I have the good fortune of living on a fairly large plot of fertile land just outside Tai Peng Old Village and have had the idea of turning a portion of it into a community shared garden. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_garden As my landlord is amenable to the idea, I'm pretty serious about going ahead with it.

I'm wondering if there would be much interest out there in participating in such a shared project? As I'm relatively new to gardening in Hong Kong it would be especially important for an experienced local gardener to be involved in its organisation. Any interest?

Lots of info here about community gardening: http://www.cityfarmer.org/

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

I think it is a great idea! It would be a nice way for new residents of Lamma to meet people, as well. You can count me in.

Sounds good - I'd be interested to hear more details, as I'm not familiar with the concept.

Cool!

Well, we're off to a roaring start then

community garden - basic ingredients:

-people who labour together to organise the creation of the whole garden
-people who participate by just having a plot
-some agreed upon decision making process
-a little piece of land to use
-some basic resources, a bit of lumber, hose, wire fence (perhaps), etc.
-tools, seeds, water, etc
-heart

In a nutshell, community shared gardens are usually formed with a core group of committed participants who create a board, this could be formal or informal I suppose. In Canada, they would usually create a legally registered non-profit society, and roles would be official. Here in HK, I'm not sure what vehicles are available - have to do some research. Perhaps a group might agree to govern itself without any legal red tape. Often these boards would try be quite 'level' in structure, governing as much by consensus as possible.

Basically you get a piece of land and then divide it up into plots. Often raised beds are constructed. Individual plots might be , say, 2m by 1.5 m in area. Of course this would be decided by the group. The piece of land in question is across the path from the swamp out past the public toilets, so water is readily available. The soil is rich - years ago the spot had been used as a vegetable garden by my landlord's mother. There would be some initial labour required to clean up the area, level the land and build the raised beds. People who 'rent' plots would pay some relatively low fee that would go towards the ongoing maintenance of the whole garden, buying goodies for occassional garden parties, bbq's etc.

Of course, community shared gardens are about growing flowers and vegetables, but I think they're even more about building community relationships. The community that grows with a garden, along with its flowers and butterflies, is its heart. They're great for kids as well, and create a sort of 'third place' where people can meet regularly and socialise while they tend their own garden plot.

We're coming into the hotter part of the year, so it might not be the best time to start, but it would give lots of time for things to be well organised by the beginning of next fall/winter gardening season.

If your interested, please pm me with contact information. We could schedule an initial meeting sometime in the coming couple of weeks. I imagine a Sunday might be best for most folks?

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

Over the hills and dales in distant Pak Kok they've had one of these community cultivation things going for some time - you might get some tips from them...

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Let's get together and have a meeting!

How about this coming Sunday (April 29th) at my place, which is adjacent to the potential garden area.

How about 5:00pm? If you think this isn't a good time please suggest an alternative and either reply to this message or pm me to say you're coming.

I live at 75 Tai Peng Old Village.

-climb the hill to Tai Peng
-turn right and walk past the store
-continue walking - within a minute you will pass a public toilet, which will be on your right
-enter the first gateway past the toilets on your right hand side
-continue past the first building to the second house
-it's on the ground floor

There is a map attached:
-the store mentioned above is #9
-my house is #75

Please call if you have questions:
2982 2924

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

Just moved into Tai Peng. Have limited experience of growing in HK central on a roof. But learning all the time. Very interested in this idea, but hope you havent got your eye on the plot right in front of the toilet as I have grand designs?

Nope - different spot.
But, just out of interest, what are your 'grand designs' for the toilet??

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

The above advertised meeting will be held the following week on May 06 th instead.

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

A reminder
The Tai Peng Community Shared Garden will have its first meeting this Sunday at 5:00 pm (May 06).

Same address as above: 75 Tai Peng Old Village - see above map.

Some interesting websites:

Hong Kong Cropping Calendar http://journeytoforever.org/garden_calhk.html

Agriculture and Fisheries' Guide to the Formation and Registration of Co-operative Societies - http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/agricult ... r_sim.html

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

Tai Peng Community Shared Garden

Second Organizational Meeting:
Date/ time: Sunday, May 20th at 5:00pm
Place: 75 Tai Peng Old Village.

• climb the hill to Tai Peng
• turn right and walk past the store
• continue walking - within a minute you will pass a public toilet, which will be on your right-hand side.
• enter the first gateway past the toilets (red brick) on your right hand side
• continue past the first building to the second house
• it's on the ground floor

I haven't worked out an agenda, but I would suggest we consider discussing the following issues:

1) forming a cooperative
2) any formal legal considerations such as liability insurance, writing up a lease for the land.
3) brainstorming ideas for the garden layout.
4) developing a timeline
5) anything else. . . . . .???

Please call if you have questions:
2982 2924
9192 7067

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

Tavis, please don't hesitate to ask for some free publicity for this wonderful project!

You can get on the home page anytime, as soon as you'd like some more people involved. The Lamma-zine has a far larger readership and distribution than these forums and would attract more people to your initiative.
Let me know when you're ready, as you seem to have enough people for now to get it off the ground. All the best!

I hope we'll see some of you hobby gardeners at the yearly ABLE tree planting next Sunday, May 27, up in the "Lamma Forest"?

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Thanks Lamma Gung,
Well, once there's something to come and photograph, or maybe when we know we are going to have a well attended meeting (which might not be today due to the rain), then that would be great. Once the garden gets really going (in September I think) there will likely be more people wanting to get involved than the space can accommodate. So, publicity might not be necessary, but it would be nice for other Lammaites to know what's going on up the mountain here

_________________
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead