You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘A Garden of my Own’ category.
Yes, this is my final blog before the poster session. What has been interesting about this project of mine is not only the information I’ve discovered, but the things I’ve learned by accident. It has been amazing to see that what I’m finding are things that I can use…actual stuff in my life. Becoming an informed citizen has been a rewarding process. A process. A series of events.
It began with wanting to know HOW TO GARDEN. Then it became wanting to know about the COMMUNITY GARDEN. Then I started to appreciate the ties between our COMMUNITY and our FOOD. Through learning about the local food movement, Rhonda’s lecture, &c, I have finally realized what this project has meant to me.
I’ve worked in the Coop since before this class, but I am an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in the Coop now. I am learning about our local distributors, I am forming training manuals in order to strengthen the Coop, I am talking with the customers about our community and how appreciative I am that they are shopping there.
My point is that this project has given me a sense of wholism, to make up a word. I am holistically perceiving my life because of a homework assignment, and that is cool.
So, the final outcome of my BLOG has transformed into what I call The Community of Food. I can’t wait to present on Thursday. Here is a video of a gardening season time lapse. I choose it because it represents the growth of my project in a relevant way. Peace.
Greetings. This week I have been looking into “how to” garden successfully in Kansas.
I have always found gardening to be intimidating. Luckily, I found this incredibly simple to read chart: Vegetable Planting Calendar. It was published in our state, so I think this is a good place to start. The chart comes from savvygardener.com which has a ton of good information about composting, growing herbs and vegetables, eh, and TONS of other stuff as well. Check it out.
I visited the community garden, learned how to sign up for a plot and met a few folks who have already started their garden. The garden here in town is adorable. It’s much larger than I expected, and there’s always at least one person there each time I’ve visited. If anyone is interested in gardening this season, check out the UFM website. There is also an American Community Gardening Association. Their website is very nice as well. The site says,
- promotes the formation and expansion of national and regional community gardening networks,
- develops resources in support of community gardening and greening,
- encourages research on the impact of community greening, and
- conducts educational training programs to further community gardening and greening.
The history of farmer’s markets is interesting. Basically, a bunch of people had stuff they wanted to sell, so they decided to get together and sell it. Community! The farmer’s market system reminds me of Environmental Justice, in a way. Power to the people, rage against the machine, etc, etc…
I already know that I will not be the keeper of my own community garden plot this year. I haven’t got the time or the money (typical). But! The good news is: I have been invited to be a part of my friend’s plot. See, that’s the beauty of this: community. Everyone has something to offer, and you are invited, too. Kumbaya.
This week I interviewed a good friend and coworker of mine. She is an herb specialist, an entomologist, a gardener and a wife and mother! On top of all of that, she is a wonderful storyteller with a wealth of knowledge in her noggin.
I asked her about her experience with our community garden. First, logistics. She said that in order to acquire a plot at the community garden, I should contact UFM (University for Man). Apparently the organize the plot sign-up each year. My interviewee said the plots ranged in size but are approximately 20×15 feet each. Since cost is an important factor for us college students, we should all be thrilled to learn that the pricing operates on a sliding scale. Basically, if someone is interested in renting land for gardening, it shall be!
The birth of our community garden is an interesting story. It is located near our recycling center. This particular area of land was low-income housing 30 years ago. The city decided to participate in “Urban Renewal” which is basically a veiled method to wipe out the poor and minorities in any community. For instance, 30 years ago our town was 12% Black. Following the urban renewal project, the statistic today is something much less. Ugh. It’s pretty disgusting. But, I digress. So, the low-income living spaces were demolished. The agreement was that the space would be designated a “green space” for 30 years, and after those 30 years were over, the recycling center nearby would be allowed to purchase the land in order to expand. So a few years ago, that happened. Now the community garden has shifted west, but, luckily, it still remains.
The community garden has areas for both organic and conventional gardening. My interviewee has gardened two plots for 12-15 years. I asked her what benefits her gardening provides her with. She said the food she grows in her organic plots tastes better than food she buys at a grocery store (even our local natural and organic co-op where she and I are employed, ha). Besides that, though, she said spending time in her garden space is therapeutic for her. It relaxes her, and gives her body exercise for a healthy lifestyle. She uses gardening as a way to interact with her children, and she teaches them how to grow food so that they can be a part of community gardening when they are grown. She said that her ties to the community have grown since she’s been involved with the garden. She meets people from different cultures and copies their gardening styles. They share stories and seeds. She’s met people from India, Africa, Russia, etc. In fact, her best friend is a Russian woman that she met at the community garden. She said that she meets people at the community garden that she wouldn’t otherwise meet.
I asked her how she relates being a woman with her work in the community garden, but she had already answered that question. Her duties as a mother include nurturing and teaching her children, and gardening provided a way to do that. She said that when she’s working with the ground, planting seeds and picking vegetables and fruits, she feels a strong connection with women. She used the term Earth Mother to describe herself and other women around her. I think it’s a lovely term.
Our interview ran long, and she told me a lot of wonderful stories–too much to share in one blog. SO-I encourage you all to find someone who gardens in the community garden and ask them about it. What they garden, why they garden, what they’ve learned, who they’ve met. Buy them a cup of tea and listen. You will have a great time.
Anyway. Until next week…
I wanted to base my project around food. I work in a community grocery store, I love to cook, I love how involved food is in our social lives, I love food! When I was a little girl, my sister and I would play in our Godmother’s garden in our skivvies. At family gatherings, we always pass around the pictures of us kids with mud and dirt smeared on our cute little faces.
Not only does local food production have to do with subsistence, but community gardening is also useful for bridging and maintaining ties to those around you. I had hoped to plant my own garden this season to achieve knowledge through learned experience, unfortunately, the timing doesn’t work out. However, since success can begin with education, I’ve decided to become an informed citizen about gardening in Kansas!
I will be blogging for three more weeks. I’d like for each blog to have a general subject so that my research might actually be useful for people who share my interest in gardening in Kansas.
My first blog will be a summary of a series of interviews I plan to do. I will be asking members of the community about the community garden system in Manhattan, what types of things grow well in our climate, and what they achieve by gardening (personal benefits as well as subsistence).
My second blog will be based heavily in research. I am interested in finding out what time of year is best to plant certain things. I am interested in the different ways that I can share what I grow with those around me. For instance, how does the Farmer’s Market system work in most communities? I hope to find information like the “Fed Up” movie that we’ve all seen.
My final blog will hopefully be a summary of fruition. My ultimate goal is to own a plot at the Manhattan Community Garden. Hopefully after this month of blogging, I’ll be able to write about my very own garden.
Peace.
