Winter 2006 The Community Gardener Newsletter

The American Community Gardening Association’ s 1 A Garden Preservation Success Story 2 ACGA President- Elect’s Message 3 A Handy Guide to Not Growing Radishes 4 Building Community in the “Off” Season 5 Book Review Gardening When It Counts 6 Bulletin Board 7 OH Conference MI Conference Board of Directors 8 National Summit on Garden Policy 9 A Who’s Who in the Gardening World 10 Seeking Garden Mosaics Weed Watchers 11 Magazines and More to Check Out 12 Give the gift of ACGA INSIDE THIS ISSUE Growing Community through Gardening and Greening Across the U.S. and Canada The Community Gardener Last summer a news story circulated on the ACGA listserv regarding the pending sale of public land in Burlington’s Intervale, the city’s prime agricultural area and home of the Tommy Thompson Community Garden, the largest community garden in Vermont. The five-acre garden site was first marked out in 1979 by Tommy Thompson, who founded Gardens for All, predecessor of the National Gardening Association. Thompson hoped that a well managed community garden would be the first step in restoring the Intervale flood plain as a vital agricultural resource for the people of Burlington. The following spring, the Intervale Community Garden opened with 20 garden plots, 25 feet by 30 feet each. Gardeners were required to use organic gardening methods, which at the time was considered revolutionary. By 1988, when the site was renamed in honor of its founder, the community garden had grown to 80 plots. Today there are 150 plots serving an estimated 500 people who walk, bicycle, and drive down an urban dirt road to reach the fertile site. Tommy Thompson had a dream that community gardens could have long term security. He negotiated a 20 year lease with the Burlington Electric Department, which had purchased the land a few years earlier. In subsequent years, B.E.D. leased additional acreage in the flood plain to the nonprofit Intervale Center, which subleased the fertile fields to organic farmers. When B.E.D. determined in 2006 that some of its Intervale holdings were not needed for future power generation, public service guidelines stipulated that the utility should sell the land for the benefit of ratepayers. With the blessing of city officials, the Intervale Center applied for a $200,000 grant to purchase 199 acres of agricultural fields and wetlands from B.E.D. As a condition of the sale, an easement would be established to conserve the land in perpetuity. While the proposed sale was deemed a positive move for the city’s organic farmers, the situation with the Tommy Thompson Community Garden was not as straightforward. The initial (Continued on page 11) Easement preserves T ommy Thompson Community Garden by Jim Flint, Friends of Burlington Gardens, Burlington, Vermont WINTER 2006 Volume V Issue IV Tommy Thompson circa 1980 SAVE THE DATE ACGA’s 28th Annual Conference August 9-12, 2007 Boston, MA

Winter 2006 The Community Gardener Newsletter

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