I was thrilled to find your website as I’ve been thinking how great it would be to start a project such as yours in my city of Eugene OR. I’m an avid gardener and have been a student of horticulture in years past. I can see alleys as great walking places, community builders, places for art and so much more. If anyone has the time I’d love to know more about how you all started your project, some references, and how you worked with your city to get this started. Please tell me more and I’d be happy to send a small donation to this endeavor. Thanks Sue
This project was fun, and the alleys looked incredible after they were finished. The project was started by a few university students as a thesis project. UNM has a sustainability program that helped with the project. The city was, unfortunately, no help at all on this project. Good luck in Eugene!
Some issues/suggestions that come up are :
1. The homeowners/renters on the alleys should maintain the gardens, but usually fail to do so
2. Attempting to manage people to work on the alley is a difficult problem
3. Try to get local businesses involved, many of the plants/seeds were donated to us, and a local carwash donated soap barrels to be used for rain water harvesting
4. Check your local zoning laws, some cities don’t allow gardens without proper zoning
5. Funding is always an issue, maybe a donation drive would help
I was thrilled to find your website as I’ve been thinking how great it would be to start a project such as yours in my city of Eugene OR. I’m an avid gardener and have been a student of horticulture in years past. I can see alleys as great walking places, community builders, places for art and so much more. If anyone has the time I’d love to know more about how you all started your project, some references, and how you worked with your city to get this started. Please tell me more and I’d be happy to send a small donation to this endeavor. Thanks Sue
Sue,
This project was fun, and the alleys looked incredible after they were finished. The project was started by a few university students as a thesis project. UNM has a sustainability program that helped with the project. The city was, unfortunately, no help at all on this project. Good luck in Eugene!
Some issues/suggestions that come up are :
1. The homeowners/renters on the alleys should maintain the gardens, but usually fail to do so
2. Attempting to manage people to work on the alley is a difficult problem
3. Try to get local businesses involved, many of the plants/seeds were donated to us, and a local carwash donated soap barrels to be used for rain water harvesting
4. Check your local zoning laws, some cities don’t allow gardens without proper zoning
5. Funding is always an issue, maybe a donation drive would help
Good luck!