At Transition Garden, we are working towards creating a cooperative gardening community, all co-managing the effort, learning together and all sharing in the harvests. The goal is that these gardens will become owned and operated by a cooperative group.
In this way, more people are able to learn and share their insights – not just about gardening but also their related lifestyle values for self-sufficiency and personal agency in our increasingly fragile times. The future will be build by tight knit communities like these, who are actively supporting each other, and learning new valuable skills.
One of our favorite sayings is that “gardening is a life skill.” Our other favorite saying is “the future is rural,” which means that there is more ability outside of urban density to reconnect with natural processes, gardening and farming.
On most Fridays we gather, work together in the gardens, share a hearty farm lunch from garden harvests and enjoy stories. Things are picking up quickly now. We have started seeding beds with radishes, arugula, cilantro, spring turnip, potatoes and other early crops. The number of seedling trays are quickly expanding in the greenhouse, and we are just beginning to transplant out into beds. Fruit tree pruning is also underway.
It’s still the first half of April, and we need to be careful. Its an early spring this year, with many tree and perennial buds swelling and breaking dormancy. A hard freeze (3-6C below) could cause significant damage. It seems like things are more out of kilter compared to previous seasons. There’s more unpredictability and potential crop damage. Is this the new reality with climate change?
