It has been awhile since I posted to this Blog. All has been well, and importantly the level of gardening in the Transition Garden has increased substantially this growing season.
The gardens are run co-operatively. This means that 5 to 8 people show up on Friday mornings, which is our usual schedule. We work all morning, sometimes share a farm lunch and everyone takes a portion of the day’s harvests. With this level of effort, we are able to expand into new beds, sequentially plant new crops into the existing beds and take better care of the berry crops and fruit trees. The co-operative model is different from the usual community garden model in which everyone gets their own small plot. In the Transition Garden case, it is one big garden with everyone co-operatively working it and sharing the harvest.
It takes some effort to bring in people who would like to garden co-operatively. We gave a talk at the local garden club, and 3 people joined that way. Others found out through notices posted in some environmental organization newsletters, and others are just good local friends.
This last spring, we have been fortunate to have teams of 5 to 6 grade 10-11 students from the local high school join us each week along with at least one teacher. They will be coming back again this fall. A total of 21 students are coming here as part of community service work they need to fulfill prior to going on a school trip to Costa Rica to do mangrove restoration.
It is a true pleasure to see young students who are eager to learn about food production. They come with different levels of prior experience, but there is always something to learn at any age, and any background.
The co-operative gardening model can work anywhere, even if you are only getting started in your back yard. Invite your friends or neighbours to help out, learn together and share the harvest. Mutual learning and mutual friendships are the way to go.