How Does Your Garden Grow?

Hello, everyone, and Happy Saturday! I'm afraid my entry's going to be on the short side today--we have a lot of family visiting from out of state for Mother's Day, and there's just tons to do! But I didn't want to go another week without a posting--last week we welcomed a new baby into our close circle of friends, and I was at the hospital taking care of his brothers and sisters.

At any rate, on to today's post! My husband and I have been trying to get into a CSA for years now--there are horribly long waiting lists in our area, but we continue to plug along, hoping for that golden day when we can start our working share.

I like the idea of a CSA--I like the thought of supporting a farmer who's trying to make a go of growing healthful, organic produce. I like being able to visit the farm where my salad comes from, and having my daughter be able to see the process from planting, maintaining, harvesting and finally, eating. I like the fact that we save on some emissions of more greenhouse gasses by eliminating a bit of the packaging and shipping of produce if we buy it straight from the farm. But I like the idea of a working share even more, because then not only will she know how it all works, she'll have had a hand in making it happen.

And if you know anything about kids at all (or have them!) you know that having a kid be integrally involved in their food preparation makes them much more likely to eat it.

In fact, the only problem I have with CSA shares is that they're expensive. Granted, if you averaged out the cost of store-bought produce and factored in time, it would even out. The thing is, though, I don't have to buy grocery store produce with a seasonal up front cost. I can buy it as I need it and as my finances will support.

So, I wanted to introduce you to an awesome idea for getting your kids involved in the farming process to a small degree: Community Gardening.

A community garden is, vey simply, a plot of land gardened by a group of people. Typically, a community garden happens in a plot of land in a reasonably urban area where the land has been reclaimed from a previous usage. Maybe it was a place where people dumped junk, or where a building was demolished and the land wasn't claimed for another purpose. But it doesn't have to be that--anywhere there's an empty spot of land, a community garden can occur.

There are a lot of advantages to participating in a community garden--you can be involved in growing produce that you and your family consume, you can build community and beautify the neighborhood while participating an an activity that enhances our environment.

Finding one in your area might be as simple as Googling "Community Garden" and your city name. Or, you can head over to the American Community Gardening Association and see what they have to offer.

Or, better yet, you can start your own!

Comments

[Thorne]

Great post, Amber! My eldest granddaughter used to love to garden with me!

[Jesse]

Worcester has a number of wonderful community gardens, including one that is more than 20 years old. About 15 years ago, I got fed up with looking out my window at a trash-strewn vacant lot one morning, and went out with a roll of trash bags to start cleaning it up. It turned into one of the most amazing days (and summers) of my entire life. The neighborhood kids started wandering by to ask what I was doing, and when I told them I was making a garden, they all begged to help. By the end of the day, a dozen kids and I had cleaned up a house-size lot and planted two plots of flowers and one of vegetables. The coolest part was the effect it had on the neighborhood - one guy (who I know was a local drug dealer) came wandering over with a weed whacker, and without a word started clearing the back of the lot. An older Italian gent from two blocks away showed up pulling a little red wagon loaded with hostas that he was separating out in his garden. It was like that all day, and over the course of the summer, other local residents came out and started putting in their own gardens - gardens are magic. They turn 'hoods into neighborhoods. Ever since that day, I've told people that my mission is to change the world, one garden at a time. Thanks for this post and reminding me of that wonderful day!