oceandweller - consider sheet mulching and starting off with transplants through the mulch. Make sure the mulch is weed free! Then apply more mulch after harvest. The spring garden will be much easier if you keep the weeds at bay with mulch. I volunteer at a summer camp nature center with a children's garden, so perhaps my experience has some helpful suggestions. The weeds were prolific last year and increased by mulch that contained weed seeds. Then in April we double dug it with llama manure because it is suppose to be weed free. Despite diligent frequent shallow scraping all during May the weed seeds were still sprouting. In June I altered my plans of an intermingled garden and planting seeds to rows along soaker hoses using landscape cloth over the top & planting through holes. After a few weeks we covered the cloth with spoiled hay from the bottom of the hay storage. I will remove landscape cloth after harvest and apply more mulch for an easier planting next year for our summer season. So far the kids are more attracted to our petting farm animals, but when the garden has filled out by midsummer it will be more interesting. I've planted a pizza garden with vegetables and herbs that are pizza ingredients, a winter squash jungle, a strawberry and tea garden with herbal tea plants, and a large teepee with bean & sunflower plants. Some kids look at it and just say oh and move on. Others have questions. Some want to kick or pick at leaves, so need to be closely supervised while near the garden. We don't have a plan for the kids actually maintaining the garden as they just visit for up to 50 minutes at a time as part of their rotation recreation schedule. In your situation you could have groups responsible for certain areas of the garden once you get it under control. Perhaps, your adult volunteers would supervise them organized into clubs for sections. Ownership of a crop or a section worked with my own children in our gardens. We had great strawberries when my daughter was in charge of a small planting. I was surprised how much my kids got into the composting at first wanting to turn it or bury scraps for worms in the worm bin. After awhile it was just a way of gardening and they didn't get excited it about it anymore. I learned to keep tasks simple and not jump from one thing to another out in the garden. They got thirsty or frightened by bees and would want to give up. It takes a very motivated child to spend a lot of time in a garden actually gardening. Hope that helps~Corrine

My DH is a professional pumpkin carver, so we can get all the pumpkin seeds needed from one of the farms he carves at. We had a few 300+ pounders a couple of years ago. I'm not sure what the school would make of me bringing in a truckload of horse manure, though! LOL. I went by the little farm that I used to get my starts for very cheap or free and they are closed down with a for sale sign! Just a sign out front saying thanks for a great 5 years! Bummer! I'll have to find a new source for starts for this fall! It's almost too late to start much from seed! I'll get a few things going. Nancy

I work for a non-profit and part of my job is fundraising, including grant writing. Your best bet is always to start locally. Local Lowe's or Home Depot stores may be able to help with donated supplies. Service organizations such as the Lions, ELKs, VFW, etc. are a good source for donations in the $500 to $1000 range. Check with your local Community Foundation, they may be able to fund the whole project. Good luck, Carolyn

I was in the process of searching the current forums for any experiences anyone has had utilizing the community garden concept. I am involved in a town beautification project which is being sponsored by the local Chamber Of Commerce in our small Northeast Historic town. Our goal is to utilize all those "forgotten" islands, and roadside nooks and crannys left by the town, and replace these spaces with a beautiful well planned space. We are still in the planning stages however, our concept is pretty simple. Matching an "orphaned" piece of land (both town & state owned) with a local business wishing to "adopt" that space. Similar to the adopt-a -highway programs we all are familiar with seeing the signs along the highways. The payoff to the business is great exposure while giving back to the community. The payoff to the Chamber of Commerce is to promote a healthy arena for member contractors to do business. Designing, planting, and maintaining the "orphaned space" would be the financial responsibility of the adopting business as part of the agreement to have appropriate signage featured in that area. So far the response from the business community has been great. It certainly is a good economy to be asking. Has anyone tried this before? Any luck? I would love any comments you have. And I would be interested in what your favorite choices of plant material were. (We are aware of the unique micro-climate that roadside gardening presents!) Looking forward to you comments & hope the idea of business adopt a program helps! Barnes