Clean-up day on the lot

We made a short visit to the lot today to pick up trash. There turned out to be less than we expected, and with three people and one bag we were able to do the whole thing in less than an hour.

Poor Boy's Garden Center

Well I just got off the phone with the garden manager at Poor Boy's Garden Center and they love the idea and want to help us out. They have a whole variety of gardening materials and resources and they even said they would give us a discount! We are going to draw up a design and take it to them asap to see how much this project will cost and what its going to look like.

Soil results are in!

About one week ago we sent soil samples from the lot to the University of Massachusetts, and the results came back in enormous detail--posted below. The most important part is the estimated total lead count of 557 ppm, "medium" by their standards but definitely enough to require raised beds if produce ever is grown. That much lead is in the soil probably because the spot was originally opened up when a building blew up there several years ago, leaving behind plenty of lead.

From the report's explanation of lead contamination: "Lead is naturally present in all soils. It occurs generally in the range of 15 to 40 parts lead per million parts of soil (ppm), or 15 to 40 milligrams lead per kilogram soil (mg/kg). Pollution can increase soil lead levels to several thousand ppm. The major cause of contamination by  lead in populated areas is the weathering, chipping, scraping, sanding, and sand-blasting bearing lead-based paint...If estimated total lead levels are above 300 ppm, young children and pregnant women should avoid soil contact." For Medium lead levels (300 to 1000ppm), "Avoid growing leafy green vegetables and root crops if your children have above normal blood lead levels; Give planting preference to fruiting crops."

Some other stats:

Soil pH 7.5; Buffer pH 7.4; Phosphorus level LOW; Potassium level MEDIUM; Calcium level VERY HIGH; Magneisum level HIGH; Nitrate level LOW

A few more pictures

An example of a rock garden. We'll use something like this as our model. The purpose of a rock garden is to make a particular spot look nicer--to 'beautify.' Only green plants and flowers grow on them, no produce.

The sign at the edge of the vacant lot, one of the first things you see when you turn left off York Road.

Street on the backside of Woodbourne-McCabe.

Please ignore the roadsign in this picture!

Survey results updated

Went down to the lot this morning and did a little more surveying. We've now been to almost every house in Woodbourne-McCabe on the near side.

The totals re-tallied:

1) Would you be interested in becoming involved in a community garden next spring if it were built? 

Yes--28 

No--7

2) How often would you participate in garden events (managing your own plot, hanging out, attending small concerts, etc.)

Daily--1

4-5 times a week--3

2-3 times a week--15

Once a week, never--17

Never--3

3) Would you be interested in growing only plants/flowers/trees at the garden, or actual produce for eating?

Trend is split about 50/50 between produce for eating and only plants/flowers/trees. Many would like both.

4) What kinds of additional projects would you support for the vacant lot? (Can circle more than one.) 

Swing set--14

Staging area for musical events--8

Farmers' market--16

Compost pile--6

5) What do you foresee being the main benefits of transforming the lot into a community garden? (Can circle more than one.) 

Making use of the empty lot--15

Raising community spirit--22

Creating a social space for the community--13

Turning the lot into a play area for kids--18

Parks and People grant workshop

Posting this one a little late: attended a workshop about a week ago at Parks and People (in the unexpectedly cool neighborhood behind Johns Hopkins) on how to apply for grants for community gardens. There were all sorts of people there--schoolteachers, other college students, retired couples, young activists, middle-aged folk fed up with the slab of concrete across the street. One man planned to use his grand award money to borrow a jackhammer to break up some concrete, and wondered who to give the pieces to. Another wanted to create an edible garden, but wasn't sure where to get plant donations. Others didn't know how to get access to running water for the site.

The workshop lasted two hours and was given by several people, all young and enthusiastic Parks and People people (Christine was one of them!). (They seem very much like Goucher kids about two or three years from now. Are we the green generation, or what? I tell you!) The key item, for us, was that the grant-getting process is a long one. This step alone is big enough to delay our project until mid-March at the earliest--when the awards arrive--and likely a month or more beyond. On the application for the grant itself, we have to demonstrate several things: that we have community support for this project, we have a rough budget worked out, we have a schematic of our garden sketched out, we are in touch with a group who will take over responsibility for the garden after we're gone, the lot is rightfully ours, and other details.

Next step: mail soil samples

We have finally--after several trips and much consternation--got the soil samples and are ready to send them in for testing. (The soil has to be tested for lead, which is usually present if the lot used to be the site of a collapsed building, which is the case for at least one of the two lots.) We'll mail them soon to the University of Massachusetts, which only charges a small fee, and will post the results soon.

Second round of surveys completed; results tabulated!

At the end of last week we collected surveys from about 40 more houses, which covers all the houses in the neighborhood within at least a quarter mile of the vacant lot. We didn't get surveys from most houses because it was a workday and many residents weren't home, but we did get a number big enough to give us an idea of what the community wants.

The results (tallies from different answers may not add up): 

1) Would you be interested in becoming involved in a community garden next spring if it were built? 

Yes--16 

No--4

2) How often would you participate in garden events (managing your own plot, hanging out, attending small concerts, etc.)

