Tendril Loving Care
Mulch Obliged: Missoula Volunteers Vow to Plant 1,000 New Veggie Gardens
A homegrown network of do-gooders is plotting to bring organic eats and “100-foot diets” to town, a gardening project that could win a national prize -- and seed money.
By Amy Linn, 6-25-09
Got lawns? Yep, most homeowners do, in Missoula and nearly everywhere else. Thanks to a national lawn obsession that has roots deeper than leafy spurge, America holds about 40 million acres of lawns and turf, a vast green carpet that’s a huge source of wasted water, CO2 and air pollution (thanks to gasoline-powered mowers), and toxic run-off from pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers.
Enter former Missoula Redevelopment Agency director Geoff Badenoch, who had an idea this February during a meal with Max Smith, a freshman at the University of Montana: Why not get a group of gardeners, a generous bunch at heart, to help other people grow foods instead of lawns?
The notion took root and grew. By April 26, dozens of volunteers for a new group, 1000newgardens, held a “Dig Day” and helped transform 10 local backyards into food plots, building raised beds, shoveling dirt, and giving advice to homeowners about what to grow where.
Today, the group has about 150 people, from master gardeners to newbies, who offer services for free. Their shared mission: to get healthy food on local tables in the most planet-friendly, affordable way possible.
“The idea is to redevelop the community, grow nutritious foods and create a beautiful place that we can be proud of—a true “garden city,” Smith said. Lawns, he added, are “senseless and unoriginal and unsustainable. Down the line, they’re freakin’ crazy.” (The group’s bywords are “vegetable collaboration in action, reminding you to get off the grass.")
Next year, 1000newgardens hopes to plant 50 gardens; in subsequent years it hopes to get 1,000 gardens in the ground, if not more. But first, there’s money to be won.
The project is one of eight across the U.S. eligible for a $10,000 prize as one of the nation’s best ideas at ideablob.com; the idea with the most online votes wins. (To vote for it, click here; you’ll be asked to register first.)
According to the group’s website (and nicely explained in the above video by Greta Rybus), the money would go to establish “tool and canning libraries, plot sharing, Dig Days, seed ordering and vegetable harvest potlucks, and garden workshops.” It would also support gardening for low-income households and help maintain an interactive blog for all gardeners to share ideas, questions and information.
But prize or no prize, the group intends to flourish, and anyone in Missoula can ask for assistance. If you’d like help this fall or next spring turning a lawn into a vegetable (and fruit) garden, email .
[End of article]This is a great piece. Great idea. And just think: When the marijuana laws are reformed everybody in Missoula will have all that yard space to grow some dope. Missoula could become sort of the Raleigh-Durham of hemp. Kind of like the microbrew revolution. You could go out for the evening for some Moose Drool and a pack of Missoula Gold Bud 100s. Look at it this way. It's a perfect fit. The political-cultural atmosphere of Missoula is conducive to everybody walking around about a foot off the ground anyway. Yeah, pass me one of those Bitterroot Valley Red Filter Kings.
Comment By Kitty, 6-26-09Helping people getting started gardening is a nice idea, and I applaud them. I'm impressed that they're doing this on a tight budget. Our politicians could learn a few things from this group.
However, what I find objectionable is this idea of 'grass is bad.' If homeowners prefer having a lawn instead of a garden, that's their business. I suspect as cap and trade is passed and unemployment rises, more and more people will find the time and incentive to raise their own food. In the meantime, they're keeping farmers in business.
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The More Local Food the better! I'll make sure to vote for these guys at ideablob.com and I hope many people vote for their idea by the end of the month!
Comment By Nate Watson, 6-28-09As one of the test plots for their start up year I want to say how great 1,000 New Gardens has been. They have continued to help me with ideas and advice! Its a wonderful idea that is focused around helping others! Thanks allot for everything and your continued support! I would love to see this program grow with our community!
Comment By George Wuerthner, 6-30-09One of the interesting facts that most people do not appreciate is that it doesn't take much land to feed our country. Most of our prime ag land isn't growing food for people, but food for livestock. The total acreage of all vegetables grown in the US is little more than 3 million acres. Fruits and other orchard crops take in another 4-5 million acres. So imagine if that 40 million acres of lawns were converted to growing food, we'd not only be able to feed ourselves, but a lot of other folks as well.
The real message is that eating large quantities of meat has a lot of negative impacts--bad for human health, bad for the land, bad for the climate (methane releases from cattle).
So go for it Missoula, plant a lot more lawn to gardens.
I lived in France for 4 years where they do not have the land to waste in "grass gardens" while needlessly wasting high price gasoline mowing laws once a week. This idea makes so much sense that there will be folks--with a particular point of view--who will claim that this is a socialistic communistic movement designed to destroy industrial agriculture!
This article was printed from www.newwest.net at the following URL: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/can_missoula_volunteers_help_plant_1000_veggie_gardens/C8/L8/