Growing Together: Open Forum

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  • 1.  Community Garden Ideas

    Posted 01-27-2025 02:36:00 PM

    Hello everyone. My name is Tia Parker, and I am with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives whereas I serve as an outreach specialist. 

    This is my first year doing a community garden and we really need help. I need ideas on what to plant and when to plant. Any little info will be greatly appreciated. 

    Raise beds


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    Tiajuana Parker
    Federation of Southern Cooperatives
    Livingston AL
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  • 2.  RE: Community Garden Ideas

    Posted 01-28-2025 11:09:00 AM
    Hi Tia,
    Please reach out to your local Master Gardener Association, they will be a tremendous resource for you!


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Community Garden Ideas

    Posted 01-28-2025 11:26:00 AM

    Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of community gardening! Really exciting to see the beds all prepped, looks like a great setup you have there!

    I'd say the first step would be to identify your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. That will help you figure out when you can start plants, and what sorts of fruits and vegetables may thrive in your specific climate. From a quick search, it looks like Livingston is in Zone 8b. I'll let other growers who are in that area provide more specific recommendations as my climate here is fairly different, but finding a Zone 8 or Zone 8b planting calendar would be a great next step. Here's one that I found:

    From there, you should start to consider plans on a bed-by-bed basis. In most cases, you'll want to have multiple "seasons" for a bed - maybe a planting in March and another in July, for example. There are some resources for succession plans for your zone that show up when I started looking - again, want to default to those more familiar with your local needs, but here's an example:
    That's definitely a more complex plan than a new community garden would require, but it does seem sound to me from a quick glance. For clarity, Brassicas would be things in the same family as kale/kohlrabi/mustard/broccoli/etc. Alliums would be things in the onion/chive family. Cover crops are plants you would grow with the intention of enriching soil as opposed to harvesting - there are a ton of cover crop plans out there, but I will say that we rarely cover crop in raised beds and just add compost instead.
    The one other thing I think worth considering as a new garden would be dedicating a native flower bed! This would help bring good bugs like bees and butterflies to your garden, and would add a real visual pop. These native plants should either be perennial (will come back next year on their own) or self seed (drop seeds into the garden to grow baby plants next year) pretty well without much work from you, so it would just keep the cycle going! 
    Again, I'm not familiar with your local plants as well as others may be, but a mix of Black Eyed Susans, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Eastern Columbines, and Calico Asters would be pretty and should do pretty well in a raised bed, and all are native to your area. 


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    Amity Freiman (They/Them)
    - Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture
    Columbia MO

    "While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth" - Scott Hutchison
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Community Garden Ideas

    Posted 01-28-2025 03:30:00 PM

    Amity has given you a wealth of information for your planting zone. I'm in MA between zone 7a and 6a. I find using untreated wood chips in pathways retains moisture in the garden area, prevents erosion, adds nutrients and microorganisms for healthy soil, and works as a great weed inhibitor. Here in MA, I can get free wood chips from local tree companies that are trimming or cutting down trees. Most of these companies have to pay to dump them in an allowed dump and they are happy to save money with a donation to our community gardens.

    If using wood chips for mulch, be sure they are far enough away from the annual seedlings to allow the plants proper growth. Used properly they can help with blight, pests, and disease. Wood chips shouldn't be mixed or incorporated into the soil, can extract nutrients from the annual plant/seedling. Just a word of caution for your reference. 

    I prefer to plant herbs around the garden area...like garlic chives, common chives, sage, creeping thyme, common thyme, lavender, and rosemary. The herbs are too pungent for aphids, rabbits and other gardening pests - the herbs keep these pests from eating the sweet smelling vegetables within the garden. They work as pollinators bringing in bees and butterflies when they flower.

    Here's a link to a long detailed article about using wood chips: https://practicalselfreliance.com/gardening-with-wood-chips/

    Hopefully you find this information helpful. I wish you a wonderful gardening season!



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    Wendy Roberts
    Kinship Farm 501(c)(3)
    Beverly MA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Community Garden Ideas

    Posted 02-07-2025 12:54:00 PM

    Start with quick bloomers and plants that you know will be quick harvests as well as perennials to pull in pollinators and incorporate established plants. You can work your gardens up to include additional plants, but starting with what you know will work, will serve you well in this first year. Additionally, it is okay to not fill every bed, relieve the pressures on yourself to have every inch of your garden covered. A garden with plants is a garden. Don't overwhelm yourself by feeling you have to fill the entirety of the space. Work within your capacity. Based on USDA hardiness zones, Livingston is generally in Zone 8b. Grow crops like radishes and greens in intervals, so you have a steady supply all season long. Good luck and thank you kindly -- KJ



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    Kalie J
    Fostering Hope Ohio
    OH
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    Original Message


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