Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Start of Something...

Very Good...
...and more than a bit scary!
(No, those rectangular squares you see in the above photo are not future tombstone plots!) 

Got a call from our Recreation & Parks Department this week. For the grand sum of $10.00, I am now the proud keeper of a 4 X 12 foot garden plot at Norwalk, CT's Fodor Farms Community Garden. Although my folks are both close to being master gardeners, me not so much. I'm excited, tho, and if a positive attitude counts toward a successful harvest, this should be a piece of cake! HA!

When I went to see the plot yesterday, this was as close as I could get. What you see is the second phase of Norwalk's community garden. Fodor Farms was at one time a magnificent farm with two beautiful homes and lots of land around it. Different groups have been battling for years to figure out what to do with all this open space. An elementary school, condominiums, houses, and keeping it an open space have all been promoted as the best use for the land. I'm pleased that the open space folks won. We have enough housing in Norwalk, and it's cheaper to fix a school than build from scratch. By this time last year every single one of the initial 220 garden plots had been sold (at $5.00 a piece - inflation even in garden plots) and there was a 100+ long waiting list. This year, as you can see, the other field is being converted into more plots. I'll let you know how we're progressing as the spring and summer rolls along. Gotta go now. Must call mom and dad now. I need help with this!

~~~
xoabb
expecting glorious ripe home-grown tomatoes!

An excerpt from here:  Seven years ago the fate of Fodor Farm, Norwalk's last remaining farm, looked grim. The city planned to build a new elementary school on the property. Three historic houses would be torn down, and the bucolic landscape would succumb to parking lots and ball fields. With the city's permission a long attempt was made to find someone to move the main house to save it from demolition. A firm deal did not emerge, even after several listings in the Exchange and a feature in the "Save This Old House" column of This Old House Magazine. But now, after years of existing on borrowed time, Fodor Farm faces a bright future. More information about Fodor Farms herehere and here.

15 comments:

  1. More and more people are planning vegetable gardens...I, for one, will grow tomatoes and cukes and herbs on my spacious deck!
    Happy green thumb!

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  2. Gosh, I wish more communities would do this! I'm so sick of land being cleared for even more homes that won't sale! I think it's great and we won't pictures of your beautiful veggies!

    Congrats on your plot!

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  3. This is exciting, I can't wait to see your progress!

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  4. As long as you can keep Stella out of there...

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  5. That's a lot of plots, but I'm glad you was granted one! You have fun gardening! hehehe

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  6. How fun! I had a friend who did this once and someone kept steeling her tomatoes.

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  7. sounds interesting I am very interested to see how it all goes!

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  8. How do you water?

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  9. Sounds like a good idea and will look forward to seeing how you progress with your space.

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  10. Congratulations to the proud owner. Can't wait to see your veggies and what you plant.

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  11. So I'm assuming then that you don't have any land of your own to make into a garden.

    I've seen this done in huge communities like Toronto and Vancouver - Calgary. It's a fab idea!

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  12. I hope you will publish pictures as spring goes into summer and summer into fall...I would love seeing what the place looks like then.

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  13. Happy gardening to you. Starting small is good. Many times I think we could actually do better if we didn't try to do so much.

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  14. I have seen this done in other places. Great idea. I cant wait to watch your garden grow. I'm going to have a garden this year as well. The race is on to see who has the first red tomatoe!

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  15. I'm so excited that you got your plot! If you need any seeds, let me know. I always have extras and it's good for me to share. And, if everything goes according to plan, I may have a few extra plants, too.

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a thought. It's appreciated! xoabb