Vegetable Patch - great idea! [General]
2009 Apr 2
Zym - Sounds interesting... unfortunately, I too don't have enough space to participate.
1000 Square Feet translates into a rather large plot... which is unfortunate because I am sure such a program would help out some Underprivledged Ottawa Families who live paycheque to paycheque... but even if they happen to have a typical townhome backyard (such as with Ottawa Housing) they wouldn't qualify. Which is really sad, because a supply of fresh veggies which they could eat or freeze would definitely upgrade their nutritional intake.
1000 Square Feet translates into a rather large plot... which is unfortunate because I am sure such a program would help out some Underprivledged Ottawa Families who live paycheque to paycheque... but even if they happen to have a typical townhome backyard (such as with Ottawa Housing) they wouldn't qualify. Which is really sad, because a supply of fresh veggies which they could eat or freeze would definitely upgrade their nutritional intake.
2009 Apr 2
I can understand people's disappointment but I can also clearly see why he wants as much space as he does. For downtowners even like me with a double lot that's too much space. Maybe someone can introduce him to square foot gardening - a yard my size could be put to good production in this manner. And it is easier to tend.
Mind you if I had space I'd do it myself. But my wife's landscaped gardens take up all the room so I don't.
Mind you if I had space I'd do it myself. But my wife's landscaped gardens take up all the room so I don't.
2009 Apr 23
In the fall, there was an article in our community newspaper (The Mainstreeter - Old Ottawa East) about urban agriculture going on in people's yards last summer. My recollection was that the yards weren't huge. Basically, there were two or three people who wanted a garden plot, someone would volunteer their yard, and all three or four people would split the cost of soil amendments and the resulting produce. I don't think the home owner even had to do any of the gardening. I'll see if I can get my hands on the article of anyone is interested.
2009 Apr 24
Chef Obi - I think if you reread it... the key sentence is:
"I don't think the home owner even had to do any of the gardening."
So you could easily be away from home at work, while someone else is doing all the "dirty" work (in the daylight hours), and you end up with a pile of veggies... sounds like a good deal to me.
"I don't think the home owner even had to do any of the gardening."
So you could easily be away from home at work, while someone else is doing all the "dirty" work (in the daylight hours), and you end up with a pile of veggies... sounds like a good deal to me.
2009 Apr 24
true F&T
but I am not a homeowner
I rent a very nice apartment over looking Immmacualata High
no green space!
so my question is: how do peeps feel about someone in their yard 7 - 9 pm
not a huge concern really
I plant mostly medicinal and culinary hergs and I can easly do that along the Canal and not worry unless someone decides my foxgloved is a nice flower to put on their dining room table
but I am not a homeowner
I rent a very nice apartment over looking Immmacualata High
no green space!
so my question is: how do peeps feel about someone in their yard 7 - 9 pm
not a huge concern really
I plant mostly medicinal and culinary hergs and I can easly do that along the Canal and not worry unless someone decides my foxgloved is a nice flower to put on their dining room table
2009 Apr 30
Hi Chef Obi,
I got in touch with the MainStreeter folks and have their permission to repost the article here:
21st century urban sharecropping – intensifying land use to increase local food production
by Karen Ageson, Jocelyn Leney, and Sally Rudd
It’s early May, and a dump truck backs into the driveway of a quiet house off Main Street, delivering a mound of soil that covers half the driveway. Three young strangers-to-the-neighbourhood pull up the sod in the backyard and shovel the soil into raised beds. The homeowner, Mary, is nowhere in sight. A neighbour offers his wheelbarrow and gives some advice on plant placement.
Flash forward three months and four varieties of heritage tomatoes reach towards the eaves of the garage, peas and beans intertwine themselves up the trellis, a patch of cherry peppers turn from green to orange to red. Shiny eggplants dangle above a bed of lettuce and herbs.
How did this come to be, an Old Ottawa East backyard transformed into a sharecropping vegetable garden?
In February 2008, Sustainable Living Ottawa East (SLOE) put out a call for an urban farmer to convert under-used backyards in Old Ottawa East into high-density vegetable production.
Three aspiring Centretown gardeners, tired of growing vegetables in containers on balconies and in back alleys, jumped at the opportunity. Although not fitting the farmer profile, like SLOE, these landless gardeners wanted to explore alternative agricultural models that increase the amount of locally grown organic food within city limits. And, they wanted to put their green thumbs to the test.
For Mary, the homeowner, sharecropping seemed like a good way to go. “I wanted my backyard to be put to good, productive use. I like the idea of growing food in the city, but I don't have enough time to do it myself. I wouldn't have known how to begin.”
