Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
structures out of plastic tarps. Plan on volunteer time to regularly clean and maintain the rain barrel or
whatever capture system you use.
The rain-harvesting route can be a great experience for your community, as you reuse natural re-
sources to keep your plants healthy. It can also be a great idea that doesn't get off the ground because of
the cost or effort required for setup and maintenance. And it might not provide enough water for your
garden, so be realistic when you consider this as an irrigation source. Perhaps it is a secondary source,
in combination with other options.
Choosing Your Garden Type—Allotment, Group-Production, or Combo?
There's a lot of hairsplitting when it comes to defining a community garden. But by this point, having
worked through the questionnaire and your mission statement, there have likely been discussions about
how best to accomplish your mission within the garden. These discussions will help you decide whether
your community garden should be an allotment or group-production type of arrangement.
The Allotment Garden
The term used for gardens built for individual or family use is “allotment,” which means that gardeners
are allotted a space to do with as they wish. There are usually some restrictions, though, on what can
and cannot be done, which should be determined by the group when establishing the garden mission.
For example, if the garden is organic, every gardener must adhere to the definition of organic gardening
as decided on by the group.
Raised beds work well in allotment situations because the growing area is easily defined and recog-
nized. If gardens are inground, participants are often allowed to define their allotted space with whatever
barriers, fences, or decorations they wish. There might be turf wars in this scenario—gardeners have
been known to try to horn in on their neighbor's plot, so be prepared.
The Group-Production Garden
When individuals come together to share the tasks of growing food that will either be distributed among
the member gardeners or given away, it is called a group or production garden. Often gardens built
in this format are interested in producing a large amount of food to fulfill their mission. Traditionally,
raised beds aren't ideal for this type of garden, because it is easier to grow massive amounts with tradi-
tional row-farming methods.
The Combo Garden
Your garden could also have a combination of styles. While it's true that allotment gardeners generally
do not want their produce taken by someone else, there are ways to accommodate both approaches.
You might include an area where people garden together farm-style, to share produce with each other
or the larger community, as well as an allotment area with raised beds where families grow and harvest
food for their own use. And sharing isn't limited to production-style gardening. The community garden
might also have raised beds for a shared herb garden, a seed-saving garden, a berry patch, or specific
crops that are better suited to this type of growing.
There's no right or wrong way in your garden—but it is important to define and then communicate
to all members the group's decision on the type of garden you'll be growing.
Soil
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