Participating in a Community Garden
Gardening

Participating in a Community Garden

If you have a passion for gardening but live in the city where you can’t have a garden of your own then participating in a community garden may be just what you need.  Community gardens give you the chance to hang out with friends and neighbors while growing plants, vegetables, herbs or flowers.  There are a variety of different types of community gardens or you can organize one yourself.  Here are some of the most common types of community gardens that you can participate in.

Neighborhood Gardens

Neighborhood gardens are probably the most common type of community garden.  It is where there is a vacant plot of land in a community and a group of neighbors grow vegetables and flowers together.  Everyone works on the garden whether it is planting, watering or weeding.  These gardens not only grow food for the neighborhood they also help to beautify it.

Allotments

These are common throughout the UK but you can find allotment gardens in the US as well.  In this case a vacant lot is divided up into individual plots and these are assigned to local residents who can grow what they want.  These are great for people who live in apartments with no yard space of their own.  You can see a variety of different flowers and vegetables growing here.

Charity Gardens

These type of gardens focus on growing food that is used to feed the homeless and people living in shelters.  Charity gardens can be run by a business or a community group to help combat poverty.  Often times homeless people are given the chance to volunteer or work in these gardens.  They grow using organic methods and produce their own compost for the following year.  If you have the chance to donate or participate you can do your community a world of good.

Gardens at School

Gardens at school are a great way to teach kids about gardening and growing food, city kids rarely get an opportunity to do so.  It teaches children science, math along with topics like environmentalism and sustainable farming methods.  It helps kids to learn where their food came from along how it is grown.

Participating in any kind of community garden is a wonderful opportunity and you should grab it if you get the chance.  It brings fresh produce to your table without having it shipped across the country.  It brings neighborhoods and communities together and it can help deal with homelessness and hunger.  If you can’t participate then please donate to your local community garden project.

Gardening Needs a Plan
Gardening

Gardening Needs a Plan

So you want to plant a garden but you don’t know where to begin, gardening needs a plan and here are some of the things that you should consider.  What kind of space you have, whether you live in a condo or house.  How much you have to spend on your gardening efforts and what your overall goals are, do you want flowers and plants or vegetables.  Let’s look at these considerations and how you can work around them.

How Much Space You Have

If you live in an apartment or condo then your gardening efforts might be limited to window boxes or flower pots.  Don’t let that stop you, you can still get creative and make what little space you have look fabulous.  If you have your own home then you have a lot more freedom but be wary of home owners’ associations and the rules that they have in place.  You may be forced to have pristine green grass in the front yard but the backyard is yours to do with as you wish.

What Style of Gardening Do You Prefer?

Do you want a perfectly manicured landscape that looks like it was done by a professional or do you want something wilder?  Do you want flowers or do you want vegetables to grow in your garden?  Do you have the time and energy to do all of the work that goes with having a garden or do you want to hire a landscaper to come in a couple of times a month and do it for you.  Do you want green space or do you want to relax in your yard while smelling the flowers?  Here is a look at some of the different styles of gardens to give you some inspiration.

The Budget

This is an important consideration when it comes to gardening.  Some people grow vegetables because they can get organic vegetables from the garden without having to spend a fortune.  However landscape gardening can cost a pretty penny.  If you want to bring in landscapers to come in and plant and maintain the garden for you then be prepared to pay.  If you are doing the landscaping yourself you need to budget in not just the cost of plants and soils but garden tools as well.  If you want exotic plants or to add trees to your garden, that can also put a dent in your budget.

Before you move even a spec of dirt you should have a plan for what you want your garden to be.  Don’t worry about space you can put plants in even the smallest of spaces.