I’ve been getting a lot of questions recently from people looking to start a community garden in their neighborhood. What I’ve included below is by no means a definitive guide, since there are lots of publications on community gardening out there now. However, these are the publications I have read and can wholeheartedly recommend. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments.
- “How Does Our Garden Grow: A Guide to Community Garden Success” – Get this guidebook written by Laura Berman and published by FoodShare. It covers everything including: finding a site, approaching the landowner, dealing with bureaucratic red tape, creating rules and expectations, growing the community in a positive way, handling potential social problems within the community garden group, when to start, safety issues, as well as the growing how-to information.
- Community Gardening 101: Online workshop – FoodShare also has an archived online workshop that can guide you through getting a group together to fundraising.
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden Guide: Community Gardening – This book contains success stories and models, talks about how to build community through horticulture, and provides practical growing tips. On the cover: that’s my hand holding sage grown in my own community garden plot!
- The American Community Garden Association online guide to community gardening – Lots of helpful information covering how to get started, growing guides, and sample forms i.e. rules, plot registration forms, etc.
- City Farmer – News, stories and tips about urban agriculture.
