RE: Research question

H* A*

Jack,

1)Generally approved organic practices ( NOFA, COFA, Oregon Tilth, etc) 

2) Log book of all garden work/procedures listed ( this is for more than
bragging rights and who buys the beer. If somebody learned something new -
it should be added to the general store of  best practices information.) 

3) Make it pay by televising it - like one of those survivor type shows,
double digging, raising the bed, shoveling the manure, menacing each other
with edging tools....The media possibilities are endless ;) 

4) Get some pretty people doing something....

Best wishes,
Adam Honigman 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Hale [j*@knoxparks.org]
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 4:54 PM
To: community_garden@mallorn.com
Subject: RE: [cg] Research question

This is always the question - how much can you grow.  Here in Connecticut, I
tell people a good gardener will grow about $1 per square foot. Obviously,
on a small space with intensive use and proper choice of crops and good
weather the number is much higher.  Take certain varieties of hemp, for
instance, or raspberries.  On the other hand, I know lots of folks who can
produce a net loss.  There are lots of yield numbers available for various
crops - useful for large spaces dedicated to row crops.  A good community
gardener would do much better growing in beds separated by narrow pathways
and using succession and interplanting.  Of course people would like to know
what productivity looks like for typical use of a community garden plot,
whatever that is.  My bet is that somebody could come up with a pretty good
model using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening.  That would give you a
garden design and schedule and a little more work would give you rough dates
and amounts of yield.  Maybe that would be enough, but to convert it to
dollars you would have to decide whether supermarkets or farmer's markets
are your price standard.  I've always wanted to hold a contest between FFA,
Master Gardeners, our Ag Experiment Station, and the vegetable specialists
at the ag school to see who could actually produce the most.  Does anybody
want to help set up the rules for that contest?
Jack Hale

______________________________________________________
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

______________________________________________________
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