I'm chatting about the fair trade school fundraising program with the Equal Exchange folks at the holistic family funfest the other day, over iced fair-trade coffee and sample cranberries and pecans (it was too hot for chocolate samples, much to my sadness) when one of the head office representatives from Boston mentions a non-profit named The Food Project. Turns out that The Food Project delivers raised gardening beds and prepares them with soil, compost, plants, the works, for free, to anyone who wants to start a garden.
And this gets me thinking. With every change we're trying to make to live lighter on the land, there seems to be small impediments that trip us up. We ride our bikes to the library--no bike rack. We save shower water--it spills a bit when we carry it downstairs, potentially rotting the wood underneath the stairs. We use glass instead of paper or plastic cups--several have been dropped and have broken. We're constantly re-adjusting to accommodate these pesty little impediments, but I can see how many people would just stop doing things, for small but surmountable reasons, because change is not seamless or easy, and frankly, I don't blame them. Making sure there are clean cloth napkins always available is not something about which many folks have time to worry.
So, with gardening, I got to thinking that maybe if magic fairies showed up and put a starter garden in for folks, then that would get them over the first hump. I entertained thoughts of actually building these for anyone who would want one. Maybe I'd actually start a non-profit (I founded and directed one named Hattitudes with my older daughter that gave free, new hats to girls undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer at six hospitals nationwide for a number of years a long time ago) or extend The Food Project's mission from Boston to Atlanta. I figured if I could do the thing for 50 bucks, and anyone who wants one gets it for free but gives a $50 donation, then that donation would fund the next person (and so on). I figured it had the potential to become a program, called something like Plant It Forward (although I see that name is already service marked, and, frankly, is worth checking out here).
And, so I decided, first, that I needed a prototype. I would buy only what Home Depot has--nothing special that folks wouldn't be able to find easily on their own. I would list exactly what I bought, how much it cost, and what I did so that anyone, anywhere, who just wants to get started, would have a blueprint to do so.
So, here it is--the plan for a 4' x 2' raised garden bed (International friends of FoodShed Planet may need to make some adjustments here):
1. 12' beveled cedar plank, cut to the sizes above= $13.65
2. 2 40-pound bags of organic potting soil=$3.50
3. 1 piece of scrap 2x4 wood cut into 4 6" lengths=$1.00
4. 8 1 1/4" galvanized roofing nails=a whole box is $2.43
5. Organic veggies: 2 tomato, 2 basil, 1 pepper, 1 okra= $13.72
6. Two marigold plants (for pest control)=$1.98
7. Miracle Gro* organic potting mix=$8.99
* I prefer Farmer D's biodynamic organic compost, but that is not widely available yet.
TOTAL=$45.26
TIME: Maybe two hours (including shopping)
I nailed the wood blocks to the inside edges of two of the 4' boards and then nailed the sides into the blocks as well. This created a bottomless frame, which I then slipped over my mailbox. I covered the grass inside the frame with layers of black-and-white newspaper (and yes, this is the first glorious reduction of my front lawn). I then poured the potting soil and potting mix on top, planted the plants (including their little identifying sticks so that passers-by could see what I planted) and added my pesticide-free sign from www.beyondpesticides.org. The next time I mow, I'll add grass clippings on top as well (now that I can, now that my lawn is pesticide-free).
And that's it. Done. Isn't it cute? Several people whom I don't know went by while I was doing this and asked if I was planting flowers and I said, "No, I'm planting food." They stopped and we engaged in a long chat. This is what happens when I mow the lawn with the push reel mower as well. I told some friends recently, "This eco stuff is very time-consuming." They said, "Yeah, everything is a lot more work, huh?" And I said, "No, not really. I just spend a lot more time in conversation!"
So, will I start building these things for others? Not sure. But it's an idea, isn't it?
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14 comments:
AWESOME!! Exactly the kind of stuff that regular folks need. Here in Texas, a raised bed is about the only option (except pots), and yet too few people know about the concept.
I actually emailed Gardener's Supply and Whole Foods last week to tell them to create "Victory Garden" kits. I think they could sell them along with the Square Foot Gardening book.
But your idea for a non-profit is better...go for it!! Having watched Whole Foods morph from my tiny store in Austin (ah, the college years...) to the industry giant it is, I totally believe green ideas can work.
Will post something on my blog and track back later.
YAY!
What a great idea! That's wonderful!
Once we move I'm going to making a lot of raised beds. Maybe you can come help me with my first one? I've never done it but look forward to trying. Once we move down there I can also help you with giving them to people if you want. I can help build and plant.
Pamela: I love the Victory Garden kits idea, but as you can see, 50 bucks really is a minimum cost so I don't know how they could price them to make a profit. I hate for it for to be something unaffordable, like the $129 worm condos when in reality you only need a $10 plastic container and some drilled holes.
