Community Garden Start-Up Guide This article was adapted from Gardening Matters, http://www.gardeningmatters.org/resources/startup, with permission.
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his “Community Garden Start-Up Guide” is intended to help communities along the path to starting and sustaining a community garden.
Why start a community garden? Many families would like to grow some of their own vegetables and herbs to save money on their food bills and to enjoy the wholesomeness of homegrown produce. In addition, gardening is a relaxing way to exercise and enjoy being out-of-doors. Community gardens beautify neighborhoods and help bring neighbors closer together. Here are steps to help create your own Community Garden.
1. Get your neighbors involved Survey the residents of your neighborhood to see if they are interested and would participate. 2. Form a garden group It helps you make decisions and divide-up the work effectively. 3. Gain permission from your Community Board (very important) Once they approve, they can amend the declaration to allow a community garden. 4. Find land for the garden Make sure it gets plenty of sun — at least six to eight hours each day — and that it is relatively flat. 5. Make sure your proposed site has water
6. Get your soil tested It is advisable to have the soil at the site tested for fertility, pH and presence of heavy metals. For tests ($15 to $80) for soil nutrients, contact UMN’s soil testing lab, http://soiltest. cfans.umn.edu/ 7. Be prepared to sign “hold harmless” waiver 8. Planning the Garden Measure your site and make a simple, to-scale site map with desired produce. Hold two or three garden design meetings and make sure that group decisions are recorded in official minutes. 9. Please visit Gardening Matters’ website for more thorough information and helpful hints to begin your community garden.
May | June 2014
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