Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Seating is nice, particularly if you have older gardeners. This can be as uncomplicated as lawn
chairs, or as fancy as park benches. If you have a shady spot, that's a natural place for seating. Again,
start out with the bare necessities your first year and build from there.
OTHER FUN STUFF TO HAVE IN THE GARDEN
Grill and cooking area (if your lease agreement allows for fire on-site)
Picnic benches and tables
Children's play area
Pergolas, gazebos, or other decorative structures (better for gardens where you have a long tenure)
Greenhouses or hoop houses for season extension
Beehives (better for gardens without a lot of small children)
Stage or performance area
Security: On the Fence
This is a hot topic and there's no right answer. If you don't fence your community food garden, there
will be theft issues, I promise you. If you do fence, you will be criticized for keeping the community
out. I'm warning about this now so you can prepare yourself. People get funny where food access is
involved, particularly on city-owned or other communal property.
If your garden's mission is to provide food for local food and nutrition programs, then the no-fence
option may be the way to go. You might not be delivering the food in the manner you had thought, but
it will go to the community.
If people are growing for their families in an allotment garden or you are teaching people to garden,
you might want to have a fence. It is a real bummer to lose that prize tomato or watermelon that your
beginning gardener has been nurturing all summer. In a suburban or rural area, there might be surprising
thieves, such as deer. Consider the community, the garden's mission, and the budget, and decide accord-
ingly.
At least in urban areas, empty lots are often required to be fenced for safety purposes. These fences
are generally inexpensive construction fences and aren't a hundred percent secure. But this type of tem-
porary fencing is enough for property owners to signify the land is private and fulfill obligations to the
city. So, when you get your land, there might already be a fence if the city requires one, which is great.
If you don't have a fence, and you want one, they are costly (even the cheapo temporary construction
fences). Do some research to determine costs and budget accordingly.
If you have a fence and want to lock the gate, there are some decisions to make. You'd think
something as simple as a lock would be, well, simple. It's not. Do you post open hours and designate
a person who is responsible for unlocking and locking the gate on a regular schedule? Or do you allow
gardeners to come and go as they please? If you allow them to come and go as they please, you will
either have to provide keys or the code to a combination lock. These options can present problems: lost
keys, people unable to open the lock because of forgotten codes; an unreliable, regularly scheduled gate
opener. Inevitably there will be complications with locking your garden. Think through the choices and
set up a reliable system at the beginning—and remain good-natured when you get your third call in one
day about the lock not working.
