Stanifer 1
Shannon Stanifer
Eng. 112-21
Instructor: Cassel
27 May 2010
Research Essay
Community Garden
The place I am writing about for my research project is my neighborhood in Dayton,
Ohio. It is a very quiet and beautiful neighborhood nestled in the suburb of Franklin. The trees are predominately Bradford pears, apple blossom, and magnolia trees. The sidewalks are all neatly edged, and each lawn is manicured to perfection. The plants consist of hosts, ferns, holly bushes, and petunias. Yet, I seldom see a well maintained edible garden such as I have worked frivolously to obtain. Wild animals such as cats, dogs, squirrels, raccoons, and opossums inhabit my neighborhood in mass quantities. There are sparrows’ nests in almost every tree and occasionally a woodpecker can be heard rhythmically tapping on a trunk. My neighborhood feels alive with children playing, the sidewalks are filled with adults walking and running. One problem this area faces is a brand new Wal-Mart, and a seemingly inorganic city being developed atop this little rural town. The animals have fewer places to go as more woodland areas continue to be destroyed. I wish to see the residents begin taking a stand to protect the environment in which we live, and learn how to produce their own food, instead of wasting money at the grocery store on over priced pink tomatoes. The majority of the houses are built on
1 arched lot leaving little land to plant a garden, yet even the smallest plot can cut hundreds of dollars from yearly grocery bills, and serve as an invaluable teaching device for children and future generations. The current landscape is quite bland due to the fact there are no beans growing, red ripe tomatoes hanging, cabbage leaves unwinding, or beautiful stalks of corn

Stanifer 2 waving in the wind. I think we should start a community garden and share the bounty of our crops with one another, something the entire neighborhood can benefit from. A community raised garden is important because it provides fresh produce, useful information about gardening, and brings both the city and its neighborhoods closer together.
Franklin used to be a river city founded in 1796 and became a city 1951. They have a stinky box board company and a company that makes roof tiles. There is almost no architecture except for the family owned tree farms and the occasional family garden. The current population of the city of Franklin is it houses approximately 12,000 people (as of the year 2000) within its total area of 9.3 sq miles. The city’s farm land has slowly started to be depleted by industrialization, expansion of road ways, and a growing population. The use of the community garden can help the city by bring some of this lost agriculture back to city, providing produce for its citizens, and to help the government within the city; along with its people, better the surrounding environment together.
Some questions about community raised gardens are as follows; what type of vegetables is good or bad for the soil? Why have families strayed away from growing their own food sources? What can I do to help change this in my own neighborhood? These questions will be answered in this essay and hopefully along with a better understanding of gardening and its benefits for the community.
According to Henderson, Bethany Rubin and Hartsfield, Kimberly, in the article, "Is Getting
into the Community Garden Business a Good Way to Engage Citizens in Local Government”, the engagement of a government and its citizens working together on a community garden is very benefitcial for all envolved. During times of war and the great depression community gardens

Stanifer 3 helped the citizens survive. They are internally run by citizens in the community and funded by the government or local organizations. Cities have donated land and materials to community gardens and so have local land owners. The bounty of the crops has helped to provide food, shelter, and clothes for many under privileged citizens. There are some down sides to community gardens such as if crops are decease ridden the government can be sued by the community. The
Government likes to support garden projects that the community will back and trust to make the government look better in the eyes of its citizens. Providing fresh vegetables for people and outside the community in which they are grown can also help lower the rates of obesity in the
United States. The article explains that citizens can receive help from the government for the cost of community gardens. These raised community gardens can be beneficial in times of peace, war, detracting economies, and for people in great need of help. The city of Franklin has donated five hundred dollars toward this project. Researching a little back ground information on gardening, cost, and the correct methods to use for the raised garden is very important.
The initial cost of a raised garden according to Yeomans, R.N., Kathleen, ("Chapter 3." ), of the book ,” The Able Gardener,” can be greatly reduced by using objects around the home. The cost of a raised garden consists of the cost for soil, plants, and building materials. “Materials can be found in your garage or shed such as old cinder blocks, 1 1\2 inch wood boards, and large stones.” The materials, if purchased are not costly and can be found in your local home improvement store. Vegetables that are best to grow in the east United States are carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, peppers, radishes, and tomatoes. The soil must have a pH level of around 6, have compost added for good aeration and drainage, and be layered with soil, manure, and green matter. The compost layers need to be six to ten layers and rotate each level for the sheet-composting method. Therefore, getting a raised garden started using some these helpful

