I have a teeny tiny apartment. It's cheap, but there is no room for the garden I want to grow... even an indoor garden. And the "yard" at my apartment building is pure parking lot, so there isn't even space for a container garden. So I've gone to the next best thing: a community garden. (This photo isn't of our garden. I'll have some of those for later posts.) To find one, I simply googled "community garden" and my city. The same should work for you.
There are four community gardens in my city, and I contacted the one closest to me. It's an organic garden (more on that later) that costs $30 for a 10x10 plot, plus a $25 deposit that is returned at the end of summer if I help with chores around the garden during my time there. The garden is huge, with dozens of individual gardens, both annual and perennial, an orchard, a berry patch, a native garden, and many others. There will be plenty of opportunities to help, and I look forward to it because there's a lot to be learned from more experienced gardeners.
Before I started planting, I had to attend a class about organic gardening. The garden administrator told us what we can and can't use in the garden for fertilizer and mulch, what weeds to look out for, and where the tools are. This is possibly the coolest thing about this community garden. Everyone shares the tools, so I don't have to buy a big shovel, rake, watering can, or hoses. The only tools I need are a small trowel and a cultivator (hand rake), which I'll keep and use for years, so it's a good investment.
Next I went to buy my plants. I'm not a great gardener, though I do try, so I wanted to buy plant starts, rather than plant everything from seeds. Next year, when I'm (hopefully) a little more confident, I can do everything myself and save the money. But for now, I'm going to lean on the professional's expertise. Which, unfortunately, means that I spent a little more money than I could have on planting my garden. Here's what I came away from the plant nursery with:
- 2 tomato plants
- 2 tomato cages
- 2 zucchini plants
- 1 tray of broccoli plants
- 1 tray of garlic plants (for fun)
- 1 basil plant
- ¼ pound onion bulbs
- 1 pound seed potatoes
- Corn seeds
- Green bean seeds (bush beans, so I didn't have to buy poles)
- Spinach seeds
- Lettuce seeds
- 1 bag organic fertilizer (recommended by the garden administrator)
The total came to $44, but as I said, it won't be as much next year once I have my green thumb trained up a bit. It's a lot for my little plot, and I hope my eyes didn't get bigger than my garden, but we'll find out when I plant tomorrow.
Today, I went to a local outdoor store to buy the last of my tools (because they were more expensive at the nursery). A trowel, cultivator and gloves put me back $15, for a total of $59 spent on my garden so far. However, the pounds of produce I'll grow over the summer should recoup my expenses, and the fresh air and sun will do me good.
Stay tuned for garden updates. If you have any questions about starting your own garden, leave them in the comments and I'll answer them. If you've started your own garden, let us know how you're progressing!
- Jennie
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