Before breaking ground, SLOE facilitated the development of a contract between the land owner and the gardeners, Karen Ageson, Jocelyn Leney, and Sally Rudd. The contract assures that the land owner and the gardeners have a common understanding of their roles and responsibilities with respect to the backyard vegetable garden. The side bar sets out some of the details of the contract negotiated between the land owner and the gardeners. However, it is important to note that each gardener – landowner relationship is unique and will thus have to make a contract that suits their situation and objectives.
Contract formalities aside, consultative garden planning between the gardeners and landowner began. The gardeners conducted a thorough survey of the land, including a record of sun exposure in the yard. With seedlings growing since early April in their Centretown apartments, a section in the garden receiving over seven hours of sun was set aside for the tomatoes and peppers. To accommodate Mary's request for fresh herbs, and as a pest resistance measure, basil and rosemary were planted along the edge of the tomato bed.
In early May, it was time to order the six cubic yards of soil and pull up the grass. During one weekend the Old Ottawa East yard was transformed.
The first growing season was not without its trials and tribulations – an earwig infestation chewed up the entire carrot crop, the tomato plants went wild due to insufficient trimming of suckers, and some lettuce got leggy from not enough sun. However, with help from the neighbours and by consulting Ed Smith’s Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, the gardeners were able to produce a bountiful harvest and revelled in the opportunity to grow their own food.
At 20x20 feet, the share-cropping garden produced over $250 worth of produce (calculated from the seasonal price of similar organic produce), which fully compensates for all start up costs. To help keep costs low, free or cheap garden supplies were found on Craigslist and Kijiji. To increase next year’s yield, the gardeners plan to put some research into a technique called square foot gardening ( www.squarefootgardening.com ). The gardeners will also tweak their vegetable varieties and placement of plants to better suit the garden site.
“This has been an amazing experience. It would be great to see this model on a larger scale in Ottawa so that more landless gardeners can be matched with interested landowners” said gardener Sally.
Now it’s your turn – if you’re interested in becoming an urban sharecropper, email sloeottawa@gmail.com and let them know if you’re either an interested gardener or a land owner with space to share. Please put “Urban Sharecropping” in the email subject line.
SLOE is also looking for a volunteer that could help expand urban sharecropping in Old Ottawa East. If you’re interested in volunteering, please email sloeottawa@gmail.com.
To get started, these experienced sharecroppers would recommend starting in the fall (if possible) to survey the land and consider the best method of preparing the soil for the 2009 growing season. Mary, Sally, Jocelyn and Karen, are looking forward to another fruitful year!
Note to layout – could you kindly place the following text into a box to run as a sidebar with this article. Thanks!
Key elements of the urban sharecropping contract:
* Share produce equally among three gardeners and one land owner
* Landowner provides water, land, storage and compost space
* Gardeners supply seeds, plants, labour, tools
* Cost of start-up soil and compost shared equally
* Gardeners commit to using organic methods
I got in touch with the MainStreeter folks and have their permission to repost the article here:
21st century urban sharecropping – intensifying land use to increase local food production
by Karen Ageson, Jocelyn Leney, and Sally Rudd
It’s early May, and a dump truck backs into the driveway of a quiet house off Main Street, delivering a mound of soil that covers half the driveway. Three young strangers-to-the-neighbourhood pull up the sod in the backyard and shovel the soil into raised beds. The homeowner, Mary, is nowhere in sight. A neighbour offers his wheelbarrow and gives some advice on plant placement.
Flash forward three months and four varieties of heritage tomatoes reach towards the eaves of the garage, peas and beans intertwine themselves up the trellis, a patch of cherry peppers turn from green to orange to red. Shiny eggplants dangle above a bed of lettuce and herbs.
How did this come to be, an Old Ottawa East backyard transformed into a sharecropping vegetable garden?
In February 2008, Sustainable Living Ottawa East (SLOE) put out a call for an urban farmer to convert under-used backyards in Old Ottawa East into high-density vegetable production.
Three aspiring Centretown gardeners, tired of growing vegetables in containers on balconies and in back alleys, jumped at the opportunity. Although not fitting the farmer profile, like SLOE, these landless gardeners wanted to explore alternative agricultural models that increase the amount of locally grown organic food within city limits. And, they wanted to put their green thumbs to the test.
For Mary, the homeowner, sharecropping seemed like a good way to go. “I wanted my backyard to be put to good, productive use. I like the idea of growing food in the city, but I don't have enough time to do it myself. I wouldn't have known how to begin.”
