Tuesday, September 22, 2009
What are we losing by not having this garden?
Not that any of these possibilities is guaranteed, but here are some of the reasons why I feel a community garden could have been a jewel in our community:
Consequences
Here is an email I just received about our neighborhood. This is what happens when people act poorly:
I apologize in advance if you’re not the correct _, but I got your name off of the Sycamore Hills and Columbus community gardening blog sites. I am contacting you because my husband and I are currently looking into purchasing a house in the neighborhood (down on Northport Circle), and you seemed like a good person to ask about the ‘hood. I was very sorry to read about the resistance to the community garden, and frankly it is making us think twice now about the house. I guess I was just hoping to get your take on whether you still think the neighborhood overall is a friendly place to live. For example, if I wanted to put in a big side yard garden bordered in neon pink chicken wire, do you think the neighbors would despise me? (not that I would necessarily do this, just a litmus :) I hope this doesn’t sound out of order – the community looks very nice and I know there will always be a few grumps in any neighborhood – but I just want to make sure we’re not walking into control freak central if you know what I mean. Any insights you would feel comfortable offering would be greatly appreciated.
I apologize in advance if you’re not the correct _, but I got your name off of the Sycamore Hills and Columbus community gardening blog sites. I am contacting you because my husband and I are currently looking into purchasing a house in the neighborhood (down on Northport Circle), and you seemed like a good person to ask about the ‘hood. I was very sorry to read about the resistance to the community garden, and frankly it is making us think twice now about the house. I guess I was just hoping to get your take on whether you still think the neighborhood overall is a friendly place to live. For example, if I wanted to put in a big side yard garden bordered in neon pink chicken wire, do you think the neighbors would despise me? (not that I would necessarily do this, just a litmus :) I hope this doesn’t sound out of order – the community looks very nice and I know there will always be a few grumps in any neighborhood – but I just want to make sure we’re not walking into control freak central if you know what I mean. Any insights you would feel comfortable offering would be greatly appreciated.
Worthington Gets a CG in their City Park
http://www.sustainableworthington.org/projects.asp
http://www.sustainableworthington.org/c-garden.asp
Community garden will grow on city ground
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 3:12 PM
By CANDY BROOKS
ThisWeek Staff Writer
The Worthington community finally has a place to grow together.
Plans are being made this fall to plant a community garden at the Worthington Community Center next spring.
A public meeting will be held the evening of Oct. 1. Beginning at 7:30, gardeners will be able to look at the garden plots. A meeting at the center will begin at 8.
The city will make available 30 plots that are 20 feet by 30 feet each on the northwest side of the community center parking lot. Residents will be able to rent a plot for $40 a year, or $25 for a half plot.
There, they will be able to work side-by-side with neighbors sowing and growing vegetables, herbs, or flowers.
Members of Sustainable Worthington have been trying to establish a community garden for the past two years. A proposal to start a garden at the United Methodist Children's Home fell through when problems cropped up.
The garden at the community center is meant to be cost neutral to the city, with gardeners expected to volunteer to take care of coordination, communications, maintenance and programs.
Participants will also be expected to tend their plots on a regular basis, attend meetings, and grow more than they need so that donations of fresh food can be made to charitable organizations such as the Worthington Food Pantry.
Gardeners will bring their own tools. Efforts will be made to keep the garden organic, with no use of pesticides or herbicides or treated lumber.
Water will be available from a pump, but no hoses will be used.
No fences will be erected, unless efforts to keep animals out fail using other means, said Lisa Staggenborg of Sustainable Worthington.
Organizers are also planning to offer educational programs for gardeners.
Early registration will be available at the meeting. Volunteer assignments will be made at a kickoff meeting in November, when plot assignments will also be made
To learn more about the garden or to apply for a plot, go to the Sustainable Worthington Web site, www.sustainableworthington.org, or e-mail info@sustainableworthington.org.
cbrooks@thisweeknews.com
http://www.sustainableworthington.org/c-garden.asp
Community garden will grow on city ground
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 3:12 PM
By CANDY BROOKS
ThisWeek Staff Writer
The Worthington community finally has a place to grow together.
Plans are being made this fall to plant a community garden at the Worthington Community Center next spring.
