Community Gardening is on the Rise in Phoenix

Community Gardening has  become a new-hip thing to do in Phoenix and surrounding cities. There are many reason for this ranging from people wanting to beautify vacant lots, neighbors getting together to do something outdoors, feeding the hungry, sending food grown to a foodbank and more.

 The problem is people are not sure how to navigate the process of starting a community garden. Creating a community garden is much more then knowing how to grow plants.  It is mainly about how to organize a group of people, secure the land and then figure out how to kept it going.  The growing part is easy after that!

There are several ways to get started on the journey.  The American Community Garden Association has many helpful tools on their website - http://www.communitygarden.org/  Here you can find step-by-step instruction as well as sample forms for leasing the land and renting out plots.  There is even a list serve where other members share their personal experiences and ask and answer questions.

On perhaps you prefer a more personal approach and want to be able to talk this through with an experienced person - well that is me!  On Thursday, November 18th I will be leading a 90 minute class entitled: So You Want to Start a Community Garden?  I will be sharing my personal experience as a garden manager, the results of my research and what I have learned as I have met with and helped other community gardens.  It is being hosted at the Maricopa County Extension Office and presented through the Phoenix Permaculture Guild.  You can see more about it here.

Then next April, there will be a conference for community and school gardens on April 1+2, 2011 here in Tempe, AZ.  Growing Communities, One Garden at a Time is the American Community Gardening Associations, Southwest Regional conference.  I am honored to be leading that effort.

I would like to know more about your ideas and questions about community gardens.  Do you participate in one now?  If so where and what is the name of the garden?  What is your experience?  Please drop me a line or leave a comment here!

Fall Means a Fresh Start in the Garden

There is a change in the air in Phoenix. The evenings and mornings are definitely cooler. The humidity is gone and so is the monsoon rain. The leaves on the Mulberry trees are starting to yellow slightly and drop.


This slight shift always has me feeling hopeful and excited for another planting and growing season. Time to clean out the garden beds, re-build the soil with my compost, rake it smooth and get the seeds planted. Time to make the row markers, set out a plan of what goes where, and start to think about the color that comes from flowers in the garden. Oh I almost forgot, I pick a new edible plant to grow each year – I wonder what it will be this year – Do you have a suggestion for me?

While I was watering yesterday, I noticed one of my artichoke plants is emerging from its summer rest. I have two – I hope the other one comes back!

I like to take a reasonably-paced approach to getting the gardens ready for a new season. I start with getting the garden cleared and soil amended one week. I like to let the compost and any other amendments sit in the ground for a week at least before I plant into it. Looks like I will be doing this on Sunday morning while it is cool. That also lets me take stock of my seeds and purchase anything I may still need. However – after the bounty I got at the American Community Gardening Association Conference I attended in August and the seeds I got at the Seed Swap last week I think I may be set this year!

I also have new seeds from Humble Seed for an herb garden – aptly called Uncle Herb’s Favorites – 10 different herbs in a great package that can be reused. What I love about this company is they are very particular about where they get seeds and the package them locally using the Marc Center.
So in a few weeks I will be planting out my new garden. I am excited about eating fresh lettuce, spinach and other greens, beets and peas – all in about 2 more months! The gap between will need to be supplemented by the farmers markets.



What are your plans for a fall garden? Please let me know if I can help. I am starting to book consultations now – just email me at gardengoddess@down2earthgardens.com or call 623-217-6038.

Happy Digging,
The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Herbs are Easy to Grow in the Desert

Yesterday and I had a great interview with the East Valley Tribune about an upcoming Herb Gardeneing class in Mesa on August 25th. Here's the story - nice job!!  Just click the story title below my name.

Doreen aka The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Group sows seeds of herb cultivation in desert

Prickly Pear Juice Making

Today was my first foray into making food with a part of a cactus!  Here in AZ and in many other arid climates, the Prickly Pear cactus grows everywhere.  It is used as a landscape plant in people's yards as well as in public spaces. The fruit of the Prickly Pear is a bright red and often called a tuna.  The pads of the prickly pear are called nopalito.  Both of these are often found in the stores here in Phoenix, but when buy it when you can pick it for free from your yard?

Both fruits and pads of the prickly pear cactus are rich in slowly absorbed soluble fibers that may help keep blood sugar stable.  However, I suspect that after I make this yummy juice into a syrup, it won't be so blood sugar friendly!

Here's a quick step by step description of the process:

Pick the tunas when they are really red to ensure they are ripe.  There is a short window of time before the birds start to get them so keep watch on your cactus plant! Bring them into the house to wash them and scrub off the clusters of fine, tiny, barbed spines called glochids.   We used a stiff vegetable brush to scrub them and held on to them with a tong.

There is no boiling or cooking involved in this process!

After they are washed, put several in a blender (a food processor would probably work, too) with just a little water and give it a good whirl to pulverize them into a pulp.  We didn't even bother to cut them into smaller pieces, we just let the blender do the work!  Looks really pretty doesn't it?  At this point the seeds and any other small spines still remain, so it is important to strain this through cheese cloth.

This pulpy substance will be too thick to strain through the cloth on its own, so you will need to squeeze it through the cloth,  This was the messy part.  It is best to use a colander to further strain out any seeds and of course you need a bowl or pitcher to catch the juice!

That's all there is to making the Prickly Pear tuna into juice.  Now I can further process it into syrups, jellies and then use that for all kinds of things like candy, cocktails, lemonade, smoothies and whatever else my imagination dreams up!

Here's a trivia fact for you - The Prickly Pear Cactus is the state plant of Texas!

What is your favorite way to use Prickly Pear Syrup??

The Garden Goddess,
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Community Gardens Build a Better Community

I am often asked how to create a community garden. Someone sees an empty lot in the area and thinks a garden is the solution, or another person wants one in their city park. I have even heard from city officials who want a community garden on vacant lots to help keep the dust down and trash at bay. And my response to them is always the same, “The first word in community garden is community. Build your community around the garden first, then design the garden!”


Community gardens need someone behind them to organize others to get involved. Not everyone will think a garden is a good idea. Some will want to garden at home and not go somewhere else to garden, others will not know how to garden and be intimidated by a community garden. And yet others will see the benefit of working together on something to beautify their neighborhood and get people out of their homes to get to know each other better.

This is what happened in my own neighborhood, the Coronado Historic District in Phoenix, AZ. What started out as a casual conversation at the local coffee shop, Toast, turned into a garden that has been going now for 2 years. It has had its own challenges and ups and downs, but we got our first plot renter from the Nabe and I expand my growing space to the garden as well.

There is a story about it and pictures on the Coronado Neighborhood website. Take a moment to read it, check out my neighborhood that I am proud to live in and let me know what you think.

Are you a community gardener? Do you know someone who is? I would love to hear others experiences. Please share!

I am headed off to Atlanta in a few weeks to attend the nation conference of the American Community Garden Association.  it is open to the public, so please join me!!

Happy Digging,
Doreen, the Garden Goddess
Community Garden Consultant
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/