Community Gardeners

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Comment by ken hargesheimer on August 17, 2009 at 7:48pm

GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK
USA: TX, MS, FL, CA, AR; Mexico, Rep. Dominicana, Côté d’Ivoire, Nigeria,Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Haiti, England, India, Uzbekistan
minifarms@gmail.com

Organic, No-Till Community Gardens

Chicago has 6,000 acres, 70,000 parcels, of vacant land just waiting to be converted into urban mini-farms. This land could feed all the hungry people in the city. The gardens/mini-farms could be cooperatives, community gardens or private mini-farms. They could provide employment for many of the unemployed. "Nothing brings down neighborhoods quite like vacant lots. They become unwanted magnets for trash, high weeds and discour-agement." Editorial, DMN, 31 Mar 04

The gardens/mini-farms beautify the community, produce income, are center of neighborhood gatherings and refuge for the soul.
“The largest underused agricultural resource we have is the urban poor.” Marty Strange, SFP Conference, Sacramento CA, Mar 2000


These are based on the internet, US & international agriculture magazines, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, research and farmer experiences in those countries and a demonstration garden. They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable. There is unlimited, documented proof. The following can double the yields and reduce the labor by half compared to traditional methods. There are 200,000,000 no-till acres worldwide and 70,000,000 organic acres. ¡It works!

Gardens/Minifarms: Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 years. At the time of my visit: An Indian gardener has been no-till [vegetables] for 5 years. A Malawi gardener has been no-till [vegetables] on permanent beds for 25 years. A Honduras farmer has been no-till [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years. Ruth Stout [USA] had a no-till garden for 30 years and 7,000 visitors.


1. Restore the soil to its natural health: Contaminations: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers, etc.
2. Healthy soil: Healthy soil produces healthy vegetables, for high yields, and prevents most of the disease, pest and weed problems.
3. Feed the soil; not the crops [Inorganics feed the plants and poison the soil; organics feed the soil which feeds the plants]
4. Increase soil organic matter every year
5. Little or no external inputs [not necessary to buy anything, from anybody, for the garden except seed.]
6. Leave all crop residue on top of the soil.
7. No-till: no digging, no plowing, no cultiva-ting: No hard physical labor is needed so the elderly, children and lazy people can garden.
8. Permanent beds [crops]
9. Permanent paths [walking]
10. Hand tools & power-hand tools
11. 12-months production [economical nearly everywhere, DIY hoop houses, high hoops, etc.]
12. Organic fertilizers [12 -15 probably not needed after soil is healthy]
13. Organic disease control.
14. Organic herbicides & pesticides
15. Biological pest control.
16. Attract beneficials & pollinators
17. Soil always covered
18. Use mulch/green manures/cover crops.
19. Organic matter: Free. Delivered free? When economically feasible, transport to the gardens. Use as mulch.
20. Composting: Too much time and work. Pile excess organic matter until used as mulch. Will compost in the bed.
21. Vermiculture Not necessary. Worms will be in the beds.
22. Drip irrigation [Purchase or DIY drip lines]
23. Agri-training and/or educational tours [Train others. Especially young people]
24. Imitate nature. Most gardeners fight nature. ¡Nature always wins!

youtube.com/watch?v=hOQkBP5nioY
youtube.com/watch?v=mMd53OOaah4
youtube.com/watch?v=ymBXgMOsVJg

Ken Hargesheimer
When Soil is Dug or Tilled
Dr. Elaine Ingham, describes an undisturbed grassland—where a wide diversity of plants grow, their roots mingling with a wide diversity of soil organisms—and how it changes when it is plowed.

A typical teaspoon of native grassland soil contains between 600 million and 800 million individual bacteria that are members of perhaps 10,000 species. Several miles of fungi are in that teaspoon of soil, as well as 10,000 individual protozoa. There are 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes from as many as 100 species. Root-feeding nematodes are quite scarce in truly healthy soils. They are present, but in numbers so low that it is rare to find them.

After only one tilling, a few species of bacteria and fungi disappear because the food they need is no longer put back in the system. But for the most part, all the suppressive organisms, all the nutrient cyclers, all the decomposers, all the soil organisms that rebuild good soil structure are still present and trying to do their jobs.

But tillage continues to deplete soil organic matter and kill fungi. The larger predators are crushed, their homes destroyed. The bacteria go through a bloom and blow off huge amounts of that savings-account organic matter. With continued tillage, the "policemen" (organisms) that compete with and inhibit disease are lost. The "architects" that build soil aggregates are lost. So are the "engineers"—the larger organisms that design and form the larger pores in soil. The predators that keep bacteria, fungi, and root-feeding organisms in check are lost. Disease suppression declines, soil structure erodes, and water infiltration decreases because mineral crusts form. Dr. Elaine Ingham, BioCycle, December 1998. (From ATTRA News, July 06)

Tue, Dec 30, 2008

Dear Ken,

Thank you for all the DVD’s you sent me. Thank you for all the info. I am applying it in my own vegetable patch. It is working. Got half a pocket of potatoes off a square metre. So would imagine about 10 pounds per square yard. This off previously dead, low, carbon soil. Sure next crop will be better. Got yams coming up on same spot already. Want to plant herbs and spices. I will send photos.

Your advise is so simple. People do not believe me when I tell them. I am so excited about growing things now. This coming from a commercial plum farmer. May you be blessed this holy season a thousand times more than you blessed me with you help. Jeremy Karsen, middagkrans@mwebbiz.co.za

Project room: Kyomya, Uganda
We have been working on improving farming techniques for almost a year. Unfortunately, the farmers are planting small plots of land that only feed their family. There is no other choice but to try new techniques to improve the output of their plot. Ken Hargesheimer suggested the "no till" farming techniques as well as the "drip system". Both have proven effective at increasing produc-tion by at least 5 fold. The time is now for Kyomya to become a model agricultural village. [nabuur.com]

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on June 6, 2009 at 3:11pm

These Community Gardens are very similar to British Allotments. ie an area of land the is alloted to you to grow fruit and vegetables upon. York Allotments

Comment by Joy Williams on June 6, 2009 at 2:43pm

Found this lovely youtube!

Comment by Rebecca Hiatt on June 6, 2009 at 11:11am

I'm a member of the ACGA. Our garden is listed on the site - if any of you haven't been there yet go check it out. It's very handy - lets people who are searching for a garden near their home find you.

Comment by Emily Kaminsky on April 1, 2009 at 9:08pm

We've just raised our "seed" capital for our garden in Barre Vermont. Here's the logo:

Community Garden Logo.jpg

We're offering 12 plots, two of which will be tall boxes for physically challenged, 3 plots for organizations/businesses, and 5 for organizations that support low income, youth, seniors.

We are planning a few project gardens that the steering committee will organize and will invite folks who don't have a plot to participate in planting, tending those gardens.

Comment by Carefully Constructed Chaos on March 2, 2009 at 9:22pm

I'm coordinating delivery of extra veggies from my Community Garden to the Squash Hunger program. I'll start with donations and reminders, but I've had a lot of advice from friends in another city, where gleaned food from untended gardens also gets donated.

Anyone else out there have a system that could tell me how yours works?

Comment by David King on December 26, 2008 at 12:59am

Hi all - just wonder if any of you are members of the American Community Gardening Association? Or what you know about it? david