organizing your own community or food pantry garden

7/30/2019 Organizing Your Own Community or Food Pantry Garden

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Organizing your Own Community or Food Pantry Garden:

A community or food pantry garden requires 5 things...a leader(s), an organization, land,financial resources and volunteers

We found land and financial resources to be the least of our issues. Recruiting a reliable andadequate supply of volunteers was much more difficult.

Leader(s)

If the garden is very large, it is preferable to recruit several people to serve as co-chairs so thereis coverage when someone is absent. It also prevents burnout. If the garden is large, theleadership position can easily turn into a 20+ hour/week job.

Land

Look for land in a sunny location with a reliable source of water. Avoid fields surrounded bytrees. Tree roots may require the field to be ripped before it is plowed (expensive) and tree rootsabsorb a great deal of water. Also avoid land covered with perennial weeds like Johnson grassand bindweed.

I prefer drip irrigation to flood irrigation. Why? Flood irrigation brings in weed seed such asJohnson grass and bindweed. Even when your irrigation district sets up an irrigation schedulefor all users, you never know whether there will be an adequate supply of water. In a droughtyear, the irrigation water may be cut off before the end of the growing season. Also, some cropssuch as tomatoes may not do as well with flood irrigation.

Have the soil tested so you know what type/how much fertilizer is needed to maximize yield. Ifpossible, do the soil test in the fall when the NMSU soil lab is not as busy.

Beware of land that must be farmed organically. I don't oppose organic farming. In fact, Iprefer it. If you are selling your produce at a farmer's market, organic produce sells at apremium. However, my experience has been that organic farming requires more labor.

Start out small and increase the garden size over time. Add annual flowers and herbs to attractbeneficial insects and to make the garden look nice. Nothing sells a gardening project as well asa beautiful, well-tended garden.

If you are using someone else's land, make sure that the property owner is covered by a liabilitypolicy. It is also be a good idea for this policy to cover personal injury or to ask your volunteersto sign a personal injury waiver.

Why would a property owner offer the use of their land?


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Benefits to the property owner include having a farmers market in their own back yard, the

aesthetic value of a lush, well-tended garden and the personal satisfaction of helping aworthwhile cause. Property owners may also qualify for a charitable contribution for out ofpocket expenses and for a reduction in property tax as the result of converting vacant land toagricultural use. A tax professional should be consulted to determine the appropriate tax

treatment based on your locality and situation.

Organization

For a small, self-funded gardening project, you can probably get by without setting up a formalorganization. If this is a community garden and you have members who sell their produce at afarmer's market, make sure that they understand that they are responsible for handling grossreceipts tax and federal/state tax reporting.

If you are going to apply for grants, I suggest organizing your project as a 501c3. This processmay take 4 months or more and it will require recruiting a board of directors and drafting articles

of incorporation and bylaws. Sample articles of incorporation and bylaws can be found on theinternet.

Another alternative is to find an existing 501c3 who would be willing to serve as your fiscalsponsor. Fiscal sponsors generally charge a fee to handle bookkeeping and reporting. Weavoided this fee by organizing Seed2Need as a project under the fiscal sponsorship of a foodpantry. The food pantry takes care of our bookkeeping and reporting. In return, we supply themwith fresh produce. Sample fiscal sponsorship agreements can be found on the internet.

If you are a 501c3, it is much easier to solicit funding from businesses and private individualsbecause their donations are tax deductible. I believe there are a larger number of gardening

grants available to non-profits.

If you are "for profit", I'm not sure where you would go for funding. There may be grants orsmall business loans available.

Resources - Financial, Services and Equipment

The financial resources for the Seed2Need project came from local business and from privateindividuals in our community. In 2012 we plan to start applying for a few grants.

If you are growing a garden within a city, water can be one of your highest costs. Check with

your local water department. I understand that some cities furnish water to community gardensat no cost.

Check with local greenhouses, farmers and schools for greenhouse space to grow your seedlings

Many seed companies donate seed. Also check with your local county extension office. Othersources include "big box" hardware stores like Lowes and Home Depot, Walmart, etc.


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Restore (Habitats for Humanity Resale Center), Craigslist, estate sales, garage sales and auctionsare a good source for low cost materials

Our "cold frame" was a square of straw bales covered with a piece of heavy row cover ("frostcloth")

We use a t-tape irrigation system. Donations paid for the system. T-tape works great in an aridclimate like New Mexico. We mulched all of our tomato plants with newspaper in 2010 andwith plastic mulch in 2011. I prefer plastic mulch because it was faster to put down and itsuppressed weeds. We plan to use a plastic mulch laying equipment in 2012 to reduce weeding.

We designed our own tomato cages. We were looking for something suitable for "commercial"growing since we were planting 1200-1500 tomato plants. The cages had to be relativelyinexpensive, low maintenance and suitable for covering with row cover. Row cover prevents thetomato plants from being infected with curly top virus. You can see our tomato cage design onFacebook - group page Seed2Need

Tractors/tillers were loaned by individuals in our community.

Shallow, stackable produce boxes are needed for harvesting and distributing the produce. Agood source of free boxes is Sams Club and Costco. However, also check with your local foodbank. Occasionally, they receive produce in plastic shipping boxes and they may be willing todonate them or sell them to you for a nominal fee.

If the garden is large and you are not near a public restroom, you will need at least one portabletoilet secured to discourage vandalism.

Volunteers

It takes many more volunteers than you would expect. Sandoval county Master Gardeners makeup our core group of volunteers. However, we also received help from Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts,Eagle Scout candidates, 4-H groups, church groups, other community service organizations andprivate individuals. Other potential sources of volunteers include high schools that require theirstudents to complete community service hours and municipal court systems that allow offendersto work off traffic tickets and minor violations through community service. This fall, we alsoreceived help from volunteers and board of directors of several of the food pantries we serve.

Other

If you are doing a community garden, you will probably want to put some membership rules inplace that deals with garden maintenance, irrigation, code of conduct, use of herbicides andinsecticides, etc.

Theimpact of advertising and public relations should not be underestimated. It is important forthe public to become aware of your project. It is equally important to recognize and thanksponsors. Put up signs. Take photographs - they are needed for presentations and


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brochures. Develop a web site. Set harvest goals, keep track of your progress and communicatethis to your volunteers - it is exciting to see the numbers increase and it keeps everyonemotivated.

2010 Expenditures - two gardens totaling 8/10 acre

Description Cost

Seed and seed starting supplies 518.92Fertilizer 378.50Irrigation System 1812.09Cold frame materials 62.00Signs for three gardens 108.62Row cover to cover tomatoes 458.60Scale for weighing produce 69.30Concrete wire to build 190 tomato cages 1671.72

Total 5079.75

Several of these items such as the cold frame, scale, tomato cages and irrigation system will beused for several years.

In 2010, our total harvest was 30,700 pounds, valued at approximately $48,463.00. Cropsincluded green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, eggplant, green chile and summersquash. In 2011, we grew 45,300 pounds of produce on 1.5 acres.

Suggested Reference Materials:

NMSU Circular 572: Vegetable Variety Recommendations for New Mexico Backyard andMarket Gardens

NMSU Circular 457-B: Growing Zones, Recommended Crop Varieties, and Planting andHarvesting Information for Home Vegetable Gardens in New Mexico

See Facebook group page Seed2Needfor more information. A video is available in the picturefolder.

Note: Opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarilyrepresent the research, recommendations and opinions of New Mexico State University, the

Sandoval County Cooperative Extension Office or the Sandoval County Master Gardeners.

organizing your own community or food pantry garden

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