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Aurora

I have posted the new fencing regulations for our community garden plots. Your opinions please. We have invested a lot into reusable heavy duty plastic garden fencing as well as 6 foot heavy duty steel stakes, made a locked gate, high strength zip ties, tarps for the pumpkins, platforms and gravity drip water systems. This really sucks!! No water, no compost, constant theft, weeds over my head next to my plots, 7 years and nothing compared to other park districts!
Rules are not followed or enforced and change midstream while gardening. I am dreaming of my own backyard or farmland to rent!

http://bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2017&grower=69118&action=L

3/7/2017 2:48:50 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I grew in a local community garden last summer. They had very few restrictions on what you could do with your plot. I had 6 foot plastic fencing around my area. Anyone that had shorter lost their plot due to deer hopping the fence. Water was supplied, no rules as far as organic or non-organic growing method. I had no problems with anyone messing with my pumpkin plant, even though it was next to a bike path that had many people riding by. Many would stop and chat with me...they would tell me that they have been watching this plant all summer. I enjoyed the experience and am planning to grow there again this summer. Is there any nearby community garden that you can change to BiddyGoat?

3/7/2017 4:23:13 PM

Aurora

Thanks bnot - because signup just started this week, we lost out on most other closer city park district's garden plots. We also just got handed the new regulations this week which were not posted online. We need to find farmland to rent or move to a new city. We have hauled all our water, amended our plots with truck loads of aged compost and made the investments into beefing up the fence and new tarps. Having a four foot fence instead of a six foot is just as bad as no fence in this area. We have seen first hand the vandalism and theft to equipment and veggies we have put our time, money and sweat into growing without a decent fence. We are not allowed any additional objects in the plots, so staking up tomatoes is out! Tarps over watermelons and pumpkins to shade them is out as well. Water containers and irrigation equipment is out! Very frustrating! I found the decisions were made by Park District Executives and the Kane County Forest Preserve, during a discussion this week with them. During my discussion surrounding the garden plots, I found they had not considered reaching out to long term gardeners who are renting the plots year after year and that they really lacked an understanding or background in gardening.

3/11/2017 3:49:08 PM

Aurora

Since we pay taxes to the county to be used also for the Park District and Forest Preserves, we actually double pay by renting those plots. The preserve owns the land and rents it out to the FVPD. We in turn as gardeners rent the plots. I think I am just at a point of not caring anymore since the FVPD doesn't by the little they are willing to do. They allow gardeners to leave weeds to grow over five feet in height which concealed view from the parking lot and road and in turn, two attacks on women have already taken place! Stealing and vandalism constantly occurs and yet, when the FVPD police are called, they do not come out. The city police state that it is the Park District's problem and they will not come out! Park district executives tell us to call them as well, but they never show their faces. Many vehicles have been seen driving into the parking lot of the plots and dumping tree brush, tires, windows, furniture, etc and leaving even though gardeners call the police - no one comes. I have gardened at the Evanston, Lockport Township and Naperville Park District Garden Plots and had a pretty decent experience at each. We moved and thought these new plots would have a similar caring engaged program - not so!

3/11/2017 3:49:29 PM