It is fairly easy to grow enough lettuce and kale, carrots, green beans, peppers, cucumbers, and salad tomatoes each summer. But, for me, trying to squeeze the corn (sweet and dry), squash (a couple of varieties), potatoes, and dry beans into the 20 x 30 community garden along with everything else is a frustrating exercise. There just isn’t room to produce more than a quart of black beans, a cup of corn meal, and a half bushel of potatoes. Plus, community gardens are hard to come by. Even if you’re lucky enough to rent more than one, they are adjacent only rarely, and more likely are in separate community garden locations. I am the very definition of a modern urban farmer(al) (forgive me Gilbert & Sullivan; especially for lacking that third syllable): short on land and long on both desire and skill.

Some of us in Amazon have looked longingly at a number of lots with unused open space for years. So, I am sticking my toe into the cloudy pool of farming urge to see what surfaces. Who, out there, is interested in pursuing some neighborhood space to cooperatively grow potatoes, squash, dry beans, and corn?

There is, for instance, a very small rented cottage on a lovely large lot on Potter. I’ve looked up the owner’s address through the property tax records. My letter to the owner will suggest that a group of us would be pleased to farm the lot. This would put us in charge of the lot’s care (excluding the cottage itself) during the growing season. We would pay the water bill during the months we use the water. The owner receives our attention to his or her property, a smaller maintenance fee due to not needing a lawn care service, and more attractive rental situation as we pay the water bill during a portion of the year. Our agreement would include returning the property to lawn and removal of our equipment whenever our arrangement is terminated.

Our physical needs would include some sort of storage building (a used metal utility building on Craigslist would be ideal), two or three copies of basic gardening tools (shovels, garden forks, pitch fork, wheel barrows), and hoses. The first season would be challenging due to the lawn. If we could start in fall or early winter, then we could lay down cardboard and order leaves to create a sheet compost that would eliminate the need for tilling. Or we could have the ground tilled and add compost after the first season. Our inputs would be city leaves, local manure, compost we manufacture, and any soil amendments we wish to purchase.

We would also need an agreement between the farmers. This, of course, is the trickiest aspect. We’ve all had experiences where a few do most of the work. So devising an agreement up front that acknowledges our desire to grow food together in a way that minimizes frustration is as important as deciding our farming method. Everyone would contribute something financially. Work party dates and rotating responsibilities would be assigned. It would be essential to work from an understanding of needs, commitments, and goals, and not from assumptions. Finally, we need a way to evaluate both our achievements and our challenges in order to make decisions about future growing seasons.

So, are there any neighbors out there who desire to be a farmer? I say, let’s farm here, in our neighborhood. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying property, and services are already in place. No need to drill a well (with a tenuous outcome), no need to bring power in, no gigantic vole population to eat every plant in sight, no marauding bears, or even much deer problem. That’s not to say there won’t be other challenges, but here we are, neighbors who have an opportunity to work together to grow more of our own food.

How about it? Please leave a comment at the bottom so others can know your thoughts (discussion is good), and email me if you’re interested.