My Community Garden Plot

I had never heard of a community garden until a few years ago. A cube mate at work was gardening a couple small plots in Hartford and would give me the daily updates on his trials and tribulations. The idea was intriguing but I just didn't have the time to invest.

After a couple successful years of squeezing in as many vegetables as I could in the 2' x 15' strip of dirt behind my deck, I decided last year was the year to give the local community garden a try.

Our community garden is located on the side of a gently sloping hill. It receives good sun throughout the day, but the slope definitely creates some problems. The plots are big at 25' X 25'. For the 8 months or so of rental, $20 certainly seems like a decent price.

The town's park and rec department runs the program. If you are looking for a community garden in your area that might be a place to start, however I do not know how common it is for the park & rec departments to be the administrators. Looking around on the web it appears a number of community and private groups run similar programs.

The town disc's (aka harrow, aka cultivate) the land in the middle of May. Although this worked out ok last year, it really is later than I would prefer. My plot had been fallow the prior year (or more) and was covered in meadow-like grasses. Unfortunately this meant the remaining straw was half buried under 6" of soil after the harrowing and required a fair amount of work to rake off and prepare the plot for planting.

Needless to say, I am planning to request my plot not be cultivated this year to allow me to plant a few things early. In addition, I would like to maintain my planting areas to reduce the amount of prep work required.

Besides the slope, the other negative to our community garden is the lack of nearby water. You have to truck in all the water you use. From a conservation point of view, this certainly cuts down on waste. But it isn't easy carting in enough water for a 25' X 25' plot. Needless to say, there is a tendency to rely on nature for as much of the watering as possible. Last year wasn't too bad as it was a very wet summer in New England, however, I heard stories from nearby plot owners that the prior year was a real hassle. We will see what this year shall brings.