Ok, so this will be a blow-by-blow on the creation of our little community garden.
WHAT: We ripped out a section of lawn and replaced it with a garden. It was done on the front lawn, on a section that was adjacent to our neighbor. We got buy-in from our neighbor to support the garden from creation to maintenance. We also enlisted the help of neighbors across the street to pitch in.
WHY: We want to eat local and organic. We can't imagine a more local food source than 15 feet outside out front door! A side benefit is a garden is infinately more interesting than a patch of grass. With our three young kids, interesting is more than just the opposite of boring - it's education!
HOW: For as little $$ as possible. All aspects will take cost first into account, followed closely by an evaluation of safety and health. Aesthetics will also play a large role in the design and evolution of the garden. The goal is to create food with the lowest cost and impact on the environment. To that end, recycling, water conservation and minimal extras will be the controlling factors.
This blog will be a repository for all of our learnings, successes, failures and a documentary of the experience. We plan to include pictures, video, how-to guides and probably quite a few how-not-to guides as well.
We're off!
Jake and Brandy Olsen
Jake and Brandy - that is wonderful! I'm so proud of you and your energy.
ReplyDeleteI have rented a 4 x 8 plot in a community garden in Tuolumne for $5 for a year! My first day's access was yesterday and I added two wheelbarrow's of compost and turned it over. Today they had master gardener's there and I learned a lot more, especially from a pretty old German lady who has a plot nearby. Meanwhile, we have installed two of three 5 x 8 beds at home (on the south end of the house). There will be trelisses for climbing stuff which will shade the house and selected plants. We are quite excited about all of that - I can see what we all will be doing this summer! I think I have pictures and will send or post them later.