A public meeting will be held the evening of Oct. 1. Beginning at 7:30, gardeners will be able to look at the garden plots. A meeting at the center will begin at 8.
The city will make available 30 plots that are 20 feet by 30 feet each on the northwest side of the community center parking lot. Residents will be able to rent a plot for $40 a year, or $25 for a half plot.
There, they will be able to work side-by-side with neighbors sowing and growing vegetables, herbs, or flowers.
Members of Sustainable Worthington have been trying to establish a community garden for the past two years. A proposal to start a garden at the United Methodist Children's Home fell through when problems cropped up.
The garden at the community center is meant to be cost neutral to the city, with gardeners expected to volunteer to take care of coordination, communications, maintenance and programs.
Participants will also be expected to tend their plots on a regular basis, attend meetings, and grow more than they need so that donations of fresh food can be made to charitable organizations such as the Worthington Food Pantry.
Gardeners will bring their own tools. Efforts will be made to keep the garden organic, with no use of pesticides or herbicides or treated lumber.
Water will be available from a pump, but no hoses will be used.
No fences will be erected, unless efforts to keep animals out fail using other means, said Lisa Staggenborg of Sustainable Worthington.
Organizers are also planning to offer educational programs for gardeners.
Early registration will be available at the meeting. Volunteer assignments will be made at a kickoff meeting in November, when plot assignments will also be made
To learn more about the garden or to apply for a plot, go to the Sustainable Worthington Web site, www.sustainableworthington.org, or e-mail info@sustainableworthington.org.
cbrooks@thisweeknews.com
Friday, September 18, 2009
irony
perhaps we will get our first grant after all...
how awesome.
Dear Captain Planet Foundation Grant Applicant,
Thank you for submitting a grant application for the Captain Planet Foundation’s March 31st deadline. We have had a chance to review your request for funding but unfortunately we are unable to fund your project at this time. This does not mean that your application has been taken out of our queue. Instead your application has been selected to be held over for consideration in our next round of applications. Please contact me via email if the shift in time affects your project goals. We anticipate that you will receive the final status of your grant by mid-December 2009 if not earlier.
We appreciate your patience and commend you for your efforts to educate and inspire children to be great stewards of the planet.
Remember, the Power is Yours!
Taryn Murphy
Email with Maureen 9/18
Hi Amy,
I was at a conference when your emails came in. Sorry for the delayed response. I did have some neighbors from the neighborhood contact me and raise some strong opposition to the garden proposal. We currently have a Volunteers Maintenance Agreement with one of these gentlemen for mowing the grass. I asked them to let their views be known to the Civic Association. Have you heard of this, yet.
One thing Recreation and Parks does not want to get into is pitting neighbors against neighbors. I really hope this can be worked out. The gentleman that contacted me lives adjacent to the park.
I will call you this afternoon. In answer to your question - we develop a lease agreement with your Civic Association. Your garden would be organized as a subgroup of the CA. It was the CA's ownership of land that allows the raised beds and any fencing. (however, the fencing was a big part of the objections from the neighbors). As your CA, you can decide who gardens there.
As a side note, I don't think we will allow chicken wire. That's a fencing material that we definitely are trying to avoid. I am looking into the garden policies that Grandview has for guidance.
I look forward to talking with you!
Maureen
___________________________________
Hi, Maureen, Yep, that is what I wanted to talk to you about-a heads up as well as ask about some other issues. Unfortunately, when I did the survey a year ago, none of those neighbors joined in the discussion. If I had known there would be any opposition, my year's worth of work wouldn't have happened. BUT the good thing is we have made some headway between community gardens and the parks, so I am happy about that. Maybe someone else will have more luck! So, like the city, I also do not want to put a garden in where people don't want it. That was never my intention, but they never talked to me, so there was no way to know. But some of them have contacted me now, so we are going to do another survey with the updated garden plan and more specific information to find out what the new feelings are about the garden. I will share the results with you if you are interested. I am going to contact Jennifer Adair from the CA so she can have heads up, too. It is so frustrating that people didn't just start this process by talking to me first-the whole reason they have your name is because I shared on the blog about our meetings and the steps we have been going through. I have gone above and beyond to make this whole process transparent and invite people into the planning (the blog, meetings, updates, work days, etc) and instead of being neighborly, people acted poorly. I suppose you have to deal with this in some fashion with CRP. It is draining. Not that this matters, but I don't think chicken wire is in the plans.Okay, so I will look forward to your call and we can just make sure everything is clear.Thanks!!Amy
I was at a conference when your emails came in. Sorry for the delayed response. I did have some neighbors from the neighborhood contact me and raise some strong opposition to the garden proposal. We currently have a Volunteers Maintenance Agreement with one of these gentlemen for mowing the grass. I asked them to let their views be known to the Civic Association. Have you heard of this, yet.
