Community Gardens
Interested in growing flowers or vegetables this spring, but don’t have a place to garden? You should look into joining a community garden. Community gardens are a great place for city residents to grow flowers and vegetables in a fun relaxed atmosphere. Typically you can reserve or rent a specific plot of ground within a designated gardening area. In addition to beautifying the city there are many benefits to getting involved in a community garden. If you are a beginner, you can get the help and advice of fellow veterans. This can come in very handy and can be a huge time saver. By relying on the collective intelligence your fellow gardeners you don’t have learn by trial and error as much. Your fellow gardeners can help you with everything from spacing plants to preparing the soil and everything in between.
Community gardens also provide a great place to build friendships as you work alongside your neighbors. It is so much easier and natural to get to know people when you participate in a project with them. Gardening provides just this kind of relationship building opportunity and often can lead to a stronger sense of ownership and pride in your community. Another major benefit to gardening this way is that you can save considerable time and money. By buying in bulk and splitting up the work costs can spread across the entire group instead of being shouldering by any one individual.
Finally the last benefit to working with others on your garden is that it provides a sense of accountability. My biggest struggle in gardening is sticking with the weeding and watering. When you know you are part of a group that wants to see the whole garden look nice and cared for the bar gets raised to consistently take care of your flowers and veggies. The closest comparison I can think of is working out with a partner. You are going to be a whole lot more motivated to get out of bed and make it to the gym if you know someone is there waiting for you. With spring in the air, this is the time to check out this option. Fortunately, Des Moines has a couple fantastic community gardening programs. You might want to hurry to sign up though, as you don’t want to be planting late and spots fill up quickly. Watch the Des Moines Register every spring for specific locations and contact persons.
