I have often heard of Community Gardens and when SCAP was located on 4th and Glendale right next door to the Liquor Store and the Porn shop before the police took the building for their substation, we had one. It was really nice. Some one tilled the area and one of the places, Lowe's I think, donated a bunch of plants. The clients would come by and water and weed and then later pick the harvest. We all got a kick out of it and it kept them in touch with nature. But now we are located in the Corona building and all we have is concrete and asphalt. Enter a stranger on a Suzuki motorcycle who stands 6'7" and a Community Garden appears on the horizon.
Meet Richard. We have a mutual friend and I found him one Sunday morning digging around in the dirt. Well, you know me. Nobody gets away with anything on my watch and it just looked suspicious to see this big tall guy digging in my friends yard. Nobody ever comes and digs in my yard. So I asked my friend, "What is going on over there?" And he told me. So I got his number and set out on my quest for knowledge. Soon you will know all that I know.
Richard is new to this business, but he knows what he wants to do. He has this garden and another at his house. His vision is to grow organic food and produce enough to feed 400 people. And here is where it gets a little hairy. A community garden is a community effort. We all know that. This is his first venture into this and this first year will entail putting a lot of ground work into place. He has made a wish list and it seems fairly simple. So we will lay it out and look at it and see if this is feasible.
1. He needs manure preferably Rabbit, Poultry, Cow or Horse. Now he knows that most people raising animals give them antibotics. These should leech out in a year or so. He will check to see how that plays out with the people who certify the stuff to be organic.
2. Compost. Any chance you have a pile of that laying around that you do not use and do not need?
3. He is going to need a tiller. He would prefer to do this with a horse and plow, but he has no harness for the horse. Got any of that laying around?
4. Now hauling is going to be a problem unless he has a pick up. He is willing to trade his bike for a small pickup preferably a Toyota or Nissan. At least I think that is what he said. So, if you happen to have one of those setting in the drive, let me know.
I do not know Richard very well, but from the two brief visits I had with him I found him to be very personable and very caring about the environment. That carries a lot of weight with me. We discussed politics briefly and I am not sure which of us is the more radical, but I do not know what that has to do with growing a watermelon, which I will depend on him to grow because I done lost my package of seeds!
So if any of you out there have any of the items he needs, suggestions that could possibly help Richard, or an idea on how to proceed with this venture, please leave a comment or email me and I will see that he gets the information. He is just kind of between computers at the present time.
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