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I have always thought about organizing a community garden. However, when one lives in a rural community just about everyone has a garden of some size.
We see many cities with a lot of vacant space starting to organize community gardens. Community gardens bring people together, help them develop pride in re-organizing a vacant lot that perhaps was very run down, it teaches them how to help themselves, it also teaches them how to garden and it often brings families together in a project that they never dreamed of.
Community gardens develop a lot of end results other than providing food for people to eat. They create beauty and a safer neighborhood area as a place to live and raise one’s children. Often some of these community gardens add flowers to the entrances and exits of their gardens thus teaching the participants about food for the soul.
To get started one needs to organize people who care about, or know about or want to learn about gardening. These people need to understand what their commitment needs to be and the responsibility that will be involved in creating and maintaining a community garden.
The group should then decide on what the community gardens goals are going to be. Will the neighbors involved want it to be an active recreation area like a playground or will they prefer a garden to sit in, or to raise vegetables and flowers in. Will the plantings be directly in the ground or will there be raised beds. Will the community garden offer plots for each member of the group to maintain or will this be a cooperatively managed project? Will this area be a permanent open space or will the lot be just a temporary beautification until something is built on it in the future?
If the group wants the lot to be protected as an insured open space then ownership or tenancy will be necessary in order to secure funding or grants for the improvements the group wants to make. Will the group be seeking funding or donations to work the project and most serious of all will they be willing to assume the long term responsibility for the planting, maintaining and perhaps potential liability for the projects site?
Once that is all decided upon, then the site chosen must be accessible to nearby water, even if it is just a fire hydrant and if that be the case will the town or city allow you access to it? Will there be enough sun on your chosen spot? Will they neighbors be in favor of your project and will they help with it?
If this is in a commercial area, many times local businesses who become interested will help with things like gardening tools, fencing, seeds, loan of a tiller or tractor to get you started, loan of trash removal equipment or trucks, lumber for beds, signs and other things you might be surprised you will find that you need. Local green houses or nurseries may aid you with plant donations.
Get the support of your local politicians, alderman, schools, ward office, park supervisors and see what kind of support they can offer whether it be advice or even money. They have connections and resources that will help you.
If they site you have chosen has an abandoned building on it then you certainly will need help from your ward office. If it just needs to be cleaned up then arrange with your local ward office to have the group have some involvement in the cleaning up.
Before you go to any of these people make sure you and your group has sat down and put on paper a design for your designated community garden complete with a list of all the things you will need.
An added bonus will be a list of the people involved and perhaps a signed commitment from each of them as proof of the project.
If your list includes trees and shrubs make sure they are the kind that will grow in your selected spot. Will you need benches or playground equipment? If so make sure they are on your initial list.
Don’t just think of your project in the terms of “this year”. Think way down the road and create a list for a 5 year plan. Include a list in your proposed plan that will show the tasks that will need to be done and hopefully the names of the volunteers who will perform these tasks.
These task include not only starting your project but the seasonal tasks such a spring plantings, summer watering, weeding and maintaining, fall harvesting and cleanup and winter group meetings to prepare for the next season and to maintain the enthusiasm of the group. This is also recognition time when everyone gets together to socialize and perhaps receive some sort of award or plaque.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from Helium Article by Arlene Wright-Correll http://www.helium.com/items/910990-always-thought-about-organizing
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