The Community Garden

One of the many aspects I like about living in Renfrew On. is its community garden. I am not a member because my osteoarthritis makes trips back and forth, difficult, but just knowing the garden is there is a feel-good reality.

If you want to garden and grow and maintain your own food, flowers or herbs but do not have a space suitable at home then a community garden can be the place where you can set your gardening passion free.

A community garden is a plot of land that is usually divided into subplots with each gardener having their own plot. You can grow herbs flowers or vegetables or a mix of all three.

There may be a communal plot where you grow corn or squash which is then shared.

Each gardener tends their own plot according to whatever rules the group has set.

For example, you may want to grow organically and in order to do this then all the gardeners would need to agree.

Terms such as whether the garden is organic or not are best set out in a contract which each gardener agrees to and signs before the season gets underway.

There may be communal workdays. Especially at the beginning and the ending of the season to take care of site preparation and clean up as well as putting the plots to bed for the season.

There may be chores that all share. When I was in Saint John, New Brunswick, for example, I belonged to a large community garden and there were chores such as cutting the lawn in the common areas and doing a bit of weeding and composting. Each gardener signed up for a shift.