I've read a bit about community gardens but haven't seen any in the places where I have lived. Basically a community garden is a piece of land that is tended by a group of people. The land in most cases is public land. The members of the group buy seeds and help with gardening. In return for their labor and the money they spent on seeds, they get part of the produce. Sounds like a good way to save a little bit of money on vegetables. Try it if you can.
I always thought that sounded lovely! But where I live, in Germany, they apparently are very strict with stuff like this. So if you live in an apartment of a building with a shared garden, you HAVE to tend to your part of it, regardless of whether you want to or not, regardless of whether you eat the reapings or not. I do think that the concept is stellar, though. Also, I think they should be a must in schools. It's a great thing to teach kids!
We have a community garden here where I live. I just today enjoyed planting some food and shared conversation with the others there. It is great fun, very healing, and really a joy to see the food grow and then eat it! I must admit, when it comes to the weeding, it gets labor intensive, but it is all so worthwhile. What I like best is being out in nature. It is relaxing and energizing at the same time.
I am in the process of starting one myself. Getting it off the ground can be a little hard at first, but we have the land and that's the first step. Now we just need help from the community to all chip in.
Do you have any tips for approaching an apartment complex about starting a community garden? I currently have a small balcony garden, but I would love to have access to more land. I've found that gardening is the best way to save some money and live a more sustainable lifestyle. I currently plant lettuce, tomatoes, onions and herbs. I want to try my hand at strawberries and green beans.
The idea of having the high school kids do the community garden as part of their required community help is great. It would give them a better idea of how things are grown that food doesn't just show up and that hard work is not a bad word. Also it will instill in them respect for public property.
I found something which might be helpful. If you have neighbors who are interested in gardening then it would be a lot easier for you to get someone to acquiesce to your requests. There's no guarantee though that your bid will be successful. You won't lose anything though. All you have to do is talk. Log In
