In a message dated 2/21/03 11:27:09 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Friends, When you design your gardens, in might be a good thing to have a nice area with a lawn, perennials, a few benches and a space that accommodates about 100 people for a picnic, religious service or a harvest fair where the neighborhood can meet. The Clinton Community Garden's neighborhood wanted at least half of our third of an acre space dedicated to our lawn and plantings, so we created that first. Then we built raised beds for gardeners on the western and southern parts of the garden, called the back garden. While we have 108 back garden plots and several volunteer beds in our "front garden", it is the public front garden that gives us political influence beyond our size >> You see, in addtion to the 150 active gardeners that we have, we have 3,850 others who have daily access to the garden in our area because they have signed front garden key agreements. Some obvously may use the garden space once or twice a season, others use it every day. Also, when we have picnics and large gatherings in the garden, we invite elected officials whom we also give keys to the garden. While it is useful to be an elected official, it is more important to be an active citizen in your neighborhood. To explain: Being registered to vote and voting are baseline activities that every citizen should be engaged in. The citizen community gardener should make sure that all the other folks in her garden who are eligible are registered to vote. Nothing is more of a magnet to politicians than neighborhood organizations that use their spaces for regular voter registration parties. Try to make, "I'm a gardener and I vote!" a statement that describes everyone in your garden(s). And, if you have gardeners who would like to become citizens, find resources in your community to help them attain this. Believe me, helping someone get their green card, or coaching them for a citizenship test makes a friend and supporter of your garden for life. By opening your garden gates to the community and getting the recognition by that community that you are an asset to it, like a church, school or a social service organization makes you a must visit, must support place in your community. And, when you have young people growing up in your garden, it becomes a place where you can grow the next generation's elected officials. Now, in NYC, we have a new city councilperson, Mr. Sanders from Queens, who is a long time community gardener. He walked into his local community garden, a number of years ago and was welcomed - his political activity grew organically...from the ground up, because his garden looked beyond it's garden gates. This is something that can be done. Also, if your neighborhood has advisory boards, like police councils, neighborhood groops or, as my garden does, all three...it is a good thing for community gardeners to get involved in these activities. We currently have two garden members on our local Community Board 4 Land Use Committee, and have had this kind of representation for over 13 years. And we bring people out to vote in our other citizen capacities as members of block groups, PTA's , religious, civic, and neighborhood organizations. When a community gardener wears several hats, you are not seen as someone who is coming to decision makers with hat in hand, but as a person who wears several hats in a political constituency. Bottom line: It helps to have horses to trade. There is a detailed article on how to do this in the annual ACGA "Community Greening Review" called"The Citizen Gardener: Politics 101 for Folks Who Would Rather Be Turning Compost" by yours truly. If you are already members of the ACGA, you should have received it. Volume 12, 2003 of the ACGA Community Greening Review - "Urban Green Infrastructure" contains articles some remarkable articles: Features: "Defining Green Infrastucture: Are Community Gardnens Included?" & "Green Infrastructure Projects and Research in North America and Europe," by Greening Review Editor, Pam Kirschenbaum "Beginning With Environmental Justice: Grassroots and the Green Institute in Minneapolis," by Corrie Zoll Feature/How To: "Community Garden Mapping Project," by Lenny Librizzi "User Fiendly Methods for Green Infrastructure Inventories," by Mary Cox Report: "The Citizen Gardener: Politics 101 for Folks Who Would Rather Be Turning Compost," by Adam Honigman The ACGA Annual Report Cityscape: "Chicago! Easy Being Green" a piece on Greening & Community gardening in Chicago, as well as notice of next year's annual ACGA convention in that city, by Pam Kirschenbaum This annual report and the now 3-4 time a year "Community Gardener" newsletter are part of the benefits available to ACGA members, in addition to the networking, mentoring, discounts on annual conventions and much more that the ACGA offers its members. This listserve is a benefit that the ACGA provides to all community gardeners, members or not. I'm not even talking about the karmic benefits of being a member of the ACGA :). ... Please consider becoming a member of the ACGA. You can register here though our website: <A HREF="http://www.communitygarden.org/";>American Community Gardening Association</A> Thanking you in advance, Best wishes, Adam Honigman ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
