Re: Plants for community garden

**A*@aol.com**

Tamsin, 

I too always feel "up" after I've left the garden  - even if I've had to 
explain, for the thousanth time to one of the local parents that our "no 
urinating in the garden" rule applies to their children too ( and is posted 
in English, Spanish and Arabic next to the front gate!) 

When people "get it" on what community gardens are all about, there really is 
nothing better. 

Re:
<< 
 4. Lastly, I was wondering what plants community gardens have planted as
 'communal' plantings, things which grow and can be shared around or take up
 too much space for individual plots so could be in community areas. >>

Because of the needs of our big city neighborhood for green open space, we've 
divided our site into a front public garden with an organic lawn, benches, 
winding paths and volunteer maintained multi season flower beds, a public 
herb garden ( visitors are welcome to take a few sprigs for dinner) a grape 
arbor, and a native plant garden in which we have sited a bee hive. This 
section, which serves over 3,500 key-holding neighborhood residents as a 
communal back yard is maintained by 40 hard-core volunteers. We created this 
front garden first - a good decision because it created a public resource 
that the community adopted as its own.  The back garden, with its 108 queen 
size mattress/ 6' by 4'  individual raised beds, was created later. This 
decision, to create a public amenity before developing facilities to serve  
individuals has been key, I believe, for acceptance by our neighbors and 
survivability in a land starved big city. 

For your public space, a large communal herb garden, perhaps highlighted by 
decorative placement of bricks and attractive rocks might be a good choice.  
Folks tend to be more fair about harvesting herbs than veggies ( you can only 
use so many herbs at a time.)

Great luck, please let us know how you're doing on the other side of the 
world. 

Adam Honigman
Volunteer, Clinton Community Garden  

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