The Dao of Community Gardening | The Questions to Ask

By Haven Tobias
Xenia Dialogue Fellow

Now, in the autumn, is the right time for your organization or neighborhood to begin planning a community garden. You need to start now, because you will have questions pile on questions, and it may take until late winter to sort them all out. The first question to ask is: Who is your community? By this, I mean both who is going to be doing the work and who is going to be reaping the benefits?

As for doing the work:

• Who will be your responsible party or parties? A garden is a black hole of tasks, from preparing to mulching to weeding plots and everything in between. If one person is willing to take on the responsibility of being administrator/head honcho/boss — OK. But maybe you need a committee, so that there is back-up, a redundancy of responsible parties.

• How you will communicate with your gardeners when there are routine, or perhaps sudden, maintenance needs? Will you use Twitter or Facebook,  e-mail or phone?

As for reaping the benefits:

• In your space, will you have one big garden that is everyone’s, or will participants have their own plots within the larger lot?
• Will you grow whatever it is you grow for “home” consumption or to sell at a farmers’ market?  (Many master gardeners/community gardeners will tell you that, surprisingly — it was to me — enough, people disappear at harvest time.  Is it because in Oklahoma it’s just too hot in August, or is it because people are afraid of the ubiquitous zucchini (make that Ton of Zucchini)

In that light, please permit me an aside in this section on questions to provide an answer. There are organizations, like Food and Shelter for Friends, and there are churches that will welcome your excess produce — yea, even the zucchini! Eat what you can, and share the rest.

To return to the questions, let’s do get the lawyers involved, since almost always lawyers do get involved (In the interests of full disclosure, I am one.):

• Do you have to have premises liability insurance, in case someone wielding a spade or hoe accidentally injuries a fellow gardener? Probably you don’t need to think about workers’ compensation insurance, but also probably it’s a good idea to have a disclaimer form to be signed by volunteers; you know, to the effect: “I don’t have to work six hours today in 90 degree heat, but if I opt to work six hours today in 90 degree heat and get heat stroke, I hold you harmless.”

Now let’s get the lawyers outa here and return to the gardeners:

• What are you — and by you, I mean your community — wanting to grow, roses or tomatoes, morning glories or squash? This is a good discussion to have early on because perhaps you can accommodate both those who want produce for food and those who want to beautify the neighborhood. These can be different motivations and it is best to resolve them up-front.  Then too, there are those who, whether veggies or flowers, want to grow only native plants, and those who want to experiment with the exotic.  It is best to air the differences of people who want orchids and people who want okra as a threshold matter.
• Are you going to grow whatever it is organically?  If so, what alternatives will you use to chemical pesticides and herbicides?
• Where will your garden grow? If you have a park or church or school in mind, have you visited it at different times of the day and the seasons so that you know where the sun/shade patterns are? Have you handled the soil?
• Will your garden be handicap-accessible, with hard path surfaces for wheelchairs or walkers, and raised beds?
• Is there a secure area for tool storage?
• Where will your water source be? Is it clear who is going to pay for it? If you can afford to start from scratch, a drip irrigation system is preferable to a sprinkler system. Among the benefits of a drip irrigation system is that it conserves water by limiting evaporation loss and reduces disease.

So many questions, it’s a wonder anybody ever gets a community garden started!  Perhaps they do because they answer the big question first: Why do we want a community garden?  The answer to that one question may answer many others.

For example, if the answer is:  We would like to provide children with a broad learning experience, where they will apply math and history, as well as biology, in the planting and then learn about nutrition in the harvesting, then you know who your community is. Your community is children, working with the guidance of teachers and parents. You know what your product is.  Your product will be vegetables you can harvest in the spring and in the fall, and you will know to beware of vegetables that are ripe only in mid-summer. You know your garden will be on the school grounds or very close by, and you probably know where your water source is.  So lots of questions are answered when you address the fundamental question: Why do we want a community garden?

I use the above only as an example.  A broad learning experience for children isn’t the only motivation for a community garden. The American Community Gardening Association recognizes that community gardening may provide a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulate social interaction, beautify neighborhoods, produce nutritious food, and create opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education. Each of these purposes requires that the questions be addressed in the context of each unique situation.

Next week: Finding the answers.

Main photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickimoore/ / CC BY 2.0