One thing Recreation and Parks does not want to get into is pitting neighbors against neighbors. I really hope this can be worked out. The gentleman that contacted me lives adjacent to the park.
I will call you this afternoon. In answer to your question - we develop a lease agreement with your Civic Association. Your garden would be organized as a subgroup of the CA. It was the CA's ownership of land that allows the raised beds and any fencing. (however, the fencing was a big part of the objections from the neighbors). As your CA, you can decide who gardens there.
As a side note, I don't think we will allow chicken wire. That's a fencing material that we definitely are trying to avoid. I am looking into the garden policies that Grandview has for guidance.
I look forward to talking with you!
Maureen
___________________________________
Hi, Maureen, Yep, that is what I wanted to talk to you about-a heads up as well as ask about some other issues. Unfortunately, when I did the survey a year ago, none of those neighbors joined in the discussion. If I had known there would be any opposition, my year's worth of work wouldn't have happened. BUT the good thing is we have made some headway between community gardens and the parks, so I am happy about that. Maybe someone else will have more luck! So, like the city, I also do not want to put a garden in where people don't want it. That was never my intention, but they never talked to me, so there was no way to know. But some of them have contacted me now, so we are going to do another survey with the updated garden plan and more specific information to find out what the new feelings are about the garden. I will share the results with you if you are interested. I am going to contact Jennifer Adair from the CA so she can have heads up, too. It is so frustrating that people didn't just start this process by talking to me first-the whole reason they have your name is because I shared on the blog about our meetings and the steps we have been going through. I have gone above and beyond to make this whole process transparent and invite people into the planning (the blog, meetings, updates, work days, etc) and instead of being neighborly, people acted poorly. I suppose you have to deal with this in some fashion with CRP. It is draining. Not that this matters, but I don't think chicken wire is in the plans.Okay, so I will look forward to your call and we can just make sure everything is clear.Thanks!!Amy
Emails with Jennifer from NWCA
Hi, Jennifer,
I wanted to give you a heads up on the proposed CG in Sycamore Hills. We have some drama happening, and perhaps some people have contacted you before talking to me to clear things up. This whole situation is obnoxious, but i wanted to fill you in on what is going on from a rational point of view. I am a little annoyed if you haven't noticed! :(
Unfortunately, when I did the survey a year ago, some of our neighbors didn't join in the discussion. These same people are now saying that they don't want the garden in the park, and only a few are actually talking to me about it. Thank goodness for the few who are acting neighborly.
So, just so you (on behalf of the NWCA) knows, if I had any awareness that there would be any opposition, my year's worth of work wouldn't have happened. The other proposed spot also had opposition, and so we proposed the park location as a solution, and NOT ONE PERSON OBJECTED for a whole year! I have held community garden planning meetings, sent out updates, had work days, and invited people to look at the blog where I have written out every single step in the planning proposal-so I really couldn't have done more to invite them into the conversation.
In the end, I do not want to put a garden in where people don't want it. That is why I did the survey. Because they never talked to me, there was no way to know. But some of them have contacted me now, so know I do know, and we are going to do another survey with the updated garden plan and more specific information to find out what the new feelings are about the garden. I will share the results with you and NWCA if you are interested.
So, it is quite likely that there will not be a CG now in SH. The good thing is there is now a process for creating community gardens in parks, so I am happy about that. Maybe someone else will have more luck! Also, I know a lot more neighbors now, which was the whole point-for people to know each other! :)
Please advise me if you think I need to come to the next meeting to share this. I feel like I have to defend myself. I have class on Wednesdays from 1-9:30, so I will have to miss class to be there, just to throw that in the mix.
