Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
WITHOUT COMMUNITY, IT'S
JUST A GARDEN
Getting Organized
Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do
it, it is not all mixed up.
—A.A. Milne
Many people believe the heavy lifting—such as land acquisition and preparation, garden building, and
soil shoveling—is the hard part of starting a community garden. Don't get me wrong! It takes a lot of
physical labor to build a garden. But in reality, the toughest part is building the community first. The
finite activity of the “stuff” of a garden is tangible; everyone can see the layout, the fence, the watering
system. All is clear to the eye—“Ah, this is a garden!” But both seeing and navigating the intangible as-
pects of community are much more subtle and vital to the long-term success of the garden.
It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of spring—everyone wants to get their hands dirty and do
some work—but without proper community structure, there's no assurance the garden will survive once
the thrill of its newness is gone. Think of that admonition when you were a kid and your mother wouldn't
let you get a puppy. Sure, it would be fun, but there's a lot of work required to enjoy the puppy kisses and
tail wagging, and that dog might not be so cute when it grows up and needs a lot of maintenance. Without
a community, a few months later you've just got a garden. And chances are, it is such a big garden that
you or a few friends may not be able to maintain it for the long haul.
This is where community organizing comes into play. It is vital that the food-growing part of your
project be the smallest part. How can that be if it's all about the garden? Yes, this is true—it is all about
the garden, but perhaps in ways you don't understand just yet.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “community organizing”? Does it have a political mean-
ing: protesting social injustice, unfair civic rulings—or does it make you think of “fighting the man”?
Does it have an organizational meaning—planning a food drive or a block party for your kid's school
or your religious organization? Community organizing means a lot of things to a lot of people. When I
began the Peterson Garden Project, I was new to the community-organizing world, but I found that my
business management skills influenced my approach and helped tremendously.
