Start a Community Garden at Work This Spring!

So you want to start gardening, but you live in a rinky-dink apartment. There are a few options available to you if you want to test out that green thumb.

Try suggesting a community garden as a workplace enrichment program. Many companies will jump at the chance to make their employees happy with little overhead cost. All they need to supply is the land and water. People also like to do business with eco-friendly companies trying to make a difference in the community.

The company that I work for was more than happy to put aside a little piece of land for my co-workers and I to garden on. They even bought us some new hoses and supplied topsoil for our raised beds. Over the last two years, we have made a few improvements and learned from our past mistakes.

Our original setup was pretty bare bones. Seven foot metal posts where tamped into the ground and spaced about 15 feet apart to make a 100'x50' square. The group them collected dues to buy a $50 deer fence to stretch across the posts and building supplies for the raised beds. A deer fence is actually thin netting, but it does keep deer from entering the enclosure. Chicken wire was then placed around the bottom of the netting and staked into the ground to keep out any little rodents trying to work their way in. The raised beds are another great deterrent for pests of all kinds. The enclosure and raised beds cost us about $100 total. Not too bad, when everybody participating is willing to put in twenty bucks. If you are going to need topsoil and a hose you should add another $50-$75 to that.

Our next step was to have a garden party to plant our seeds. Everybody pitched in and bought a few seed packets or plants. Be sure to read up on which plants do well together in raised beds. Not all plants get along. You will also want to use a little fertilizer to feed your plants and some kind of mulch. We used shredded newspaper mulch to keep moisture in. The last step is to set up a watering schedule and start watching your plants grow. Tomatoes were coming out of ears by early August.

In our second year, we added two more corner beds and used weed blocker fabric to keep weeds at bay. Weeds can turn your little enclosure into a jungle in less than a month. Weed blocker staked around the raised beds and in open areas will cut down on any weed wacking a pulling you need to do throughout the growing season. Also, make sure you rotate where you plant things the second year and add a little compost to your beds. Some plants leach the ground of nutrients faster than others so you never want to keep the same nutrient hungry plants in the same bed.

Setting up a garden is pretty easy when all your co-workers work together with a little help from the boss. Think about suggesting a work garden to your employer in the next month or two. Get the ball rolling soon if you want to get those plants in on time. It will be a little more impressive if you go in with a expense plan all worked out and down on paper.

Unfortunately, there is always the possibility that your employer will say no. If that ends up being the case, here are a few other possibilities you can look into.

Community Gardens - Small gardening plots are popping up all over cities thanks to the locavore movement. Some of these gardens have actually been around for a long time. Increasing interest in eating and buying local has just made them a much more popular option for the frustrated apartment gardener. Just bring your personal commitment to maintain a plot, a small fee to get involved, some seeds, and a shovel.

Container Gardening - Sometimes a few ceramic pots are all you need to add some fresh produce to your daily meals. For years, I have grown fresh herbs and vegetables on my little efficiency patio. There are many books out there that can help you get started.

Help out a friend - Find a friend with some land. Gardens are a lot of work and many people will not refuse a helping hand. It usually turns out to be a win win situation for everyone with produce being the main currency.

Be a little sneaky - If you live in an older apartment complex chances are the grounds are not immaculately maintained. This may be a blessing in disguise. Sprinkle a few herb seeds around in a forgotten corner of the property. No harm will be done and you'll have some fresh mint to pop in your iced tea.