Stanifer 4 hints is easy, cost effective, and less stress on your back in the long run. This back ground information is helpful to get a person started in a basic and easy to take care of gardening adventure. The materials listed in this book and different methods can be used to get a general idea of how to begin the process of planting your own garden. Growing a garden in pots, window boxes, or a raised garden in the back yard is very cost effect and beneficial to a person’s health.
Using the proper soil, elevation methods, materials, and vegetables can produce the best crops.
Another main problem when creating a raised garden is deer eating the fruits of the citizen’s labor, but this can be easily rectified by taking certain precautionary measures.
Concern over deer getting into gardens and eating the bounty of our labor is a big deal.
According to Hyman, Frank, of the article,
”
Growing a Deer Resistant Garde”
, “neighborhoods and construction have forced deer to look for other sources of food.” What better place than in our vegetable gardens? Preventative measures can be taken such as electric fencing, tall wooden fences, and planting certain herbs to deter the deer. Some plants that deter deer are lavender, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and ferns. One of the best repellants is human urine but must be reapplied every time it rains. The deer’s favorite plants are lettuce, roses, and cabbage. Using different and cost effect measures to ward of deer can save crops in the long run. Whether it is installing fences, putting hot sauce on roses, or spreading your own urine around the edge of the garden these methods are known to work well. This article is a wonderful article about warding of animals from gardens in the community. Along with the deer trying to disrupt the community gardens bugs can also be harmful or helpful in many ways.
Many different kinds of bugs are a great way to naturally prevent plants in a garden from being eaten alive from bad insects. According to Starcher, Allison Mia in” Good Bugs For Your
Garden, “ big-eyed bugs eat spider mites, but are attracted to potatoes and green beans.” This is an

Stanifer 5 example of a bad insect to have in a vegetable garden. The Rumina snail eats decaying leaves of plants and eats the pesky brown garden snails in a garden. Earthworms are another good example because they aerate the soil and greatly improve its structure. Nematodes can be used to control fleas, iris borers, cabbage root maggots, and strawberry root weevils from destroying crops. The benefits of using natural pesticides instead of chemical ones are no contamination to pets and children. Lady bugs if purchased and set free in the garden are also great forwarding of preying insects. The book “Good Bugs for Your Garden” is very helpful for using natural pesticides instead of chemical alternatives.
More than cost is at stake with the future of community gardens. The nation’s health can also improve greatly from eating vegetables that do not contain added preservatives. Future generations can go back to produce their own vegetables and canning them for winter. Pink tomatoes will no longer be accepted in grocery stores because citizens will have ripe red tomatoes at home in their gardens. Sharing each other’s crops and working together as a community, brings citizens and the government closer together to achieve a common purpose of feeding the nation. Returning to the roots of our country gardens can help provide food, comradeship among neighbors, and much needed help for the poor.
The down side of gardens is that they need to be watered daily, there is a good amount of physical activity involved, and time is a huge factor. The issue of watering every day can be done by a sprinkler system and children can participate to help with this chore. The physical activity can be done by the elderly and younger citizens to help maintain a good community and garden together. Raised gardens have benches along the side so sitting down and gardening can be accomplished. Yes, it takes less time to go to the store and buy produce at first before the garden starts producing. When the garden is ripe with fresh delicious vegetables, fruits, and

Stanifer 6 herbs it will be time to harvest. Then a community get together will be the perfect place to share the delicious spread with all the neighbors that donated and helped out with the fantastic raised garden.
The community garden is an exciting experience to be a part of for the communities’ health and prosperity. Citizens learning new and interesting information on how to start and maintain the garden is helpful and gives neighbors more to talk about at local gatherings. The raised community garden can be funded by the government and raised by the citizens of the community. This involves both parties and they are also benefitted equally from the experience.
Providing fresh produce for the community is the most important part of maintaining a community garden. Fresh produce can improve people health by providing a product that is not covered with chemicals, added preservative, and the bounty tastes tons better also.
The community garden in my neighborhood will bring us all closer together. We can learn about gardening, building the raised garden, maintaining and growing our own food, and building lasting relationships in the process. The city of Franklin has donated five hundred dollars for our garden and fifty percent of the crop will be donated to local churches for the poor.
This project will last and help future generations to come.

Stanifer 7
Work Cited Page
Henderson, Bethany Rubin, and Kimberly Hartsfield. "Is getting into the community garden business a good way to engage citizens in local government?" National Civic Review 98.4 (2009): 12-17.
Academic Search Complete . EBSCO. Web. 20 May 2010.
Hyman, Frank. "Growing A DEER-RESISTANT garden”. (Cover story)." Horticulture 107.3 (2010): 26-31. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 20 May 2010.
Pleasant, Barbara. "Improve Your Soil with Cover Crops." Mother Earth News October, November 2009: EBSCO web. 20 May 2010.
Starcher, Allison Mia. "Good Bugs For Your Garden". Chapel Hill, NC: Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1995.
Yeomans, Kathleen, R.N. "The Able Gardener". Siloh,Vermont: The Book Press, 1992.