Community Gardens: Different Types

There are lots of different types
of community gardens,

and each neighborhood should assess

what they really want
and what their goals are

before deciding
to start a community garden.

The main types of community gardens
are what you

might call a "neighborhood garden,"
or an "allotment garden,"

where each individual gardener
has their own plot.

Another very common type
of community garden

is a communal garden, where everyone

works together
and gardens the whole space.

And then there are different subtypes
of communal gardens.

Sometimes, like a charity garden,
for instance,

members of a church may work together
to grow food

for their food pantry or soup kitchen,

or to donate to those that are in need.

Other types of gardens
would be a garden that focuses

most on some sort of therapy
or working with children,

teaching children how to garden

and having some nutrition education.

Yet another type of community garden
would be

where you're seeking to do
some vocational training,

or helping young people
gain some skills,

and maybe even selling the produce
from that garden.

A very traditional type
of community garden, where the garden

is divided into plots
and then rented out

to different gardeners, is one that

can be very large or very small.

And usually it works best
to have plots of different sizes

available for gardeners;
either individuals or families

may want different sized plots.

This type of garden
has certain guidelines and rules

that come along with it,
and the gardeners pay their fee

and then have their certain plot

to care for
throughout the growing season.

And all the produce
that comes out of their plot

is theirs to do with what they wish.

A real benefit of a plot-rental-style

community garden is that each gardener
has a lot of ownership,

and they have really good reason to keep

what they're doing in good condition

and take good care of their plot,
because they're investing

in that garden just as if
it were their home garden.

A downside of a rental-plot-type garden

is that there's
more management involved, as far as....

Keeping track of the money,
and making sure everyone

is being good neighbors
to the other plot owners,

as well as, just, you know,
whose responsibility it is

to take care of the common areas,
and a lot of

those other maintenance concerns.

In contrast, a communal garden
is usually a situation

where everyone works together, and they

grow a larger patch
of different types of vegetables.

And then anyone who wants to,
that's worked in the garden,

can come to take some produce,
and often the excess produce

is then given to other neighbors

that are in need, or that
would like to have some of the produce.

A benefit of a communal style garden

is that it's very easy
to encourage relationships

where people work together,
and you can get a lot done

with everyone working
on the whole garden.

A downside to the communal-type gardens

is that a lot of times,
you end up with only a few people

doing the vast majority of the work,
and you can quickly

become burned out on the project,
and then the project

will not be as sustainable
in the long run.

With a communal-type garden,
you can also run into situations

where the people that
do a lot of the work

feel upset when those that
do less work take more than

what they perceive as
their fair share of the produce.

So depending on the relationships

and the community,
a communal garden may work very well,

or it may work not so well at all.

(speaker 2) For more information,
visit your local extension office

or visit our website at
KansasGreenYards.org.