Credit due

**Don Boekelheide d*@yahoo.com**

Tanya writes (great post, by the way, Tanya!)

>Someone said that community gardens are 50 percent
gardening and 100
percent politics. We've lost some gardeners who don't
want to deal with 
the politics, though.<

That's "Honigman's Law", coined by our own Adam
Honigman.

The canard about 'selfish gardeners' is common enough
that programs are wise to have a ready response. Given
the vast sums mindlessly spent on sports complexes
(example - our 'neighborhood park' is nothing but
Little League baseball fields, because that group was
organized and simply walked off with the park
design...), community gardens on public land are at
least as justifiable and more accessible to more
people.

That said, garden rules and governing structures do
need to ensure access to all who want a place to
garden. That calls for some savvy planning and
flexibility, especially where land is scare (or you
have folks who want to 'take over', similar to what
has happened on the rogue boards of some condo,
apartment and homeowners assns). One way to help keep
things open and fair is to have a broad-based
community-wide community garden support group (like
P-Patch in Seattle), ideally tied in to ACGA. Also, it
means seeking out additional space for community
gardens as part of everyday life. I'm always
scoping...

Very important issue, glad you raised it. Like I said,
great post, Tanya, and I hope you and Josh get
together soon.

Don B.
Charlotte NC USA

______________________________________________________
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