Gardening Together: Growing More Than Veggies

By: Karen Phillips | June 23 2010
Posted in Rogue Valley - Grow It - Rogue Valley

The scene: a bright, spacious kitchen in Grants Pass, Oregon in the fall of 2009. Counters are piled high with tomatoes, garlic, peppers and herbs. A 7-year old, with a bit of adult supervision, is working the food processor. Neighbors spread out along the counter, chopping vegetables and laughing, and a pot full of canning jars rattles away on the stove.

This congenial scene has its roots (as it were) in a conversation between my neighbors and me earlier in the year. Each of us was lamenting the shortcomings of our vegetable gardens. Our yards were too small, too shady, too hot; the soil was too sandy or too heavy. Gradually, we realized the solution to our dilemmas was to be found right on our street. We could open our garden spaces up to one another – and create a series of small “neighborhood gardens.”

With this decision, all the problems of our individual gardens became suddenly became assets. A too-shady yard suddenly offered a great place to grow leafy greens throughout our hot Southern Oregon summers; a large unused yard became a space for growing all those big, sprawly plants – pumpkins, melons, winter squash – that most suburban gardens don’t have room for. And the problematic small yard with heavy clay soil was actually a great place to grow enough Genovese basil to supply the whole neighborhood with fresh-made pesto.

Photo: Karen Philips

Many Hands Make Light Work

The benefits of gardening with neighbors are many. To begin with, it’s a lot of fun! An enthusiastic work crew is always close at hand, so garden chores that would normally take the better part of the day – like soil preparation, installing drip systems and weeding – only take a few hours. The often-daunting task of canning gallons of salsa, beans and stewed tomatoes at the end of the harvest season suddenly turns into a neighborhood party, with everyone from 7-year-olds to 70-year-olds pitching in to help. At the end of the evening, everyone goes home with armfuls of freshly canned food to stock our winter pantries.

Happily, our adventure in gardening with neighbors is still going strong in 2010. The tomatoes are growing, blueberries are ripening and the asparagus season is almost over. And in typical neighborhood garden fashion, a recent afternoon of pea and broccoli picking turned into a spontaneous potluck dinner. Because a well-tended neighborhood garden does more than grow great vegetables, it grows a great sense of community!

Have you gardened with your neighbors? What tips would you share?