A few weeks back I mentioned that towns will often set aside space for community gardens. Our town opened up the application process for first time applicants the first week of March. We applied for and got two plots. The cost is $30 per plot for the entire season. The plots themselves are fairly large and it looks like I've increased my total space by threefold.
The gardens themselves are not too far from the house and the plan is to ride bikes there during the warm months to maintain them. The plan is keep the fast growing crops, like cucumbers, in the home garden and the slower crops, like melons, in the town garden.
It is funny to note that there is a caution in the rules regarding anyone caught growing illegal drugs will both lose their garden plot and be prosecuted given that the land is owned by the town and the application form is submitted at the town hall.
Posts
Best lettuce!
3 months ago
I'm just wondering what zone you are in. I am in Canada and working on research into schoolyard gardens, community gardens, eco-art. Also am a member of Canadian Organic Growers. I like your groundhog story, am not sure what kind of vermin the gardens I am involved in will attract.
ReplyDeletehttp://escapelot.wordpress.com
I am in zone 6 although sometimes it is shown as 6a.
ReplyDeleteI guess it will mostly depend on where in Canada you are and how close / far to a city you are. I'm sure you'll have some things that are specific to your area, but here are some brief notes on those common to a good part of North America.
The rabbits usually nibble the clover in the back lawn and occasionally they like something in the flower bed, but seldom bother the vegetables. They do like parsely when they can get it.
The squirrels are pretty good, but like flower bulbs.
The birds will eat the strawberries.
The ground hog was the only really problem to speak of in six years of doing this.
Deer are generally a problem in this area. We happen to live close to a reservoir and they don't bother us given they have such a nice place up there, but plenty of people have big fences around their scrubs.
There are also bears, skunk, raccoon, and opossum around, but I think there is enough garbage cans around that there is little to interest them in the garden.
Tomatoes, pepper, eggplant and potatoes all belong to the same Nightshade family and animals will frequently leave these alone even without a fence which makes them a good bet.