Last week I attended a workshop about starting a community garden given by the Ohio State University Cuyahoga County Extension office.
In the workshop, the presenters talked about the steps of planning and implementing a community garden, and also introduced the classes, grants, and opportunities that are available through the OSU Extension office for community members.
How to start? One of the first steps is to make and write a plan about the garden. Will the garden be individual garden plots, a communal growing space? What kind of location : a vacant lot, a school, public housing, church? How will the produce be distributed – used by gardeners, 20% or more donated, or 100% donated?
Other steps for getting started include getting written permission to use the land by the landowner, obtaining permission for water access, and testing the soil for lead and fertility.
Soil should be tested for PH and baseline nutrients, and also for ESP lead and other contaminants. The area should also be examined for “dead zones” – places that might look patchy, or like things do not grow in the area. Sample should be taken from multiple locations on the site, deeper than 6 inches down, and more than one sample should be tested.
Planning steps include determining goals for the community garden, figuring out roles for running the garden, recruitment, and determining the decision making process. Determining where Seeds, tools, a plan for planting, need to be developed, as well as a overall vision for the garden. In most gardens there is a leader or assistant leader who helps organize the garden. Guidelines need to be setup –are pesticides allowed, is there a gate to lock, a plot fee, fertilizer, water costs, etc? Will there be volunteer work days that are voluntary – where common spaces are weeded – and decisions can be made?
Part of the grant program of the OSU extension program is to provide soil testing, educational and individual assistance to get the garden going in the first year, site visits, print and web resources, and networking and event opportunities.
The OSU Extension office has an application process and a worksheet that needs to get filled out to apply for the mini-grants of up to $400 for new gardens. There is an application and worksheet that you must fill out. The paperwork has been designed to help answer key questions of your group, and to help with planning. Priority for the grants is for areas that have less access to fresh food, and also gardens that have a plan with youth activities.
The OSU Education office has several training programs that are available. The “Dig In” program is a 8 week course community gardener training program. The program is to help new gardens create new rules, management, contact lists, and get organized for running a community garden.
There also is a 12 week farm oriented course called the Market Gardener Training Program. This program focuses on business development and marketing for farms. Also – if you want to farm and do not have land, you can get land to use on Kinsman Farm in Cleveland. There is also a hotline you can call to get advice about diagnostics, pest and disease treatments, and other issues.
Other drop-in workshops that OSU Extension office offers throughout the year include topics such as how to raise chickens, caring for fruit trees, new tools, urban farming policy, and other topics.
The deadline for the training programs is January 3. and the garden mini-grant is due February 24th.
Need more information or application materials for the gardening and farming programs? Contact Amanda Block at the OSU Cuyahoga extension office at block.91@osu.edu or goto the website cuyahoga.osu.edu.
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