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Dropped $200 on a community garden plot and it's half weeds | DIY Democracy - Free To Speak

Dropped $200 on a community garden plot and it's half weeds

I got all excited last spring and paid $200 for a 10x10 plot in the new community garden down on Elm Street. The idea was to grow some tomatoes and peppers, maybe save on grocery bills. But the soil was terrible, like straight clay, and I ended up spending another $60 on compost and fertilizer just to get anything to grow. Then the shared water spigot broke for two weeks in July and half my seedlings died. The coordinator said they'd fix it but nothing happened for a month. Now it's October and I've got maybe $30 worth of vegetables total. Has anyone else had luck pushing the garden committee to actually manage the budget better or get some basic maintenance done?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt1352mo ago

My buddy Gary had a similar setup over on Oak Street a couple years back. He paid the same $200 and ended up with more bindweed than beans. After three months of begging the committee to fix a broken fence that let rabbits in, he just started attending every meeting and bringing a notepad. Eventually he got them to put in a new irrigation line, but by then it was August and too late for his summer crops.

wade2502mo ago

Man, that's rough. Poor Gary put in all that effort and still got burned by bad timing and a lazy committee. It's like the garden itself is just another hoop to jump through sometimes, you know? You almost have to wonder if they even want people growing food there or if it's just a way to say they have a program. I hope Gary at least got some good compost out of the deal or something.

hannah3202mo ago

Honestly "too late for his summer crops" is a bit dramatic, it's just beans not a whole farm going under. Sounds like Gary got a new irrigation line out of it, which is more than most people get out of $200.