Garden Sharing, Food Hubs and Common Security Clubs

Not able to devote as much time to your garden as you'd like?  Interested in having a vegetable garden but don't have the expertise to grow one?  As a home or property owner, you can list your space with various Garden Sharing Registries that are springing up all over the US, Europe and elsewhere.

 

Once registered, you'll be able to choose from a list of avid gardeners in need of space to grow. Together you and your gardener will structure a sustainable partnership that makes sense to both of you, including schedule, type of gardening project, how the cost of seeds, supplies, etc. will be handled, if and where gardening supplies can be stored on the property, and the length of the commitment. 

 

The home/property owners provide the land and the water and the gardeners do the work.  Together, you share the crop!  The bounty of benefits could include home-grown vegetables, fresh herbs, fragrant flowers, and a deeper connection with your community.

Cooperation will be crucially important in the next few years as our economic and food systems continue to deteriorate along with energy decline and rising food / fertilizer prices. 

The list below is quite brief. A bit of research will reveal more.

Portland OR http://www.yardsharing.org/
Santa Monica, CA http://www01.smgov.net/comm_progs/gardens/garden%20sharing.htm
National http://hyperlocavore.ning.com/
Seattle, WA http://www.urbangardenshare.org/
Upstate NY  http://www.gardenshare.org/
International http://sharedearth.com/
 

Food Hubs NW US http://food-hub.org/
Shared Harvest http://www.sharedharvest.ca/

Common Security Clubs: How People Are Relearning How to Live as a Community

It's an old-fashioned concept -- knowing your community -- but it's badly needed in our time of increasing insecurity and isolation.

 
http://www.alternet.org/economy/149066/common_security_clubs%3A_how_people_are_relearning_how_to_live_as_a_community_?page=entire