn't know is thathis mother, who lived several blocks away, had no interestin seeing him. One very hot August day, Jonathan came tothe garden and asked what happened to roses in the wintertime. I explained that they go dormant and in the Spring get new leaves and flowers. He then asked if he could

(Continued on page 12)

Patchwork : Community Works Press, P.O. Box 2251, S.Burlington, VT 05407, www.vermontcommunityworks.org

Cultivating Common Ground : June Blotnick, 1930Mecklenburg Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205,[email protected]



THE COMMUNITY GARDENER

BULLETIN BOARD

Plant A Row for the Hungry

ACGA encourages community gardeners to participatein the Plant A Row for the Hungry , (PAR) a program of theGarden Writers Association. Gardeners are encouragedto plant an extra row and donate the produce to localsoup kitchens and food banks. For more informationcall 877-492-2727 or email [email protected].

PatronizeACGA’sSponsors

Check Out Organic Gardening Rodale’s Organic Gardening magazine features acommunity garden in every issue. In the April-May 2005issue, the spotlight is on community gardening ingeneral. Author and ACGA board member Zazel Lovelgives special recognition to gardens in Cleveland, SanFrancisco, Seattle, and East Harlem New York. ThanksRodale for being an ACGA sponsor.

ACGA’s First Teleconference Workshop on June 30

Free for Members

ACGA will be starting a new educational program formembers on Thursday, June 30 (3 PM eastern, 2 PMcentral, 1 PM mountain, noon pacific). The session willrun 90 minutes. The topic will be Starting a Community Garden , and include discussion of the insurance issue!

The workshop is an opportunity to learn and exchangeuseful ideas from around the US and Canada viatelephone conferencing. Every 6-8 weeks, there will beanother teleconference call that will feature an expert orexperts speaking for 20 minutes on a relevant topic

followed by an hour of dialog and questions andanswers from participants.

Pre-registration is required by June 24. Call-in number, workshop materials, and participant list are thenprovided.

Sign-up by email to:[email protected] or call 877-275-2242.


Gardeners get plants at Brooklyn GreenBridge

24th annual Making Brooklyn Bloom

Boston Community GardenersAnnual Spring Gathering

Celebrates 30 Years!

American Express volunteers help Council on the

Environment of New York City with community

garden Earth Day project



Pollination occurs when pollen is moved within flowers orcarried from one flower to another of the same species by

birds, bees, bats and other animals, or by the wind. Thistransfer of pollen in and among flowers of the same speciesleads to fertilization and successful seed and fruitproduction for the plant. Pollination ensures that a plant will produce full-bodied fruit and a set of fertile seeds,capable of germinating.

Why should I care about pollinators? Eighty percent of the foodplants species worldwidedepend on pollination by animals, almost all of which

are insects. Worldwide,approximately 1,000 of theestimated 1,330 crop plantsgrown for food, beverages,fibers, condiments, spices, andmedicines are pollinated by animals. Products of pollination by honey bees andother insects are worth $40billion annually by the U.S.

What is the problem with pollinators? In reports from around the world, many pollinators havepopulations in dire decline. Their decline means we couldbe facing problems with food security and stability in thecoming years.

What should be done about this problem?

Public education and outreach are critical. So isappropriateassessmentof the statusof pollinators

in North America. There is acritical needfor morefunding foron-the-

groundconservationand research.

Learn about the North American Pollinator ProtectionCampaign: www.nappc.org .

The Clinton Community Garden, West 48th Street, New York City, has had a beehive for over 15 years. The CCGbeehive is populated with thousands of Italian CaucasianHoney Bees. In the fall the garden harvests approximately 80 to 100 lbs of Hell's Kitchen Honey which is sold at

their Oktoberfest.

Other community garden andurban agriculture programs with beehives and beekeeping education programs include:

• Lehman Herb Garden, Jamaica Plain, a neighborhoodof Boston, Massachusetts

• Southwark/Queen VillageGarden, South Philadelphia

• FoodShare Toronto – roof of the Field-To-Table warehouse.

Additional pollinator information is available at thefollowing websites:http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html#websites http://pollinator.com/alt_pollinators.htm http://jacobyproduction.com/beegarden/


Pollinators – Let’s Join the Effort to Help

Betsy Johnson, ACGA Interim Executive Director

Steps we all can take, to help pollinators, right in our own

backyards and community gardens

• Plant wildflowers and native plants and usefewer hybrid flowers which don’t providepollen or nectar for native pollinators

• Avoid using pesticides and herbicides, or if used, apply them at night.

