So I'm picking up my CSA box of farm-fresh crops at the church drop-off point in Peachtree Corners yesterday (after stopping at Farmer D's new location at the corner of Holcolm Bridge and Spalding) when I see my good friend Robin Fosdick, who runs the CSA drop this year and who writes Sustainable Peachtree Corners. I ask her how the new Jones Bridge Community Garden is coming along and she hops in her car and takes me there.
I shot some video for you, but first, you gotta' hear this. This garden did not exist less than 30 days ago. Today, there are 35 plots, a perimeter deer fence with a recycled wooden gate, a water source and receptacle, and two compost bins. There is a mulched path through the woods, and visual signs that an unloved, unused spot is now the center of something special.
Here is how it happened (or at least how I heard it happened). Moms got to talking at the CSA pickups. "A community garden would be great, wouldn't it?" You know the conversation. We have it often, too, all around Dunwoody.
Well, here's the thing. This one mom, Mim, a mother of five children all under the age of eight, got this idea in her head and would not take no for an answer.
1. She showed up at a Jones Bridge Pool and Racquet Club meeting and suggested a spare tennis court be turned into a community garden (with raised beds right on the pavement, just the way the Edible Schoolyard was initially built in California). She was laughed at.
2. Mim came back a second time and suggested a community garden be put over there, in that spot, beyond the pool. She was told no.
A groundskeeper took her through the woods and showed her the magic spot. Under the power lines.
3. So Mim went back and asked again. And, as you know, the third time is a charm. Mim got her community garden. Take a look (and I apologize for what my husband calls my NYPD Blue camera handling!):
Jones Bridge Community Garden from Pattie Baker on Vimeo.
This garden had no start-up budget. It has no city involvement. Plots consist of cracked earth and freedom to make what you can with it. They are free to pool members and $50 a year to the public. Robin has a Farmer D raised bed. Erica, who has the plot next to hers, used old tree trunks to outline her plot. Many people don't have raised beds at all. One woman, who has a medical condition that requires her to avoid the heat of day, gardens at night and has surrounded her plot with solar lights.
Every week when Robin goes to the garden, something new and good has happened. Some extra mulch on the paths. New plants. A bench. The "welcome to the garden" signs that had been laying there drying after being painted have been hung by someone on the gate.
Last night, Robin participated in a cookout at the pool. With her co-members from the community garden. As simple as that.
So, here's the point. You don't need to wait for the City of Dunwoody to create a community garden. That is definitely not happening this year. But if you have access to, or could get access to, an unloved corner of some place you frequent, you can get a community garden up and running in less than 30 days. Or at least that's what Mim did.
It is not too late to do this this year. Anyone up for the challenge? Let me know and I'll cover the story. And remember, you most likely have to ask three times. Don't let the first two "no's" discourage you.
Oh, and I asked about the power line permissions. This question has been bounced around here in Dunwoody for awhile and I have the emails showing the long list of reasons why we supposedly can't do it. Guess what? The folks in Peachtree Corners asked. And they did it. The power company is happy not to have to mow.
Are you happy to let another year pass without a community garden?
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5 comments:
I like this idea.
So it looks like this works after all. Seems like I saw some postings regarding "dangerous power lines" when I suggested it in a former life. Have they gotten less dangerous (never really were) or has Ga Power recognized the benefits? Hopefully the latter--these power lines are all over GA.
Several months ago, I researched gardens under power lines for definitive links between cancer and the electromagnetic field, both through the internet and through a national list serve of community food growers. There appears to be some loose connection between EMFs and childhood leukemia, but this appears to be for constant daily exposure, not the once or twice a week exposure a community garden would yield, plus I found no indication of any weird effects on the veggies. However, the concern still comes up and I, for one, do find it an issue. The lack of greenspace in our city, however, suggests that power line space is definitely something worth considering.
Another thought--the famous 1-acre Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, CA, was built right on a parking lot. If you use raised beds, there is not reason why parking lot space can't be converted to greenspace as community gardens.
It is one of those situations where you can shop your expert and find some evidence that "suggests" a particular relationship between EMF and health issues. I've not seen anything to suggest there is a definitive causal relationship and if there were Dunwoody would rise up and have the lines removed or risk becoming the electrical equivalent of Love Canal.
Most folks should be a bit more worried about the long term effects of low power but constant microwave generators in close proximity to their heads and genitalia. In 10 years we will have some young adults who have spent very few moments w/o a cell phone either up against their skull or in their pockets.
The power lines are just ugly and look significantly better when someone gardens underneath them. At the risk of being punny, more power to them.
Yay! Go indomitable Mim! You could always get Jonh to drive his wide-wheeled porsches up and down the plot to churn it up for you - no rotivator required! :-)
Chris McD.
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