I read A LOT .. so I can't remember now where I first saw this. Oh yeah, it was on a planning listserv that I follow. I recall reading a Linus Pauling quote noting, "The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas." I'm a community gardener and think this is a great idea - for the elderly (or
"HonoredCitizens" as Tri-Met aptly notes) and anyone looking to meet new people.
Grey fingers: Ageing Singapore uses gardening to fight loneliness
The article has a great video in it as well, and if you're not familiar with the Queen's English (Singapore was part of the British Empire), an "allotment" is simply a garden plot and a "scheme" is simply a program - think of "schematic" (i.e. diagram) rather than "scheming" (up to no good).
Simply put, community gardening combats loneliness, depression, and dementia, all of which can sadly lead to suicide. I'm not an "honored citizen" yet (age 40), but I've certainly experienced "garden therapy" for mitigating loneliness, depression, anxiety amidst all of the social media/24/7 "Curse of Busyness" that we often find ourselves in the late 2010s.
My first community garden experience was ironically when I owned a house on a quarter-acre lot - plenty of
space for a garden, but alas, no
light for a garden. Heavy tree cover in the front and back yards was a blessing (shade, energy-savings, beauty) and a curse (raking.so.many.leaves, plus
canker worms, and lack of sunlight for food gardening). The community garden was great excuse to walk a mile or so to the park it was located in, and our dog certainly liked the walks.
We started with a 10' x 10' plot, then expanded to two 10' x 10' plots (200 sq. ft.). It really is amazing what you can grow in small spaces, especially when you go
VERTICAL. Going vertical is easy, especially if you get creative in finding and reusing trash. Throwing out a 1950s-era chainlink fence? Perfect - cut up the poles for hose-guards (below) on the plot's edge and use the chainlink fencing for a cucumber trellis. Got a bunch of bamboo you just cut up and left on the curb? Bamboo, plus some twine and a bit of time tying
lash-pole knots, makes great tomato cages and cucumber trellises.
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| Winterfield Community Garden, Charlotte, NC. A winter cover crop of red clover keeps the soil intact and adds nutrients! |
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I found the fencing via NextDoor in Charlotte, NC and bamboo via Craiglist in Portland, OR - if you search the
Free section of
For Sale on Craiglist, it's amazing what you can find as a gardener! I did a quick search for "garden" and found
these results, including horse manure - how about that for Free Sh*t!?
My current garden in Gresham, OR (one-time
Raspberry Capital of the World) highlights some more fence poles I found via Craiglist, plus a "heat tent" made out of free bamboo and cheaply purchased clear plastic sheeting. "What's growing in a
heat tent?" you ask? "Okra!" I reply. It's always easier to put a jacket on to get warmer, right? Below are some shots of the "heat tent" under construction and producing my first okra pod (zoom to the single pod, on top of tomatoes at center, below).
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| Behold, the might single pod of OKRA! (center) |
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| Bamboo + twine = garden structures! |
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NW Oregon sunshine + watered ground = Southern humidity!
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Candlefire and Jambalaya okra varieties - thanks Territorial Seed Company!
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Cukes climbing the trellis.
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Another found item - a cut-in-half detergent bottle = bird bath (so they won't peck out my tomatoes!).
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| My 20' x 20' garden plot (at far end of plots, right) snugs right up against a light-rail line, a greenway, and a parking lot with solar panels. Not a bad use of "leftover space" along the tracks! |
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