Before breaking ground, SLOE facilitated the development of a contract between the land owner and the gardeners, Karen Ageson, Jocelyn Leney, and Sally Rudd. The contract assures that the land owner and the gardeners have a common understanding of their roles and responsibilities with respect to the backyard vegetable garden. The side bar sets out some of the details of the contract negotiated between the land owner and the gardeners. However, it is important to note that each gardener – landowner relationship is unique and will thus have to make a contract that suits their situation and objectives.
Contract formalities aside, consultative garden planning between the gardeners and landowner began. The gardeners conducted a thorough survey of the land, including a record of sun exposure in the yard. With seedlings growing since early April in their Centretown apartments, a section in the garden receiving over seven hours of sun was set aside for the tomatoes and peppers. To accommodate Mary's request for fresh herbs, and as a pest resistance measure, basil and rosemary were planted along the edge of the tomato bed.
In early May, it was time to order the six cubic yards of soil and pull up the grass. During one weekend the Old Ottawa East yard was transformed.
The first growing season was not without its trials and tribulations – an earwig infestation chewed up the entire carrot crop, the tomato plants went wild due to insufficient trimming of suckers, and some lettuce got leggy from not enough sun. However, with help from the neighbours and by consulting Ed Smith’s Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, the gardeners were able to produce a bountiful harvest and revelled in the opportunity to grow their own food.
At 20x20 feet, the share-cropping garden produced over $250 worth of produce (calculated from the seasonal price of similar organic produce), which fully compensates for all start up costs. To help keep costs low, free or cheap garden supplies were found on Craigslist and Kijiji. To increase next year’s yield, the gardeners plan to put some research into a technique called square foot gardening ( www.squarefootgardening.com ). The gardeners will also tweak their vegetable varieties and placement of plants to better suit the garden site.
“This has been an amazing experience. It would be great to see this model on a larger scale in Ottawa so that more landless gardeners can be matched with interested landowners” said gardener Sally.
Now it’s your turn – if you’re interested in becoming an urban sharecropper, email sloeottawa@gmail.com and let them know if you’re either an interested gardener or a land owner with space to share. Please put “Urban Sharecropping” in the email subject line.
SLOE is also looking for a volunteer that could help expand urban sharecropping in Old Ottawa East. If you’re interested in volunteering, please email sloeottawa@gmail.com.
To get started, these experienced sharecroppers would recommend starting in the fall (if possible) to survey the land and consider the best method of preparing the soil for the 2009 growing season. Mary, Sally, Jocelyn and Karen, are looking forward to another fruitful year!
Note to layout – could you kindly place the following text into a box to run as a sidebar with this article. Thanks!
Key elements of the urban sharecropping contract:
* Share produce equally among three gardeners and one land owner
* Landowner provides water, land, storage and compost space
* Gardeners supply seeds, plants, labour, tools
* Cost of start-up soil and compost shared equally
* Gardeners commit to using organic methods
2009 May 22
Just to add to what I've already posted, I received the following info in the latest issue of from Ecology Ottawa:
- SPIN Gardening: Gardening in Someone Else's Backyard. Are you interested in growing vegetables this season, but don't have a yard or a community garden plot? Just Food is organizing a network of "spin" gardeners in the Ottawa area. Through SPIN (small plot intensive) gardening, people can offer their yard to someone else to grow their own vegetables on, and share in the bounty of vegetables that the gardener creates. To inquire about yards that have been offered up for gardening, or if you have a yard (front or back) with a garden space of at least 20' x 20' that you'd like to share, contact info@justfood.ca. Be sure to include in your message what neighbourhood you are in, how much garden space you have, and what contact information can be sent out publicly (ie. cell phone, work phone number, email address, etc).
- SPIN Gardening: Gardening in Someone Else's Backyard. Are you interested in growing vegetables this season, but don't have a yard or a community garden plot? Just Food is organizing a network of "spin" gardeners in the Ottawa area. Through SPIN (small plot intensive) gardening, people can offer their yard to someone else to grow their own vegetables on, and share in the bounty of vegetables that the gardener creates. To inquire about yards that have been offered up for gardening, or if you have a yard (front or back) with a garden space of at least 20' x 20' that you'd like to share, contact info@justfood.ca. Be sure to include in your message what neighbourhood you are in, how much garden space you have, and what contact information can be sent out publicly (ie. cell phone, work phone number, email address, etc).
zymurgist
www.vegetablepatch.ca