Planning stages - 'Community Garden'

[canesisters]

Hello all,

I was talking to a friend yesterday and found out that he's really struggling to help his ex keep the pantry filled and the kids fed. This just tore at my heart. I don't have any extra money to offer - but I do have a big yard, horses, chickens and a love of growing things (flowers/shrubs/trees, that sort of thing).

I've never had much luck with veggie gardening. I mostly end up with a crop of incredibly vigorous weeds. And since I've never learned how to can - and my freezing efforts usually ended up in nasty mush - I just never had the desire to put that much work into veggie gardening.
But I want to spend the winter getting ready to plant a community garden. The purpose would be to give away almost all of the harvest. I have an area - between the barn and the coop that's around 100' square - flat - open to the sun all day - close to a water source - and growing grass like nobody's business.

SO! Garden Gurus, what's my first step?

Here's what I'm thinking right off.
- I have 6 pallets that I can use to build a compost bin(s) once I pick a place convenient to the sources of compost-able-nure.
- I'll need some way to kill off the grass so that I'm not starting out battling weeds before my seeds even sprout.
- Then what?

I know I'm biting off more than I can chew... I'm going to trust that either help or energy will be provided as needed.

 

[mickey328]

That's really admirable! Kudos to you.

First, I would make it known that you're offering plots for a community garden. Figure out a system and let folks "have" a plot and plant what they need. That way, they should do the work and reap the benefits, so to speak

A really easy way to kill the grass and help condition the soil is to cover it with several layers of newspaper and then pile on any compostable material you have, and some dirt as well. This will help to keep the paper from blowing away. Over the fall/winter/early spring months, the paper will decompose and the grass will be gone as well. Then, just till it all under. It'll need some work but then gardens/soil is always a work in progress.

Pallets make great compost bins. I never put a "floor" in mine because I want the local worms to have lots of access...they're composting machines! I would make a shape like this, looking from above: |_|_| That will give you 2 open sided bins with easy access for turning. Cover the top with a tarp to keep out excess moisture from the rain...you might have to sprinkle it a bit more to maintain the right moisture content but it's better (imo) than having soggy, slimy, stinky bins. Make sure your "brown" to "green" content is right, and layer it all...throw a little dirt in it as well...it contains bugs and other stuff that will help activate it.

If you don't have enough stuff to make a couple of good piles right away, there are lots of places you can score stuff for free. Try your local freecycle, check with local farmers markets and grocery stores..they'll often let you have trimmings for the cost of hauling them away...of course the poo from all your critters is great "green" material but only if they're primarily herbivores.. We never toss our grass trimmings...we bag them and depending on whether we need green or brown, we either chuck 'em in fresh or dry them first. If you have any dairy or cattle farms, they'll often let you have some "good stuff"...or sheep too..that's excellent. You might see if there are any local home brewers..they often have spent grain they need to dispose of...it's good for chicken feed too, if you dry it first. Dried leaves (I find the neighbors are often quite willing to give them away!) are excellent brown material. There's some debate about newspaper...some worry about the dye/ink used, so you need to make up your own mind...it's good brown stuff, though.

I wish I had enough acreage to do something like this...it's an excellent idea! We have less than 1/4 acre tho, and the house takes up a fair bit of that. Good luck, and God bless!

 

[canesisters]

Thanks!

Lots of great info. Sounds like I'd better be getting started on the grass/soil prep right away. QUESTION: I don't have a tiller - any other option?? I've read about a deep mulch system.. Ruth Stout??? Would that be something I might could consider???

Also, I've got access to some REALLY old round bales of hay. How would that work as a starter for compost? Toss in several inches of hay, top with some stall cleanings...?

I'm not planning to offer the spaces for others to work though. I'm in a really rural area and the people I want to help would have a VERY tough time getting to me on any sort of a regualr basis. I will, though, be happy for anyone who DOES want to help. Most of the folks anywhere near me have gardens of their own. I figure that - if this works - I'll be giving most of it to friends who are 'in town' and making a regular trip to the local food bank.

 

[mickey328]

That's awesome, canesisters! I know lots of folks around here donate to the food bank as well...even several of the commercial growers...it's so great to see people willing to share

If the hay is good and dry, it'll make excellent "brown" for the compost pile...you could throw some of it over the newspaper to kill the grass too. If you have access to old carpet, it works great too...but doesn't look very nice and doesn't decompose into the soil like the newspapers.

Deep mulch is GREAT after your plants are growing...we have it everywhere. But, after you kill off the grass, you have to turn it up to get out all the root systems. If you don't have a tiller, could you borrow one from a friend? You can also rent them from home improvement stores..we rented one from Home Depot when we had a lot of area to do. We've since bought a used Mantis off Craig's List and it works great!. The only other alternative I can think of is backbreaking....spading and forking it all over to break up the lumps and mix them back into the soil...ugh!