Welcome back! I was offline for 3 days midmonth and I almost turned to dusting the bookshelves but I fought it off successfully...LOL I too got a lot done in garden...I think I've taken cuttings of every Coleus and most other tropicals and planted more seeds. Even 3 days was hard! josh

Okay, I shouldn't even be responding because I have zero experience with community gardening (having been on our local waiting list for three years now!), so take everything I say with a huge grain of salt, but... to echo what rlewing says, I'd recommend that you start small! I'd imagine that, like anything else, a brand new community garden program will have a huge learning curve for everyone involved, as you figure out what does and doesn't work for your school and community. You will probably want to look at the next few years as being a bit of a pilot project and for a while, you will probably have a big list of "lessons learned" after each new season. Remember, you won't be able to feed the whole community or even the whole school right away, so I'd recommend setting aside (for now) your initial worries about not being able to accommodate the whole community. Arguably, it's better in the long run to slowly and methodologically develop a well-operating program, even if it means that fewer people can participate in the short term. Sounds like, first off, you'll need to find some land (preferably where you can start small and later expand) and the necessary materials. What about creating a gardening club among your students, to start with? Perhaps they'd be willing to solicit donations of money and materials, while you investigate the property aspect? They might also be able to provide input on whether they'd rather work the whole garden together as a club, and split the produce, or create and assign separate plots to individuals? Then, when the garden is up and running for a few years, perhaps new plots can be created and provided to the community on an individual rental basis, with your garden club volunteers growing additional crops for charity or just generally running the garden? Or plot renters can be either required to donate a certain percentage of their harvest, or asked to voluntarily donate a certain percentage of their harvest (although you'd need a system in place, practically speaking, for them to do so). Or there could be a procedure for waiving rental fees where appropriate. Or the garden club could do an annual fundraising event to fund the garden without the need for rental fees-- there are lots of ways to approach the matter, but I think it will really depend on what works in your community, which is something you'll only be able to learn once the program is up and running--hence my recommendation for an initial "pilot program" for the first year or two. Just a few ideas--they may or may not be practical in your situation, but I would definitely recommend considering creating a gardening club of interested students so that you have a core group of hopefully dedicated kids who can share the work and have the opportunity for input. Do you have a local 4H club? If so, it might be worth talking with those club leaders to see whether there are any interesting opportunities there. The fact that your county is rural but some growers are using progressive agricultural methods makes me think that there have to be people in the area that would great contacts and may be willing to donate materials or even just time to help get this program off the ground. I also agree with DirtandYarn that fostering a sense of ownership among the students (or other gardeners) will likely be important, especially to keep people interested and inspired when the initial excitement wears off. Let's face it--cleaning up beds for the winter and turning compost in the summer heat are a lot less fun than picking tomatoes. In my opinion, a program that starts out too big, with too many people who may not currently fully appreciate the work that will be involved, runs the risk of losing steam in the long run. Starting small, on the other hand, allows you to expand to meet demand once you have an established program. Just my uninformed two cents, in rambling multi-paragraph form! And knock on wood for me that I'll get my own community garden plot next year! Then I might actually have a leg to stand on when I post on this forum. ;)

ASI Community Gardens Rules & Regulations 1. Plot fees are due on February 15th of each year and cover the year from January through December. If the plot(s) is rented after September 1st, the fees will be prorated for the remainder of that year. Any plots rented before September 1st must be paid in full. Payments may be made either in person at the ASI Business Office on the third floor of the University Union, by mail to the ASI Community Gardens, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6011, or in person to the Community Gardens Director. Fees are as follows: Students: $25/yr Faculty/Staff/Alumni: $30/yr Community Members: $35/yr 2. Garden plots are to be kept well maintained. Poorly maintained plots, such as overgrown or garbage-filled plots may be repossessed WITHOUT REFUND and may be rented to another gardener. Only one warning may be given either by phone, in person, in writing, or by a sign at your plot. Improvement must be seen within two weeks. It is your (the gardener 3. Each gardener is expected to help maintain the common areas of the Gardens at least 8 hours a month. One of the best ways to do this is to help out on the scheduled workday for the month (2nd Saturday.) Workdays are public days for cleaning and working on the common areas of the Gardens. Doing things like picking up garbage, edge trimming, tree trimming, and mowing the lawn. The Garden Director will inform each gardener, usually by phone, of the next workday with at least one week 4. All gardening must be kept within your plot 5. We ask that you remember safety first. Do not store tools or supplies in the pathways of the Garden 6. The ASI Community Gardens provide many tools for you to use, however, you should bring gloves, a hat, and sunscreen. The tools must be replaced in sheds and locked up when finished. You are welcome to use your own tools, but we recommend you take them home with you at the end of the day. If you wish to store them at the Gardens, you must store them on your plot and they should be locked up. ASI is not responsible for any theft of your equipment. Every gardener is responsible for cleaning the tools after usage. Any dirt or mud left on the tools will result in premature rusting of that tool. 8. The water is NON PORTABLE (NOT DRINKABLE). Please bring your own drinking water with you. 9. Gardening practices must not interfere with other gardeners. Organic garden refuse should be promptly removed and placed in the designated composting site(s). Other refuse should be placed in the garbage dumpster behind the tool sheds. Please recycle using the provided containers. Rocks may be dumped in the designated rock areas for future use. This is an organic garden. No pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides) may be used. Please practice organic integrated pest management (information is provided in a separate packet). ...

