Nancy Reading wrote:That's great news Ac! - pat on the back all round I think!
Its good to hear, for sure.
Nancy Reading wrote:
Some thoughts:
- When do you have to make a decision on the new plot?
- Would your grant money be affected?
- Could you continue 'guerilla gardening' on the old plot (plus adjacent) and get most of the benefit of produce without the hassle of trying to recruit more volunteers?
- What possibilities for more volunteer help can you think of?
Paperwork ideally should go in around 1 Oct with four weeks to pay the rent, which would be about £70 extra.
I've checked with the grant holder, and they are keen to support the move.
I'm going to talk to the site committee about their thoughts e.g. using the plot for soft fruit & maybe seedling etc. propagation for the whole site community?
This might lead to having more plot holders actively supporting the shared community project.
Also, I am hoping the site committee might be more open to wider publicity for the project, helping to attract more volunteers with various skills & interests.
Nancy Reading wrote:
- How can you design the new plot to be more resilient/less work (maybe permies.com can help with ideas!)?
- You'd have to change your thread title
Setting up rainwater harvesting is a high priority.
Leaning into popular perennial veg would be helpful, although tree kale is the main obvious option there.
I suggest if you do try one of the decision tools, you don't do the analysis by yourself - try and get the allotment committee, some volunteers and other stakeholders involved too then you will get ideas you may not have thought of.
Good point. The grant holders are going to briefly discuss the idea on Wednesday, and I plan to talk further to them & the site committee at the weekend.
The main threats I can see are, over-committing risking burnout, and attracting .. disruptive? .. interest to the allotments site.
So, lots to think about relatively quickly! Thanks for all the helpful questions!
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
So far, the allotments site secretary is hopeful that the existing plot need not be let out to anyone else (due to the major sun/rain shadow effect), and that we could retain access as a way to keep it from becoming overgrown. We could use the small open growing area to propagate e.g. soft fruit (grapes, tayberry etc) for the site, and pick the fruit for the community.
Meanwhile, the funders from this year are optimistic they can secure funding for the replacement plot, and are keen on the potential to grow more veg.
We have one 'graduate' from the community plot taking on their own plot from October but also keen to help on the new plot.
The local vicar has donated 18 c. 60l sacks of composted green waste from the rectory garden cleanup project, and believes one or two of their volunteers might be interested in joining our project.
Even my No 1 garden worker (my D, N!) thinks we can come up with a managable plan of mulching & soft fruit propagation to make it viable.
I still feel like one more knowledgeable, reliable volunteer in the mix would help me feel a lot more confident it's not going to be too much .. !!
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
AC, the project seems to be growing, well done yous.
I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
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Ac Baker wrote:Meanwhile, the funders from this year are optimistic they can secure funding for the replacement plot, and are keen on the potential to grow more veg.
Maybe think about getting funding for features that will make watering easier? Ollas? soaker lines?
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
Today has been a bit of a whirlwind: a visit from one of the founders of the funding body, to photograph the suggested new plot to show the Board. They're pretty confident they will want to fund the new plot.
A potential new volunteer who is friendly & enthusiastic, has some gardening experience, but can be very easily distracted & has a lot going on on their life.
More cooking apples distributed, 6 more 60 l sacks of locally made rough compost moved to the site.
Our 'scheme graduate' came to start tidying their new plot, so I gave them a hand getting started.
A couple more potential routes to finding new experienced volunteers have been mooted.
And a bit of rain, slowly easing but not ending our 6 month drought. Plus the waterbutt on the prospective new plot has a proper tap & filling valve!! (just needs a pedastel so we can get a watering can under it.
Oh, and I think we may have Rumex sanguineus on the prospective new plot. But even the new leaves tasted very bitter to me .. nowhere near as nice as sheep sorrel (not sure if they might be milder in Spring?).
What a day!! Still nervous about how much work will be involved ..
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
I have been pondering a lot overnight about the balance between relationship building, and practical action. I think a lot has been said, written and thought on this down the centuries!
From Mr Rogers to Indigenous Elders, over and again, the vital and foundational nature of the daily work to build, maintain, strengthen & deepen our relationships with one another has been emphasized as primary to any kind of better world.
But it's so much more tangible to do a garden task!
But we've already achieve so much practical stuff - getting locally grown food onto the plates of local, food insecure people not the least of it - through relationship nurturing.
Any pointers to managing this balance, including fruitful discussions on this site, gratefully received!
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
Nancy Reading
steward and tree herder
Posts: 10881
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year
I think there may be a equation that goes something like :
Success of a new venture = sum of (each person x person's enthusiam for event)
So as an individual alone, you need a hell of a lot of enthusiasm to keep going. If you have one other person that is quite keen, it becomes a lot easier and as each other person is added to the group it gets it's own momentum and develops a life of it's own. So in the early days it isn't about the number of people that come along, but maybe more how much enthusiasm they have for the activity.
You could also try looking for forms of capital: I think social or community capital is also a way of thinking of the glue that holds groups together.
--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations
Since taking on an extra plot at the allotment, I've been thinking about how to manage the workload without injuring myself or burning out.
Like you've mentioned already, direct seeding in the way to go. I'd also suggest going a step further and making scatter mixes of salad leaves, chard, herbs, flowers etc. Scatter on the bed before a good rainfall is forecast, rake it in if you feel like it (I usually don't...) and a few weeks later, come back to harvest.
Bonus points for keeping the weeds at bay, can be used between bigger crops like tomatoes, squash, climbing beans, corn etc.
Another area that I used to find back breaking was composting. Now, I compost everything in place (chop and drop) or compost in the pathways (but that's a trip hazard for a community garden). The only thing I remove is diseased material that could spread but there's very little of that.
I'm sure they are many more ways to cut un-necessary labour or concentrate the labour into community days like "potato harvest day" (promise of cake and coffee would help)... You've got this!
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