Thanks, Jennifer!
Amy
I wanted to give you a heads up on the proposed CG in Sycamore Hills. We have some drama happening, and perhaps some people have contacted you before talking to me to clear things up. This whole situation is obnoxious, but i wanted to fill you in on what is going on from a rational point of view. I am a little annoyed if you haven't noticed! :(
Unfortunately, when I did the survey a year ago, some of our neighbors didn't join in the discussion. These same people are now saying that they don't want the garden in the park, and only a few are actually talking to me about it. Thank goodness for the few who are acting neighborly.
So, just so you (on behalf of the NWCA) knows, if I had any awareness that there would be any opposition, my year's worth of work wouldn't have happened. The other proposed spot also had opposition, and so we proposed the park location as a solution, and NOT ONE PERSON OBJECTED for a whole year! I have held community garden planning meetings, sent out updates, had work days, and invited people to look at the blog where I have written out every single step in the planning proposal-so I really couldn't have done more to invite them into the conversation.
In the end, I do not want to put a garden in where people don't want it. That is why I did the survey. Because they never talked to me, there was no way to know. But some of them have contacted me now, so know I do know, and we are going to do another survey with the updated garden plan and more specific information to find out what the new feelings are about the garden. I will share the results with you and NWCA if you are interested.
So, it is quite likely that there will not be a CG now in SH. The good thing is there is now a process for creating community gardens in parks, so I am happy about that. Maybe someone else will have more luck! Also, I know a lot more neighbors now, which was the whole point-for people to know each other! :)
Please advise me if you think I need to come to the next meeting to share this. I feel like I have to defend myself. I have class on Wednesdays from 1-9:30, so I will have to miss class to be there, just to throw that in the mix.
Thanks, Jennifer!
Amy
Thursday, September 17, 2009
water collection ideas from co planner
Amy,
Have you ever seen Little Square Farms rain barrels before? I was doing some rain storage research on the internet and came across this company here in Columbus. They offer several seminars too.
www.littlesquarefarm.com
I also found some interesting information on the Brooklyn Botanical Garden website. There is a picture of these upside umbrella rain collection mechanisms. Maybe if we could design some type of collection mechanism and then go with a pipe into a tank instead of a barrel we could get around the need for the roof/gutters and open containers. The umbrella things are obviously on a grander scale than what we would want or could afford, but it is worth considering this type of option.
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/sustainable/2005sp_rainwater_harvesting.html
Ideally the city could add a picnic shelter to the park. Then we could collect the water from that. I'm guessing if they won't fund a water connection they won't build a pavilion either.
Here is another website with a large selection of various collection barrels and storage tanks.http://www.plastic-mart.com/
I don't know how well something like this would do on it's own without a gutter feeding in to it.http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3479
In an ideal world it would be great to develop an agreement with the nearby houses the use their gutters for rain collection and then run hoses to the garden.
Just some thoughts...
I'm going to take a look at the updated survey now.
Linda
Have you ever seen Little Square Farms rain barrels before? I was doing some rain storage research on the internet and came across this company here in Columbus. They offer several seminars too.
www.littlesquarefarm.com
I also found some interesting information on the Brooklyn Botanical Garden website. There is a picture of these upside umbrella rain collection mechanisms. Maybe if we could design some type of collection mechanism and then go with a pipe into a tank instead of a barrel we could get around the need for the roof/gutters and open containers. The umbrella things are obviously on a grander scale than what we would want or could afford, but it is worth considering this type of option.
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/sustainable/2005sp_rainwater_harvesting.html
Ideally the city could add a picnic shelter to the park. Then we could collect the water from that. I'm guessing if they won't fund a water connection they won't build a pavilion either.
Here is another website with a large selection of various collection barrels and storage tanks.http://www.plastic-mart.com/
I don't know how well something like this would do on it's own without a gutter feeding in to it.http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3479
In an ideal world it would be great to develop an agreement with the nearby houses the use their gutters for rain collection and then run hoses to the garden.
Just some thoughts...
I'm going to take a look at the updated survey now.
Linda
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