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said in an article on page 25 that community gar- dens are contagious. I say that because when I had the bright idea of localizing our "local produce" articles a bit by listing some local community gardens that readers could become involved with, I assumed there would be one here, one there, covering North- west Florida in spotty patches.
Boy, was I wrong.
Do you have any idea how many community gardens there are out there around you? I'm going to make a very unscientific yet accurate assessment:
A LOT. My "brief listing" quickly turned into an unmanageable mountain of
overwhelming (but exciting!) information. It seemed everyone knew someone who had started (or was starting) a community garden for their organization or their neighborhood. The article's topic quickly narrowed to a brief story of how one organization's tentative foray into community gardening had spread like wildfire, accompanied by mention of a few larger community gardens further up the coast that had public contact information available. Why so many community gardens? I'm sure we could brainstorm and come
up with several topical reasons: more news stories every week about recalled foods, more "oops, I guess they really were dangerous" reports about chemical- laced foods, economic pressures that make grocery shopping more and more difficult. But there are other reasons, as well, and I believe they are more compelling.
Listed on one of the sites I give as a resource (
communitygarden.org/learn)
are the above benefits, but there are also benefits like, "Improves the quality of life for people in the garden," "Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development," "Stimulates Social Interaction," "Encourages Self-Reliance," and "Beautifies Neighborhoods," just to name a few. Wow. Sign me up. As a matter of fact, sign us all up. No wonder the gardens spread so quickly once people see the benefits they bring. Have you been looking for that "one small way to change the world?" Start a community garden in your neighborhood. You don't even need open land! Pots on a concrete slab work great, as well. Just ask the MANNA Food Gardens in Pensacola. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! Let's start planting ...
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