• Make a home for pollinators: build beecondos, create bat boxes and preserve deadbranches and dead trees.

Beekeeping at City Natives Nursery

Kennedy Community Garden,

Mattapan (Boston)

With funding from Heifer International,

Gardeners in Community Development,Dallas, Texas, inspect bees for the new hives at

their Our Savior Community Garden



The Growing Communities Workshops were described in theFebruary 2005 newsletter, but sincethat time ACGA conducted fourmore — in Des Moines, Iowa;

Cornelius, North Carolina; Fresno,California; and New Haven,Connecticut. ACGA thanks theUnited States Department of Agriculture’s Community FoodProject Grants programs forunderwriting the training. Equally important, ACGA thanks the localhost organizations: City of DesMoines Parks & RecreationDepartment; Mecklenburg County Waste Reduction, Town of Cornelius, and Garden Renaissancein the South; Fresno Metro Ministry and FresnoCommunity Garden Coalition;City of New HavenDepartment of Parks, Recreation& Trees, New Haven Ecology Project, New Haven UrbanResources Initiative, and New Haven Land Trust.

PAGE 8 THE COMMUNITY GARDENER MAY 2005

Growing Communities Workshops Around the Country

For more information or to discuss hosting a training, contact 877-275-2242. To order a copy of the Growing Communities Curriculum , visit the ACGA website at www.communitygarden.org .

Clockwise: Carlos leads the Fundraising workshop at the Garden in the Sun in Fresno;Gerard Lordahl tours a New Haven Land Trustgarden; the exhausted, but energized

participants in Dearborn, Michigan last August;Pedro and Karen engage participants in theLeadership workshop; Rodney Bender & TrishHildinger, co-facilitators along with Betsy

Johnson relax after the Portland, Oregon workshop in February; lively discussion during asmall group session in Dearborn; FresnoHmong gardeners have a problem-solving session during the Community Organizing

workshop; and New Haven workshopparticipants successfully engage fellow participants in the Meeting Facilitation

workshop.



ACGA Board of DirectorsPhotographs by Don Lambert during February 2005 Board Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri

PAGE 9 THE COMMUNITY GARDENER MAY 2005

Kate Chura, Treasurer Horticultural Society of New York,New York, NY USA

Martha Egnal Silver City Community GardenPinos Altos, NM USA

Amanda Maria Edmonds Growing Hope

Ypsilanti, MI USA

Gwenne Hayes-Stewart,Secretary Gateway Greening St. Louis, MO USA

Don Lambert Gardeners in Community DevelopmentRichardson, TX USA

Daniel Winterbottom University of WashingtonDepartment of Landscape

ArchitectureSeattle, WA USA

James Kuhns Daily Bread Food Bank

Toronto, ON Canada

Rory Klick Lake Villa, IL USA

David King The Learning Garden, Venice High School Los Angeles, CA USA

Teague Weybright Los Angeles Conservation Corps

Los Angeles, CA USA

Rebecca FergusonGreen GuerillasNew York, NY USA

Jason O’ Brien MOBY Community Group

Vancouver, BC Canada

Zazel Loven Rodale’s Organic Gardening New York, NY,USA

Ellen Kirby Brooklyn GreenBridgeBrooklyn Botanic GardenBrooklyn, NY USA

Bernadette Longo University of Minnesota, Department of RhetoricSt. Paul, MN USA

NOT PICTURED Laura Berman FoodShare Toronto

Toronto, ON Canada

Solomon Boyé City of Toronto Parks and Recreation

Toronto, ON, CanadaRodger Cooley Heifer InternationalChicago IL USA

Wm. Sizwe HerringEarth Matters TennesseeNashville, TN USA

Carrie Young Community Garden Society of Inuvik Inuvik, NT Canada

Gerard Lordahl, President

Council on the Environment of NYCNew York, NY USA

York, NY USA

Corrie Zoll Greenspace Partners Program,

The Green InstituteMinneapolis, MN USA

Ted Zerger Peace Community Garden

Salina, KS USA

Anna Wasescha, Vice President Farm in the City

St. Paul, MN USA

Bill Maynard Sacramento AreaCommunity Garden Coalition

Sacramento, CA USA




Bill Maynard Sacramento, California

In April 2005, one of ACGA’s own, board member Bill Maynard was names as a Volvo for Life Hero — “Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Feted in a New York Times Square ceremony, Bill is a great stand bearer for all

community garden activists. A portion of Bill’s $25,000 award will go towards for underwriting new ACGA membershipsin California. Congratulations and thank you.