Allie: Thanks for the nice comment.
Christy: Hmmm. Richard of the Worms said he'd help, too. Maybe if we got a whole army of folks willing to build these . . . I have to think on this.
Oh, look what I found. Victory Garden Start Kits!
http://www.futurefarmers.com/victorygardens/starterkit.html
(It's me again). And notice that these Victory Garden Starter Kits use the same dimensions as I do!
(hey, it's the little things that are exciting in this world!)
This is really funny, because I've been thinking a lot over the past few days about people who can't garden (like seniors) but who have the space, and young people (like college students) who would like to garden, but can't because they don't have room. What would happen if there was a program that hooked these two groups up together? Or - could there be a program that provides plants in containers for seniors - just a couple of tomato plants could make a difference, and wouldn't take up too much room. And it seems like the benefits of tending a food bearing plant would be good for an older person. (Like pets in nursing homes.) Over on Apartment Therapy they're also talking about a new business that comes in and does your gardening for you. I think lots of people are having a collective brainwave.
Dakota--Thanks for weighing in--great ideas! Makes me think of two things: 1. I met an elderly woman this morning while riding my bike back from the community cneter. We talked for ages (hence, why my bike rides add so much time to my day!) and when I asked her if she had a vegetable garden, she said, No, not really. Just three tomatoes, a sqwuash plant, a handful of herbs . . ." and went on and on! And she considers this NOT having a garden! I think your idea about helping elderly folks have gardens agin is BEAUTIFUL--especially because the final stage of a vegetable plant's life is usually a burst of gorgeous flowering energy.
Secondly, I was talking with someone this morning about how much the drought is hruting landscapers here in Atlanta. However, ihave YET to see one landscaper advertise their services for putting ib vegetable gardens for people (which we are allowed to water during the drought). What a great business opportunity that just isn't happening ehre yet.
(sorry about the typos!)
Great, great and great stuff all of you! I haven't heard of anything like that here but maybe I wouldn't know as I don't go out as much as you Pattie...but someone would have told me, I think. In time you could hopefully make the garden beds out of a supply of used timber because you need to think about what that timber is and where it is coming from (sorry to add a complication ...)
Dakota-There's actually a section in the Square Foot Gardening book about seniors and elders. We didn't follow the book...I bought it much later (cart, meet horse). But I've recommended it to several folks, especially newbie gardeners. Just loaned it out today, in fact. Time to start encouraging fall planting preparations...
Pattie-True about the costs...but someone needs to promote it, maybe offer affordable classes?
Kate: I was thinking cedar because I had to use an untreated wood and that's the only one of which I know that you don't have to treat and it doesn't rot. But, yes, if we were to move forward on this, it would be great to reclaim wood from local barns or something. That's what Farmer D did with his compost displays at Whole Foods--it's all reclaimed wood.
Pattie - That's a lot of plants for "not" having a garden!
I really need to tap into the gardening programs around here and see what's already underway and what's being offered. I know there's a garden network for people to borrow tools from, but I really have no idea if there's any kind of support group or anything like that. (I know we don't have a Master Gardener's program - it's over in Bozeman.) Missoula is starting to really pick up some momentum in the green movement (We've now got projects like "Green Blocks" where blocks of people sign up and the city helps them retrofit for alternative energy), although biking and the farmers market has always been big around here, but it feels like there's not really one cohesive movement - there's lots of little pieces.
I'd really like to get more involved with gardening groups and start projects like these, but I also feel like I'm such a newbie (I have a black thumb, really!) that I have no credibility! That only comes with time I guess...
(Btw, I didn't know if the comment identity is working or not, but I'm also the gal that linked you on mtgardeninggirl.com. You've got so much useful stuff on your blog, so if anyone reads mine, I hope they make their way over to yours!)
P.Price - Thank you! Square Foot Gardening is actually sitting on my table in my stack of books just waiting for me to have a spare minute to sit down and actually read it. I'll definitely look for the section on seniors!
What an awesome idea! I have been trying so hard to convince my friends how easy it is to plant a few veggies/herbs and I get the excuses that its too "complicated" or "time consuming". I think a started kit and simple and useful as yours would help a ton. I liked those victory start kits with the drip line and copper tape, I wonder how much more that would add to the basic $50 kit you described. The resulting produce would cost more then $50 in a gorcery store.
A kit like that would really help begining gardeners, I know it sure would have helped me, standing in home depots garden center or browsing theu a stack of gardening catalogs was very intimidating at first.
If you ever do make a non-profit program to get this started I'd love to volunteer and try to get something like that up and running around here. We're lucky to have great weather for gardening year round and I so wish more people would make the effort.
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