Ideas for community gardening social events and fundraisers?

**"Hadley Milliken" h*@verizon.net**

HI- I submitted this to the CG list serve in April and never saw it post on
the site. Could you please re-post this message? Thanks!

Hello my fellow community gardening enthusiasts-

For a while now, I have been a silent member of the list serve gleaning all
of the amazing energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and inspiration from afar- so,
this is my first post! I want to start out by saying thank you for
brightening my day with the amazing information that lives on this community
garden list serve and all of the time, passion, and heart that has gone into
all of the postings. I am truly grateful.

If you would please, I offer a request for some ideas-- some things you have
done in your own community gardens that have been successful, fun, and most
of all, brought people together for an afternoon of sharing and
community...I am looking for some ideas on community garden social events
and garden fundraisers.

I am involved with a wonderful community garden, Tricycle Gardens, located
in Richmond, VA where it is at the forefront of the "movement" down here.
Tricycle Gardens formed - mostly from friends and neighbors with an interest
in gardening, art, architecture and community improvement - to try to
"jump-start" this community gardening movement and to create a demand for
the development of an infrastructure to help the establishment of community
gardens throughout the greater Richmond area.

A large part of Tricycle Garden's mission is to have educational and social
elements available for garden members as well as the community, both adults
and children.  The garden is open to all and is wheelchair accessible. We
have already delivered a seed propagation workshop in March and plan other
workshops in 2005 for adults on topics such as seed starting, organic
gardening techniques, soil enrichment and composting, and food and nutrition
among other topics. Tricycle Gardens has two children's plots offered to
several local children's organizations for hands-on educational activities
through gardening.  These groups will participate in the garden as part of
4-H.

Our city has many vacant and blighted lots that can undoubtedly benefit from
beautification and community building through the development of community
gardens. However, the concept of community gardens in Richmond is mostly
unknown to its residents and there is no local agency or organization that
supports the start up of new community gardens.

We still have a ways to go cultivating the political will to support
community gardening, getting the local community involved and aware of the
garden, and raising some funds to hold educational events etc. So...any
information or ideas you could provide on community garden social events and
garden fundraisers would be greatly appreciated...thanks again for all that
you do for this list serve and keeping the community garden spirit alive!

Hadley Milliken
Program Associate
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
P.O.Box 1981
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone  804.775.0951
Fax      804.775.0954
Email    hmilliken@acb-online.org
Website  www.AllianceChesBay.org

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