Community Gardening

Interested in getting a community garden started in your area? It might be as simple as approaching a local church to get your idea going.

What started as an idea I expressed in passing to one of our church pastors has now turned into a successful adventure - at least so far!

In about 4 weeks, we've signed up 32 families to participate in the first ever community garden at our church. The church has provided the ground and the lumber for us to make our square foot gardening frames. A church member has stepped up and offered to provide all of the seeds and vegetables that our families will need to plant their garden plots. Another church member donated an 18-wheeler full of compost to improve the soil. Many other church members have volunteered their time helping me design the space, for tilling the ground, moving in the compost with a backhoe and we all met this past Friday to build our garden frames.

Each family participating will have (2) 4x8 garden plots that they will plant and can keep their harvest. All participating families will also help tend a 20 foot x 40 foot "community" plot for the church; the church receives all the harvest from this plot to give to families in need at our church our community.

At our first class meeting, the families gave me the list of veggies they most wanted to plant. Since most of the families participating are very new to gardening, I then took that information and helped them by plotting out what would be best planted where in their square foot garden sections.

Each family now has a planting plan for their garden section that they'll use when we meet again as a group on April 25th for our very first planting day.

If you have a dream or desire to teach others to garden, but don't have the space for a large community garden - the key might just be as close as your local church - you never know until you ask!