Stick with me, here. I do have a point. ===== http://decryptedmatrix.com/live/food-activists-now-labeled-terrorists-by-fbi/ http://gawker.com/5892639/how-the-fbi-monitored-crusty-punks-anarchist-hangouts-and-an-organic-farmers-market-under-the-guise-of-combating-terrorism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVsTTXgR08A Having seven days of food in your house makes you a terrorist, according to many of America's law enforcement agencies. The FBI terrorist watch list specifically refers to 'bulk food' purchases, referring to such things as long term storage, using MRE's as an example, but not limiting the language to any other foods for long term storage. http://info.publicintelligence.net/FBI-SuspiciousActivity/Military_Surplus.pdf http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm247548.htm Includes farmer's markets, roadsides stands, organic food sales. So, if you're selling anything from your garden... you are violating the law. If you are contributing food to others, you are a possible federal law breaker. Other laws apply to selling plants and seeds from your garden. (reporting the income to the IRS is one of those many and several laws.) http://www.foodquality.com/details/article/4547041/Small_Businesses_Tip_the_Scales_for_FSMA_Exemptions.html?tzcheck=1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_saving#Legality Many of the seeds, plants and cuttings you trade and swap or sell? Because it's cheaper and easier than buying at full retail? Hell, because it's fun! Yeah. You're a law breaker. Mebbe even a domestic terrorist. At the moment, many gardeners in the US are on a government watch list...simply because we garden, dehydrate, can, freeze and store food from our gardens. That's the undeniable reality. That's not speculation. That's not conspiracy theory. It has already happened in the real world. (Monsanto isn't the only one who has patents on food items. Among many others, chances are that your local university has patents on food items, as well.) Richard Morrissette's (Democrat) call for proposals for community gardening? To help the poor? To help feed poor kids? To help feed the aged, on fixed incomes? It's the government. The program will involve even more rules and regulations about gardening and food, before it's all over and done. Accept that as a given. It's the same government -and mostly the same political party Richard belongs to- that has written, enacted and implemented all of the laws -and more- that I referenced above. Many of you have already violated many of those laws, rules and regulations. Heirloom seeds? In the EU, the government is already trying to control heritage seeds. http://www.survivalorganicseeds.com/2013/05/gmo-new-eu-seed-law-genocide-update.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_plant http://www.vintageveggies.com/information/why_heirlooms.html The original version of the above listed odd safety act did not exclude heirloom seeds or family gardens. Think about it. It wasn't an oversight. It was originally written that way on purpose. The more you involve the government in gardening of any kind, the fewer things you can do in your own garden. You become a lawbreaker, simply by gardening. This is my point: If the forum wants to talk about the politics of gardening, fine and dandy. There are other pov not limited to those offered by a state level democrat representative from a local city. There are conservative and libertarian povs, to offer, as well, including the thought that such proposals should be taken up either by individuals or charitable groups, including religious groups, instead of through government sponsorship. (Yes, I avoid the religious themed threads, here, but find them, imo, to be more than just a bit off topic) If those other political views are not welcome here, while openly liberal and progressive ideas about government sponsored sustainable gardening are encouraged? Well, you've got a problem. It isn't my problem. I'm not limiting what you can say or do, here. If we talk about gardening, fin. I like it. If we want to talk about the politics of gardening, other views should be accepted, at least for consideration, and not simply dismissed or discredited, as a few have tried to do to my views on this topic. According to the evidence, with a democrat or progressive liberal pov, promoting a democrat party proposal for government involvement in gardening? You've limited your own freedom to garden and you've limited your ability to share food, seeds and plants from your own garden with others. That's my first question wrt Mr. Morrissette's proposal: How will it limit my freedom to garden? W/o evidence or proof, any assurances to the contrary are pretty empty. He has voted for too many other programs and laws which limit the freedoms of Oklahomans or increase the scope and power of government. His own words and deeds, and deeds of his political party, stand as evidence against backing his proposal.