From the Volvo website comes the following write-up.

One of Bill Maynard’s favorite mottos is M. Gandhi’s, ” To forget the soil is to forget ourselves.” Bill strives to ensurethat his fellow citizens remember themselves and each other through public garden works. Bill helps those in low-incomeareas enjoy gardening as a way to beautify their urban landscape while supplementing their diet with the fresh producegrown. This year, Bill used his civil engineering skills to help design, plan, and plant a food-producing landscape initiative within an existing low-income housing project. The initiative introduced 80 citrus and fruit trees, as well as various herbs,into the existing project landscaping.

By working with the Parks and Recreation Commission, Bill ensured that future parks would include community gardens.He championed the idea that citywide recreation master plans for updating parks include community gardens just as they

would softball fields, soccer fields, and horseshoe pits. Currently, Bill works on a committee to rewrite the city’sfrontyard landscaping code. The goal is for future codes to allow for food-producing gardens of trees, shrubs, andflowers to beautify and help nourish hard-pressed neighborhoods.

Bill volunteers his time to assist the Sacramento City School District toencourage learning experiences through the creation of school gardens.He involves students from area high schools, giving them hands-onexperience in designing and creating school gardens. Students haveresearched native plants, designed native plant areas, installeddrip irrigation, and even painted murals as the backdrop for the gardens. Additionally, Bill helped the Hmong immigrant community relotheir gardens from toxic drainage sites to 4 specially designatedcommunity gardens. The Hmong community now has safe gardening areas on which the elders can teach their farming culture to future

generations. Each winter and early spring, Bill’s green van serves as amobile greenhouse, in which he sprouts and starts seeds to deliver toschools, community gardens, and attendees at various neighborhood meetings.

Bill raises a family and works full-time at a civil engineering office, designing subdivisions and streets. But his passion forhelping others and his love for gardening have led him to use his skills not only to beautify urban areas, but also to createa stronger, more united sense of community. Bill lives by following Gandhi’s motto: “We must be the change that we wish to see in the world.”

For more information about the Volvo for Life Heroes Award, visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com .

St. Louis Gateway Greening

Also Receives Award

Gateway Greening received the 2005 Urban Beautification Award fromthe American Horticultural Society. This award is given for outstanding contribution to an organization or individual for significant contribu-tions to urban horticulture. Since 1984 Gateway Greening has helpedtransform vacant or abandoned land into food producing gardens orsafe places to gather in the St. Louis urban core. Gateway now supportsmore than 160 neighborhood greening projects. Gateway also offersschool programs in classrooms in more than 150 area schools. Its mis-sion is to provide resources and training to groups who believe intheir communities and want to reclaim them from urban decay.

Arabella Dane, Chair, American Horticultural

Society, Gwenne Hayes-Stewart, Executive

Director Gateway Greening, and Katy Moss



10 STEPS TO STARTING A COMMUNITY GARDEN*


The following steps are adapted from the American Community Garden Association's guidelines for launching a successful community garden in your neighborhood.

1. ORGANIZE A MEETING OF INTERESTED PEOPLE Determine whether a garden is really needed and wanted, what kind it should be (vegetable, flower, both, or-ganic?), whom it will involve and who benefits. Invite neighbors, tenants, community organizations, gardening and horticultural societies, building superintendents (if it is at an apartment building)—in other words, anyone who is likely to be interested.

2. FORM A PLANNING COMMITTEE This group can be comprised of people who feel committed to the creation of the garden and have the time todevote to it, at least at this initial stage. Choose well-organized persons as garden coordinators Form commit-tees to tackle specific tasks: funding and partnerships, youth activities, construction and communication.

3. IDENTIFY ALL YOUR RESOURCES Do a community asset assessment. What skills and resources already exist in the community that can aid in the

garden’s creation? Contact local municipal planners about possible sites, as well as horticultural societies andother local sources of information and assistance. Look within your community for people with experience inlandscaping and gardening. In Toronto contact the Toronto Community Garden Network.

4. APPROACH A SPONSOR Some gardens "self-support" through membership dues, but for many, a sponsor is essential for donations of tools, seeds or money. Churches, schools, private businesses or parks and recreation departments are all possi-ble supporters. One garden raised money by selling "square inches" at $5 each to hundreds of sponsors.

