Local Food Columbus » community gardens

Community Gardens are spreading. It’s a Gardenmonium

karenpresents — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:40:01 +0000

Community garden is seeing it’s renaissance this year. I recently attended the ACGA national conference and was really impressed with their mission and the quality of the lectures that were presented. I joined officially and have decided to host a dinner party at Cafe Bella as a way to show my support. Stay tuned for details. Drop me a line if you would be interested in attending.
Got this from OEFFA. Hope you find it useful.
*Community Garden Publication Now Available *
AERO has released a new publication on community gardening. Building Community Gardens in Montana (PDF/10.5MB) contains tools, examples, resources and strategies for developing, funding and leading a community garden project in Montana. Based on the experience of Helena VISTA Volunteer organizers – this manual offers insight on how to approach and work with a broad array of community members, government officials and private businesses to develop community gardens.

Garden space available and a couple tips.

karenpresents — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:01:30 +0000

You can start planting your fall garden now. Learn what you can about cover cropping. Mixes of winter rye and hairy vetch can feed your soil and keep it from getting waterlogged and hard packed over a long cold winter. Mulch heavy. Better yet. plant cole and dark leafy greens crops that like cool weather and can be covered by plastic or glass for an extended harvest. Rule of thumb is to never have exposed dirt to the elements. The worms like a warm, yummy bed for the winter, too. Words to plant by. One note is that harvesting spinach later in the day, when cloudy and overcast reduces some toxic build up that happens when there are low light levels. Not a problem till late fall, though.
Just found this posting for gardens in SW Columbus

Gantz Road Community Garden Project

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce the opening of the Gantz Road Community Garden. This one-acre garden is located on the southwest side of Columbus near the intersection of Gantz and Frank Roads. Approximately 60 plots are available.

The Gantz Road Community Garden is open to all Franklin County residents. There are no fees or deposits required for the remainder of 2009.

Gardeners will be required to follow Garden Rules, submit a Plot Request Form and sign a Release of All Claims. Requests will be honored and assigned in the order of their receipt.

Gardeners will receive

* Garden plot(s) for use during the 2009 growing season.
* Access during daylight hours
* Water

Plot sizes are as follows: Full (12′ x 40′), Half (12′ x 20′), and Quarter (12′ x10′).

Forms may be submitted on-site to the Garden Coordinator, electronically, faxed to (61… or mailed to:

Franklin County Board of Commissioners
Attn: Garden Coordinator
373 South High Street, 26th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

For more information, click here for a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), call (614) 462-3322 or email CommunityGarden@FranklinCountyOhio.gov

What’s in your Future, Foodie?

karenpresents — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:43:52 +0000

Food production is in full force in central Ohio. The pick-your-owns are finishing up on early strawberries and asparagus, newly created community gardens are full of leafy greens and more gardens are added every day. For those really into local food, you could even plan a trip to a produce auction in Amish country up north. Perhaps you would buy a pressure cooker or dehydrators. Units start at $30-$40 and are well worth the effort to put up scads of produce for winter when they are at their peak.
From the commercial point of view, I foresee that as more farmers come into being, that more local produce auctions might spring up as side lines to farm markets that become more permanent in other parts of town. I mention this because of how important it is to mom and pop stores and restaurants to have access to local produce that is at a negotiable price. Supporting and understanding the supply and demand marketing factors of food is a major part of getting nutritious high quality product directly into sustainable walking communities. This will empower a lot of small businesses and communities to take control of their own destiny. It will strengthen the local tax base by creating more jobs for more places that don’t currently have grocery stores within walking distance. Perhaps even the corporations will need to restructure so that they can buy smaller quantities on demand from local farmers. Some corporations such as Chipotle’s and Whole Food have found that a 300 acre local farm can supply the quantities they need to do this. First we need to train enough farmers and create the infrastructure to support this economy of scale. Many young aspiring farmers have done the internship for little or no pay. We need to get them on their own land now. Communal plots of several families (shades of Amish business plans) are probable, too.
The following organizations need your support to accomplish this: OEFFA, 4H, Ohio Farmland Preservation and as many groups that would duplicate the efforts of AceNet in Athens. So keep buying local anywhere you can. There’s a new movie out that sounds good. Check it out if you can Food,Inc. Well, that’s it for now. Kareng

karenpresents — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Hi I finally did it. I wrote up my futurescape article for Columbus. I’ve yet to read Solartopia by Harvey Wasserman. But this is the green farm jobs version of his alternative energy dreamscape.
Here’s a new write-up that I would like to do more research on. Please let me know if any of it strikes your fancy. Would you be part of a committee to take it to city council meeting or a funding group. I would dearly appreciate any comments and critique you could give me. sincerely Karen

> Green City 2009
The following initiatives are suggested as ways to regain a vibrant and healthy food economy. They would lead to a massive greening of this and any city interested.