Daily--

4-5 times a week--1

2-3 times a week--7

Once a week, never--9

Never--2

3) Would you be interested in growing only plants/flowers/trees at the garden, or actual produce for eating?

Trend is split about 50/50 between produce for eating and only plants/flowers/trees. Many would like both.

4) What kinds of additional projects would you support for the vacant lot?

Swing set--9

Staging area for musical events--5

Farmers' market--10

Compost pile--4

5) What do you foresee being the main benefits of transforming the lot into a community garden?

Making use of the empty lot--9

Raising community spirit--14

Creating a social space for the community--9

Turning the lot into a play area for kids--14 

First surveys completed

We did a first round of surveying this afternoon, making it to about 30 houses altogether. That still leaves a big number of houses--we're going to go back soon. We'll post the results of the survey soon (or at least the trends).

For those who find their way to this website who haven't filled out the survey, it is pasted below, and it would be hugely appreciated if you could take a minute to fill out and post your responses (or send them in a private message if you don't want it to be public).


Community Garden Survey

1) Would you be interested in becoming involved in a community garden next spring if it were built?

2) How often would you participate in garden events (managing your own plot, hanging out, attending small concerts, etc.)
         Circle one: Daily, 4-5 times a week, 2-3 times a week, once a week, never

3) Would you be interested in growing only plants/flowers/trees at the garden, or actual produce for eating?

4) What kinds of additional projects would you support for the vacant lot?
         Circle any or all: Swing set, staging area for musical events, farmers' market, compost pile

5) What do you foresee being the main benefits of transforming the lot into a community garden?
         Circle any or all: Raising community spirit, creating a social space for the community, turning the lot into  
         a play area for kids

Action Project Proposal

Partners/contacts:

We will be working with Christine Kingston, who is awesome and a volunteer for Americorps in charge of overseeing and coordinating a handful of Power in Dirt initiatives as well as doing other jobs at Bon Secours near downtown. We’ve met with her once so far, in Pearlstone, when she handed off to us several helpful pamphlets and documents and gave us some advice on where to get started. We’re also working with, indirectly, Vu Dang who works for a government office in downtown and who initially put us in touch with Christine (and one of whose emails to us was cc’d to “Mayor”!).

            We’ll also be communicating as much as we can with the residents who live in the community near our lot (located at 5316 Ready Ave, ten minutes’ drive down York Road). We’ve spoken to just one person from the neighborhood, a passerby we met when surveying the place (who was very receptive to our ideas and enthusiasm), but hope to return this weekend with a questionnaire and survey of possible ideas or preferences for the community garden, to get a sense of both what residents would like to see and what kind of energy they would have for a project like this. It would also be an easy way to generate interest.

Plan of action:

All sources tell us that creating a community garden is a complicated project that requires a lot of organization, resource management and networking. But the steps have already been broken down and laid out for us, leaving us, for the immediate future, just a checklist to follow.

Because it is too late in the season to expect to be able to set up the garden and begin planting, our first, most important goal is to bring all the resources together and successfully put the actual community garden together. Actual use of the garden will begin in the spring. Basic first steps will include collecting a soil sample and sending it to the University of Massachusetts for testing (sometimes soil on vacant lots contains lead left over from demolished buildings; if it does the garden will require raised beds), getting mulch and wood chip donations from the city or a group called SeeGreen, getting tree donations, buying top soil from Home Depot and determining the cost (top soil is typically not donated), and talking to Goucher about collaborating on a compost pile (optional).

Our second goal is to spread the word about Power in Dirt at Goucher, and talk to people about working with us next spring to get the community garden off to a successful start. We think we might be able to find a couple of students from next semester’s ISP class who would like to take it on.  

Why we’re undertaking it:

Our group’s first aim--which we accomplished by signing the lot adoption form--was to identify and join in on a project that was already underway rather than beginning our own. That way, besides still being able to head and organize our own project, we also got to explore the channels of communication that connect and surround undertakings like these. For instance, finally getting in touch with Christine required dozens of phone calls and emails (many of them unsuccessful); we now have a better sense of the barriers you have to get through to find something where you can really get involved. (One thing we discovered was that if you only say you’re dedicated and committed and have a lot of time to give, people will recruit you for almost anything. One email we sent to a volunteer coordinator, which must have been cc’d several times to several different people, is still getting back occasional replies from fledgling business and eager volunteer groups).

We chose this particular project not only because we fully support its community-oriented and environmental aims, but because it offers the right amount of authority and flexibility. We’re still in touch with Christine, and are working all the time underneath the branches of the Power in Dirt program and the city. But we are otherwise free to create our own ideas and develop them on the lot in whatever way we feel is best and most appropriate (which will be decided mostly by the community). We’ll be doing hands-on work, communicating with the residents of the lot and (later on) working closely with them, as well as bringing together a large amount of resources, which will test our management skills.

Other projects, such as the penpal one, might have allowed us to ideologically get behind the cool ISP principle of international communication and bringing people of different backgrounds in touch with another, but it wouldn’t have had nearly the real-world impact the Power in Dirt project offers. We also turned down one volunteer position (among others) that resembled an internship at a non-profit because it didn’t allow much room for creativity and taking responsibility.

A test!

Hello!