5. CHOOSE A SITE Consider the amount of daily sunshine (vegetables need at least six hours a day), availability of water, and soiltesting for possible pollutants. Find out who owns the land. Can the gardeners get a lease agreement for at leastthree years? Will public liability insurance be necessary?

6. PREPARE AND DEVELOP THE SITEIn most cases, the land will need considerable preparation for planting. Organize volunteer work crews to cleanit, gather materials and decide on the design and plot arrangement.

7. ORGANIZE THE GARDEN Members must decide how many plots are available and how they will be assigned. Allow space for storing tools, making compost and don’t forget the pathways between plots! Plant flowers or shrubs around thegarden's edges to promote good will with non-gardening neighbors, passersby and municipal authorities.

8. PLAN FOR CHILDREN Consider creating a special garden just for kids--including them is essential. Children are not as interested in thesize of the harvest but rather in the process of gardening. A separate area set aside for them allows them toexplore the garden at their own speed.

9. DETERMINE RULES AND PUT THEM IN WRITING

The gardeners themselves devise the best ground rules. We are more willing to comply with rules that we havehad a hand in creating. Ground rules help gardeners to know what is expected of them. Think of it as a code of behavior. Some examples of issues that are best dealt with by agreed upon rules are: dues, how will the money be used? . How are plots assigned? Will gardeners share tools, meet regularly, handle basic maintenance?

10. HELP MEMBERS KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EACH OTHER Good communication ensures a strong community garden with active participation by all. Some ways to do thisare: form a telephone tree, create an email list; install a rainproof bulletin board in the garden; have regularcelebrations. Community gardens are all about creating and strengthening communities.

* the most common advice sought from ACGA, also visit http://www.communitygarden.org/starting.php



PAGE 12 THE COMMUNIT Y GARDE NER MAY 2005PAGE 12 THE COMMUNIT Y GARDE NER MAY 2005

JOIN OR RENEW WITH ACGA Send memberships to:

ACGA, 51 Chambers St. Room 228 New York, NY 10007

MEMBERS ARE ACGA’S STRENGTHRECRUIT A NEWMEMBER TODAY

www.communitygarden.org/join.php

American Community Gardening Association’s Community Garden Survey 2005

City Information Source:

Name:_______________________________________ Organization/Agency:____________________________________

Address:_____________________________________ City/Province, State, Postal Code___________________________

Phone _______________________________________ Email _______________________________________________

Website(s) for lists of gardens in your area and of individual gardens ____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Number of different types of Community Gardens in Your City or Area(For the purpose of this survey, a community garden is defined as land set aside for community members to grow edible orornamental plants. The land may also include active or passive recreation space or other amenities.) Complete as best you can.

Breadth of Geographic area (i.e., neighborhood, city(ies), metro region, state, etc.) ________________________________

__________Neighborhood Gardens __________Senior Center/Housing Gardens _________ Public Housing Gardens

__________ “Farm” sites with plots __________ Community Supported Ag. _________ Therapeutic Gardens

__________ Youth Empowerment __________ School Gardens __________ Job Training

__________Other:_________________________________________________________________________________

__________Total _________ Number on privately owned land, if known

Site Permanency: Is site permanency considered an important issue in this city?___________

Explain:_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Number of gardens established within the past 5 years:____________ Comparing the past 5 years to previous years, the rate of new sites has increased or decreased? _______________________

Please return this survey by July 15, 2005 to the American Community Gardening Associationc/o Council on the Environment of New York City 51 Chambers St., Rm.228 New York, New York 10007 or

Email the responses to [email protected]

How Many Are We?ACGA gets asked frequently for the number of community gardens. We know this is a constantly

changing number. By some estimates there are 6,000, by others there are 18,000 — so please return thesurvey below so we can provide a more accurate answer. Thank you.

plant some roses in the Peace Garden. I explained that there were already several rose bushes in the garden but he insisted. He said he had some athome that he wanted to plant. It turns out that he had dug up part of a rose

bush along their back fence and had several pieces in a bucket, covered withsome very dry soil. When I asked him why he dug it up, he said," I wasafraid it would die in the winter." Amazingly enough, a couple of the pieceshad a few roots, so we planted them. Even more amazingly, Jonathan wouldcome to the garden to check on his roses and water them. One day he toldme he was moving to Georgia with his grandparents.

I asked him, "what will happen to your roses if you move away?" He said,"you can take care of them. That way you'll have something to rememberme by."

Ted Zerger

(Continued from page 4)

may 2005 the community gardener newsletter

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