So far I’ve been accumulating different ideas that I could rank and then pick a few of the best to present as proposals. Some are far reaching such as inner city trade zones with tax abatement’s for local food production (Complete with pack animal usage). I think the areas surrounding the bike paths coming in from West Jefferson would be prime candidates (And the Big Darby area). All quadrants having their own being a long term goal. And some as simple as allowing people to have 3 chickens as pets. Many jobs could be created this way. New Green Jobs. Let’s take a look at some of them.

> Urban farms
The spin farming movement is here to stay. There are 1,000′s of vacant lots and large grassy areas for the taking and people needing jobs really close by. One group of public holdings are the Rec Centers. Taking the closed rec centers and turning them into production facilities for supplying food to those with EBT money goes to the center of many problems. I refer you to study the Growing Power programs in Minneapolis and how they are doing great things for 15 years. The top of downtown parking lot garages are another location that viable greenhouse and rooftop garden projects have been successful. Trade zones for start-up organic farms could even be given tax credits if they are close to a bike path or in areas such as the Big Darby protected sites. I would also like to include small and pack animals as part of this package. Goat carts, miniature horses and llamas would be novel ways to reduce traffic and create agritourisim jobs as well in conjunction with nearby farm markets.
>
> Youth Group development
> Groups not gangs. More interaction with 4H, inner city programs and underused facilities such as the state fair and co fair grounds. There are only 800 children in 50- 70 4H clubs in Franklin County. My guess is that only a small percentage of them are minorities. These forgotten programs have a lot to offer to both country and city kids.

Nutritional Education
This be better shared if coupled with small start up businesses such as neighborhood food coops, spin farming opportunities, neighborhood greenhouses and even soup parties to demonstrate how food good for you can taste good too. Classes on food prep techniques such as making pasta, using a pressure cooker, canning, freezing and drying foods would allow homemakers to be more self sufficient use higher quality ingredients in their food prep and reduce their long term food budgets. It would also prepare people to start their own small businesses and strengthen the local economy.

Community Gardens
A number of things need to be done to make the community gardens more successful. Cisterns, rain barrels and trained master gardeners are necessary to prevent discouraging outcomes for beginning gardeners. Allowing small animal husbandry into the city would give more equal education opportunities on par with that which suburban children receive. The city needs more groups such as 4H, Junior Achievement and FFA working on and creating neighborhood youth groups.
>
>
> Food Bank Farm
There are several of these around the country that have proven successful in creating jobs while providing much needed high quality food for those in need. Networking a number of agency and food organizations could do this as a joint project utilizing already existing resources.

Food as Art
There are a number of ways that food can be fun as well as educational. Events could be held at public events such as film festivals of farm related issues, dramatic readings from notable books, dinner parties such as those of the Slow Food organization. Even food sculpture contests could be held. Food Festivals have long been good fundraisers for many groups.

3 chickens in every yard
Many areas of the city would be able to maintain small animals as a way to teach kids responsibility and provide low cost but high quality protein sources.

Vacant land revival
This could serve a number of functions with proper management. It could be planted with cover crops that are needed for improving the tilth of nearby gardens. It would allow for the elimination of a non native invasive (grass) that creates a large carbon footprint in its maintenance. Such locations could be used to erect greenhouses for temporary production of crops such as leafy greens, micro greens or tomatoes that are targeted for food banks.

Outreach to ethnic farmers and gardeners
There are many minorities and immigrants living here who are skilled food producers and processors. They should be included in groups such as Grange and Farm Bureau. They could be given more opportunities to use their skills and have opportunities to start their own cottage industries.

Neighborhood Redevelopment using Permaculture techniques

There are a number of projects that could energize the lost
neighborhoods of Columbus by growing and selling food that is local. This would require a concentrated effort from farm groups, health departments and governments to work together.

The fence rows through out the city could be planted with melons, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. Back yards and large spaces could be planted with decorative leafy plants such as spinach, chard and collards. Southern facing patios could be hung with large baskets of salad greens. Potted peppers and tomatoes and eggplants could line porches and balconies.
Local jobs could be created in the greenhouse industry to supply these plants.

