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Post by haymichelle on Feb 18, 2020 14:46:15 GMT -5
I am working on facilitating a community Garden in Illinois. I wish to begin this in a manner that will ensure success. However I am unlearned on the specifics of which items to plant, with which, when and honestly unfamiliar with the specifics for it. I have an intense passion for the Earth and wish to share that experience and create harmony in the community with this endeavor. Any advice and support will be greatly appreciated.
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Post by tom 🕊 on Feb 18, 2020 16:51:12 GMT -5
I am working on facilitating a community Garden in Illinois Welcome haymichelle! What are the details of this project? Are raised beds already prepared or will you be planting in the ground?
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Feb 18, 2020 16:57:47 GMT -5
haymichelle , welcome, and congratulations on your efforts to start a community garden.
Some more information could help:
How large of a space do you have? Is it in grass now or already plowed and ready to plant? Has the soil been enhanced? Is there water access to the garden?
Is there sun from all sides, all day, or part of the day?
Will you be managing the garden yourself or will others help? If so, what are their experiences?
Who owns the property, and do you need any permission from the community entity?
Latitude33 is one of the regular posters and has been managing community gardens for years. He'll be able to offer some good advice on the management aspects.
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Post by desertwoman on Feb 18, 2020 17:39:15 GMT -5
A big Welcome from me, as well haymichelle , Sounds like a great project. Congrats on getting this started! It sounds like you may not have extensive veggie gardening experience. Is that a true perception? If so, others who join the Garden may have knowledge to share. And we will be happy to give our 2 cents! Good questions have been asked, above, that can get us started on advice and support- it helps to have more info. Also, if you could add your general location and growing zone in your Signature line that will give us that info each time you post, which makes it easier. Go to Profile>Edit Profile> Personal>Signature Looking forward to hearing about your progress!
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Post by Latitude33 on Feb 18, 2020 18:18:08 GMT -5
Aloha! Happy to help with any questions.
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Post by martywny on Feb 18, 2020 18:42:40 GMT -5
Any advice and support will be greatly appreciated. Welcome to the group, we're glad to have you join the party. Advice - don't be afraid to try something and fail. We learn by both our successes and our mistakes. There is no way I will ever set a plant in my garden without hardening it off because it will die. Ask me how I know this. Everyone here has had their share of failures and they have learned a great deal from having done it. Ask them - should I plant this, why is my corn so short, why do tomatoes have black spots, what are these bugs, how do I get rid of this weed. Study plants and study the soil, learn about how everything works together. There are a lot of great YouTube videos on this and you can also do what I do and get textbooks from the library. Gardening is work, albeit enjoyable work. Unless it's 98 degrees and mosquitoes are eating you. You have to be out there watering and cultivating and pulling weeds and fertilizing and touching yucky bugs. Then you you finally get to taste something that you grew in your garden and it's nothing like what they call food in the supermarkets. That's because you picked the seed for flavor and nutritional value instead of how the commercial agriculture industry picks varieties that will tolerate a bunch of chemicals and be a perfect color and all be the same size to fit in the jar.
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Post by Latitude33 on Feb 18, 2020 19:24:10 GMT -5
First bit of advice regarding organizing is to check out the resources of the American Community Gardening Association: www.communitygarden.org Also you might glean some info from www.homegrown.org It can be tough, frustrating and irritating at times but well worth it.
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Post by tom 🕊 on Feb 23, 2020 20:14:49 GMT -5
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Feb 23, 2020 20:31:01 GMT -5
Hello, haymichelle, Welcome to the forum. The only suggestion I have right now is to keep to a small garden in the beginning. There is so much information coming from different directions. You can choose a plot where you want to grow, do you want to do veggies or flowers? Or both? Choosing 1, 2 or 3 items and learning about those specifically. Too much can be overwhelming. Learn about those specifically may keep things more manageable.
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