|
| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
rgillmi
F L I N T O I D
|
I have been gardening most of my life. A couple of years ago my son was about 3 years old and we planted a small garden. We ended up with a nice harvest, but what excited me most was seeing the way the process and the end product really sparked his interest. Last winter my wife and I bought a home here on the Eastside of town. We have a double corner lot and decided to have a big garden. I didn't have any special tools, just a shovel and a hoe and we dug and dug and planted seeds and plants and ended up with a ton of produce. We had so much food we were handing bunches of lettuce and other veggies to people as they passed by and sending it home with neighbors and co-workers. Friends and people in the neighborhood started asking "how-to" questions and got excited as well.
I didn't have much of a plan last year, I just started digging and planting. I plan to buy a rototiller before spring and I am already ordering seeds that I will start in my basement in a couple of months under lights I have collected over the last few months. We are composting everything we can, which annoys my family but they are starting to understand, and saving containers and jugs to recycle for planting.
I am a seeking people who are interested in gardening, composting and recyling in the area so we can help each other in the process. I hope to be able to help others rototill their plots as well as share ideas, swap seeds and plants, and start neighborhood recycling and composting sites. Then we will all share in the end product, the fruits and vegetables with each other and donate some of the extras to the Eastside Mission and other food pantries and lunch programs. With the people I connect with I also hope to start a community gardens, either on unused or vacant land or in the corner of one of the cities under use parks such as Longway over here by my home. I have offered my garden and any projects that will be started to the administration at my son's school, Potter Elementary to be used as a teaching tool for the kids. We have also discussed the possibility of field trips to other gardens, orchards and the Flint Farmers Market. I convinced the principal that the fall trips to pick out pumpkins are not enough, kids need to be involved in the process of food and earth as much as possible.
Another project is something I call Urban Orchards. A group of volunteers would take small plots throughout the city near schools and parks and plant fruit trees and bushes along with some landscaping and benches. The orchards would be maintained by the volunteers as well as local residents and students. The fruit would be fair game to anybody in the neighborhood looking for a good healthy snack and uneaten fruit would be collected and donated. In addition to volunteers, I would seek donations from area businesses of trees, tools, money, food and drink for volunteers. I also need to find a way to get the city and/or landowners to grant the use of the small pieces of land and have them be protected from sale or paving over. Well I hope I have given you an idea of what I am trying to do, if you have questions or ideas please let me know.
Rob
rgillmi@yahoo.com |
|
|
Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:58 am |
|
|
rapunzel11
F L I N T O I D
|
rgillmi,
I love your ideas, persistance is omnipent. Keep trying.
As a former Potter parent, I tried to work with teachers to schedule fall garden field trips to local gardens within walking distance.
MEAP preparations and tests are in the early fall school year and NOW take precedence over all else.
good luck,
RAP |
_________________
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
John F. Kennedy, speech at Vanderbilt University, May 18, 1963 |
|
|
Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:42 am |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
i take my hat off to you rgill..
a few years ago i planted a garden in my city backyard.
it was beautiful and smelled great!!
the rabbits just loved it!!! 
and so did i  |
|
|
|
Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:17 pm |
|
|
she47
F L I N T O I D
|
| I remember many years ago when Flint had an Urban garden program. I think John Freeman ran it. He was all over the city with his tractor plowing up lots.. We even had a recycling center then. |
|
|
|
Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:31 pm |
|
|
Bossman
F L I N T O I D
|
| Wow. Sally, er I mean, She47, are you saying Josh is better than Peggy Cook or Sandy Hill???? Go figure! |
|
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:26 am |
|
|
andi03
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
Bossman schreef:
Wow. Sally, er I mean, She47, are you saying Josh is better than Peggy Cook or Sandy Hill???? Go figure!
Yeah, you may be correct, I was wondering about the first three letters. Usually people assign numbers to their moniker that have meaning to them...birth year? Marriage year? Spouse birth year? |
|
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:29 am |
|
|
Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
|
| The problem I would have is with those that help themselves to the efforts of the gardeners. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:00 am |
|
|
andi03
F L I N T O I D
|
I remember in the 80's when we lived in Lansing when my dad was unemployed, during the summer we "rented a space" to garden somewhere out in the country. Every little space was plotted off with string and stakes.
I can't remember what we planted but I remember being the only white family there and watching my dad really garden to feed us. I remember asking my parents how do we know that people aren't going to steal what we plant? He said that they were as hungry as we were....sigh.
Memories...I am actually this year going to start container gardening, my daughter did a beautiful job with her cherry tomatoes in cat litter buckets.  Now if I can get the beagle to quit nibbling them off!! |
|
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:33 am |
|
|
Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
|
| We grow cherry tomatoes in a bucket every year. You can grow watermelons in a container, too. Sugar Baby is a good one, as they're small. Put a sturdy tomato cage in the bucket, & use old panty hose to make a "hammock" for the melon to rest on. Vertical gardening works well, too. Till, or spade, a strip about 18" wide - the width of one pass with the tiller. Drive in metal fence posts, bolt thinwall electrical conduit to the posts and bolt conduit across the top. Hang netting from this, plant the seeds & train the plants up the netting. We've grown tomatoes, cucumbers, & any other vine type vegetable this way. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:02 am |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
| hmmmmmm "print" |
|
|
|
Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:18 pm |
|
|
she47
F L I N T O I D
|
| Bossman Your comment makes no sense. John Freeman (not Josh) worked either under Collier or Sharp when the urban gardening program went on. John is now retired. |
|
|
|
Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:04 am |
|
|
Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
|
| Although, I would have to agree with the premise that I do, in fact, have more on the ball than Sandy and Peggy. |
|
|
|
Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:00 am |
|
|
00SL2
F L I N T O I D
|
Rob, I commend your initiative. Even thought of gardening in my own back yard (have a wonderful little Mantis tiller), and considered some of the vertical solutions for planting. With government's giveaways and more people going hungry it would be a good time for giving everybody seeds to plant their own gardens and sponsor educational seminars and workshops. Teach the kids in school, and make it a family affair. Back to nature, and self survival! Working in a garden brings many constructive results, not just edibles but also food for the soul.
Could even have jail trustees work in community gardens to feed the inmates to help save money. |
|
|
|
Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:25 pm |
|
|
she47
F L I N T O I D
|
| Perhaps the Land bank could donate some lots for urban gardens for poor neighborhoods. Isn't there a group called FUGLUG that supports urban gardens. |
|
|
|
Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:41 pm |
|
|
rgillmi
F L I N T O I D
|
| I would love to find a lot or two on my end of the eastside and get a community garden going. There are many people over here that I think would grow their own food if they had the tools or a place to do it. If anyone knows who to talk to find vacant lots and garden on them, please let me know. |
|
|
|
Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:23 am |
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Open chat