Commercial greenhouses
These could be planted with the cooler season crops over
the winter to extend their business and keep sales taxes
local instead of increasing road taxes to bring this food in
from other states and countries. It could also be included with regional freezing and canning operations.

Green teams
It would take the creation of skilled teams to go out
into the neighborhoods to teach permaculture or manage
neighborhood based food economies at first. Landscapers
with rototillers would need to be hired to start new gardens or create edible swales on public and private lands. The Master Gardeners program of the Cooperative Extension Agency would need to step up their programing. Trained horticulturists and social workers would be needed on board to deal with those experiencing the cycles of poverty.
Hauling in large quantities of high quality compost for
brownfields that are grass but not toxic is a big need.

It could even reinvigorate the Farm Bureau and the
multitude of FFA students who can’t find a farm related
job once they graduate from high school and college. We as a society would be on the way back to self-sustainability as we once knew. People who once were on public assistance
could now pay the rent by selling jams, jellies, pickles,
fruit and food. Just like our forbears did to create the
wealth this country was known for. People could even learn to make their own sauces, pasta, bread and cheese. It’s not that hard. It’s a skilled job that would save families a lot of money and create more family togetherness. So not everyone is meant to be a farmer. But with 200-300 people living on a block there must be a couple who like to garden and could manage a small market garden or Ag related service nearby. We have a glut of housing on the market. Why does every lot need a house on it. Why can’t condo and housing projects include gardens in their planning. Every block could have it’s own greenhouse for early and late starts of dark leafy greens. These green houses can also house chickens and other small animals during the winter for 4H projects. The added nutrients would be a useful additive in the spring eliminating the need to truck in compost.

Vacant yards and the large expanses of grass surrounding business warehouses could be planted with cover crops that could be planted in attractive swales of different colors. They would need mowed less often then grass. When collected and mixed into compost piles they can be managed easier where they are then hauling them to a landfill or yard waste facility in other counties. The same ATVs such as Arlington
uses for trash pick up could be used to deliver 1/2 ton loads to nearby community gardens. Growing food locally would also reduce the packaging currently flooding our landfills and driving waste pickup taxes higher.
Alleys could be lined with berries for kids to pick and eat to their hearts content. A much healthier snack than potato chips or cookies. Is it really better not to know anyone in our housing units, not give kids more options of play and learning surrounding their homes. This is a lot to think about. Please find an idea that interests you and work on it.

Farmer’s Market Community Foods Consignment

lfcadmin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:40:33 +0000

An interesting concept at community food bank in Arizona that runs community gardens and farmer’s markets in underserved areas. They have a program where home gardeners and local farmers can sign up and drop off produce at the stand to be sold on consignment. No resold produce all must be grown locally by the participant. This allows small backyard gardeners, who may only have occasional small amounts of produce, to contribute to the food security of their neighborhoods. The farmer’s markets that the food banks hosts all accept food stamps.

Community Food Bank Consignment Program

Posted by: Mayda

danger…food!

karenpresents — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:30:44 +0000

Dangerous ideas in Food can be a really daunting subject to write about. Where does one start? One could address the issues of the effects of eating the wrong foods. Or how about who grows, harvests and processes the food we eat. All these subjects have had major outings in the past decade. Who do you believe? Do you have direct knowledge or opinions about the dark side of food in America. Would you like to have some say in the matter? The following are ideas that deserve some deep discussion and follow thru.
It’s easy to bemoan the plight of the illegal workers who have worked in this country for over 50 years. But are you willing to grow a garden yourself? Do you think it is enough to throw money the way of non-profits to create community gardens in the bad part of town? Would you form a food coop and do all the legwork to locate and buy local food for yourself and a few friends? How about building a greenhouse in your backyard and putting some chickens in it over the winter for your own fresh meat? Would you study the outreach of the Farm Bureau and wonder
why there are so few family farms left within mass transit access of population centers? How about wanting more 4H clubs doing animal husbandry or garden projects with inner city children (of color)? And even seeing them display and win awards at a county or state fair? One successful farmer/author was bemused that the best farmland had been paved over by roads, but maybe it would still be there underneath some day to be found again! How ironic that new gardens are being recreated on top of pavement in neighborhoods that have totally run down within 50 years. Cities, towns and villages in Europe have stood and have vibrant working buildings over 300 years old. With busy farmmarkets downstairs and a couple alleys over. Why can’t we do that? Maybe we can. Please join me at sporeprint this winter to actively discuss and implement projects that deal with these issues.