Community garden

11/15/15, 8:06 PMCommunity gardens provide space for those who have the green thumb, but lack their own gardens - The University Daily Kansan: News

of 3http://www.kansan.com/news/community-gardens-provide-space-for-those-who-…e-the-green/article_de4fe66c-28fb-11e5-8e18-e3acf7902457.html?mode=print

Community gardens provide space for those whohave the green thumb, but lack their own gardensBy: Madi Schulz | @Mad_Dawgg | Posted: Monday, July 13, 2015 7:00 am

Someone new to Lawrence would immediately notice theUniversity of Kansas’ influence, Massachusetts Street’scharm and the man who stands on the street corner withthe “Honk for Hemp” sign.

What they might not learn from driving around is thevalue the community holds for many individuals inLawrence, an aspect that’s increasing community gardens’popularity.

“It’s kind of getting out and helping plant yourself in thecommunity, as much as planting a plant in your garden,”said Aimee Polson, project coordinator for the GardenIncubator at Seventh and Walnut Streets.

Polson said she sees the various benefits of communitygardens.

“I think it’s just getting out and partnering up with other people, […] getting your frustrations out bydigging, or just sharing experiences and seeing what other people do,” said Polson, who received hermaster’s degree in urban planning from Kansas State University. “[The garden] is kind of a nice escapefrom your own house or your family in some instances.”

Since 2012 when the city of Lawrence introduced the Common Ground program — with the goal ofturning unutilized spaces into sites where citizens could grow their own healthy food — communitygardens have popped up all over the city.

On July 11 and 12, the Kansas Permaculture collaborative included a permaculture community garden inits sixth annual Permaculture Urban Garden and Farm tour.

The Garden Incubator offers various plots that can be rented for $20 to $70 for one year but also hasareas that volunteers can garden, as well as a children’s garden. It also features a micro-farm with threedifferent farming groups: hops, traditional vegetables and various types of flowers.

Community Garden1

Laura Odell, the permaculture adviser atPermaCommons, picks diseased leaves offa plant to prevent a disease from spreading.



Once someone is in charge of a plot, it is solely up to them to take care of their crops the for remainder oftheir time.

Polson said she sees the wide variety of benefits in a community garden, aside from the obvious need forgardening space.

One of the main issues Polson sees in the garden — aside from the standard weeds — is theft, but shesaid she has plans to keep the garden open, gate- and lock-free.

“I think [putting locks and gates up] kind of sets the wrong tone, especially since we’re on city-ownedland,” Polson said.

Polson has seen vegetables and fruits stolen from the various plots. In one recent incident she foundflowers from the garden in zip-close bags nearby. Polson said one solution to this problem is moresignage throughout the garden, which will deter those who accidentally pick in the wrong areas.

Lawrence also offers a community orchard — the Lawrence Fruit Tree Orchard — located on a third ofan acre on the 800 block of Garfield Street.

The orchard, which volunteers began planting in March 2012, offers a wide variety of fruits that mightnot be familiar to the average Kansas gardener. Some of these include jujube, goumi, Americanpersimmon, paw paw and hybrid hazelnuts, said Project Coordinator Skyler Adamson. The orchard isalso home to familiar fruit trees such as apple, European pear and tart cherries.

“Anyone can come pick sample size portions of the fruit,” Adamson said. “We also have volunteer workdays at least once a month. Anyone is welcome — people of all different ages and skill levels.”

The community garden located at 1304 Pennsylvania St., charges a $25 membership fee, but instead ofindividual plots, it is more focused on keeping up the garden as a community.

Cody Wingfield, project coordinator in his second year of membership at the Pennsylvania Street garden,lives in an apartment and was looking for a way to get outdoors when he discovered the communitygarden.

“Before I found out about the program I was just doing the random search online and I stumbled upon thecity’s program, and when I found it it was basically love at first sight,” he said.

The goal of the garden is to teach its members permaculture principles, which use natural features of agarden for self-containment and self-sustainability, said Laura Odell, permaculture adviser for the garden.There are no pesticides used, and the watering is done largely from rain runoff. Four 500-gallon rainwatercatchment barrels assist by distributing the water around the garden through attached hoses. Members canlearn about disease identification, pest management, crop rotation and any skills needed to maintain a

https://lawrencefruittreeproject.wordpress.com/



permaculture garden.

Odell said she became interested in permaculture when she was pregnant with her son and became hyper-aware of the environment.

“What we put in our bodies ultimately determines our own health and so I started teaching myselforganic gardening,” she said.

Odell eventually received her permaculture certification in a 72-hour class from Kaw Permaculture underher mentor, Steve Moring, who also teaches permaculture design at the University.

In the class, students take workshops in permaculture design and learn about organic crop rotation,among other things. This certification gives Odell the ability to plant effective permaculture gardens thatfollow specific principles, as taught in the course.

“A primary purpose of permaculture is to build up soil fertility; we’re using all organic controls so thehealth of the soil will determine the health of the plant,” Odell said.

Common Ground community gardens are always looking for volunteers and members. A list ofcommunity gardens and contact information for project coordinators can be found on the City ofLawrence website.

Steve Moring, a lecturer in the environmental studies program, could not be reached for comment.

http://www.lawrenceks.org/common_ground

Community garden

Environment

Transcript of Community garden