The Spring Creek Community Garden continues to progress.  We hope to start ripping the soil in the coming days and begin building garden plots in one week.  Starting a community garden can be a difficult task to take on. However, the rewards of creating community and enjoying your hard work with your neighbors is worth the effort.  Neo-Traditional Neighborhoods as well as historic “traditional” neighborhoods are great places to start a community garden.  The densities created in TND’s  and historic neighborhoods lend themselves to great communities. Perhaps, more importantly in regards to gardening is the limitation of sunlight on personal properties.  The community garden allows the option of having a garden in more urban setting.
In Spring Creek, we are providing three options for garden plots:  4-ft x 8-ft; 4-ft x 12-ft; and 4-ft x 16-ft.  We are utilizing a 4-ft width for the garden plots so the user does not need to physically step into the garden for planting and maintenance.  When you step into the garden, the soil loses nutrients from compaction.  We hope that the appropriate width with alleviate this.  The following image is an illustration I created for the participants to understand the garden plots and also to be used as a guide for construction.  You will notice that I have added a children’s plot to the garden.  A children’s garden plot is an important addition to a garden because in a neighborhood where a lot of young families live, it is necessary to provide some sort of like activity for the children of the users.  The particular location for this garden is on a parcel of land that will some day include a playground and other features of a traditional pocket park.

We are planning to build a few of the plots for the first year. The plots that have been reserved by neighbors with a few extra plots for the users not yet familiar with the garden.  The HOA of the neighborhood will initially fund the construction materials for the plots. In time, the dues from the garden will pay for the garden.  The primary cost to starting up a community garden are water tap fees. It is over $9,000 in Colorado Springs for a 3/4″ tap.

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