Cohousing-L Mailing List: Fwd: Garden Plans

[PattyMara (PattyMara]

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Return-path: PattyMara [at] aol.com
From: PattyMara [at] aol.com
Full-name: PattyMara
Message-ID: <0.9ce17c08.257b4e07 [at] aol.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 00:11:35 EST
Subject: Re: Garden Plans
To: scowley [at] library.utah.edu
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At Tierra Nueva on the central California coast we have had our community 
garden growing since early spring of 1999.  So based on the experience of one 
growing season I'll take a crack at your questions:

<< What have you found encourages or discourages participation?
Of the adults in our community, there are those of us who love to have our 
hands in the soil, and then there are most of the others who don't.  So the 
core group of green thumb folk numbers about 7 out of 50 adults.  All of the 
membership was tapped deeply to help do the community landscaping during 
January through March, and so there was very little energy left to do the 
garden when spring came along.  The group was content with just letting the 
green thumbers go at the garden at our own pace.

We did encourage the kids to participate by building a bean teepee, which 
they helped plant and water.  Whenever possible we had kids helping.  Mostly 
playing in the hose.  
    
 <<What equity issues have arisen between gardeners and nongardeners?
None.  We fussed about it mildly when the garden was still a concept, not yet 
a reality.   Our experience was that our yield was so magnificent that there 
is a surplus of food.  We happy to see it being eaten.  And in December, 
there is still sweet corn ready to be picked.  Amazing.   
 
 <<Do you have individual or communal plots or a mixture?
All communal.

 <<How is the harvest from communal plots distributed (shares to common
 meals, gardeners, whole community)? 

Whoever picks it gets it.  We have harvested string beans, spinach, chard, 
kale, broccoli, peppers, squash, pumpkins, corn and tomatoes and culinary 
herbs for community meals and still an abundance remains.  

<<How has the process evolved over time and why? 

When the garden committee first met there was lots of theorizing about 
methods, seed selection and purchase and design options.  Lots of talk.  When 
it came down to doing the work of cultivation in the hot sun, only a few of 
us showed up.  So we ended up doing the design by the seat of our pants, 
planting and creating different patterns of rows, intensive beds, spiral corn 
circles, raised beds, bean teepees and sunflower houses as the whim struck 
us. 

I remember one very sweaty hot day in the sun working on cultivating the 
garden with one other member.  He formed raised rows in straight lines and 
planted carrots, radishes and lettuce.  I cultivated assymetrical beds that 
were contained by soil berms and planted broccoli, beets, kale etc.  Both 
worked fine.  Actually mine produced bigger yields  : ).  But both worked.  
>From then on we just planted whenever we had time...and a very amusing design 
emerged.  Organic and flowing and delightful.  The best was the double spiral 
corn circles that we planted on July 15 and harvested Sept-thru the present. 

As the garden spread from one end to the other, we had to keep moving the 
campfire circle to make room for more plots.  Now after two moves the fire 
circle has settled into the western edge of the garden.    

<< Where does funding for the garden come from -- the group?

Yep.  Homeowners purchased the seeds.

<< What pitfalls await the naive cohousing group?

Non that I know of yet. 

warmly,
PattyMara Gourley
Tierra Nueva, cen CA coast. 


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