Re: Question of Usage

**s*@bloomington.in.us**

Since 1998, the Willie Streeter Community Gardens in Bloomington, Indiana,
have varied in occupancy from 68% to 110% (with a wait list).  I budget
the gardens on an 80% occupancy.  Our last two years we have been at or
above 100% (thanks to a new deer fence!).  We have 85 10' x 20' plots and
ten accesible raised beds (8' x 4' x 2' 4").  Our raised beds have always
been at 100% occupancy.  The gardens have been in operation since 1984 and
offer both conventional and organic gardening options.  We added the
raised beds in 1988.  We market the gardens extensively, but we still run
into people who have been in Bloomington for years without knowing about
the existence of the gardens, which are located in a city park.  Good
luck, and let us know if our experience can be of any help.

Michael

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
H. Michael Simmons, Ph.D.
Adult Program Specialist
Bloomington Parks and Recreation
P.O. Box 848
Bloomington, IN 47402
(812)349-3737
simmonsm@bloomington.in.gov

> Friends,
>
> The Sunnyvale City Council found wisdom last week as they voted to give
> our fledgling non-profit, Sustainable Community Gardens, the land that we
> have been seeking for nearly two years, right smack in the heart of our
> civic center, for a community garden. We have five years to make it
> something they won't want to take away from us.
>
> My task and the reason I am writing, is to determine the USAGE patterns of
> the garden without my ever having experienced a community garden. How many
> people attend your gardens at any given time? What is the maximum and what
> percentage of the maximum occupancy of your garden is this number? We are
> planning 87 raised garden beds and I need to pro-actively report to the
> city before getting our USE permit, what I think the maximum usage at any
> given time will be.
>
> Your experienced feedback would be much appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Josh Salans
> Sunnyvale, CA
>
>
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______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden