There's lots of unused properties that belong to the City of Greensboro close to where I live in Northeast Greensboro. Some of my neighbors came to me a few days ago and asked if I would help with building a neighborhood vegetable garden on one or more of these City owned properties. You see, they see my gardens and wish they could do the same but as many of the properties are rental properties with too many trees their yards won't grow many vegetables. Besides, I have the only working garden tiller for several blocks around.
Of course, I said yes. I've dreamed nights of borrowing an old friend's bulldozer and pushing down many of the empty houses in the neighborhood for the sole purpose of converting the land to farming and even though I'm sure my friend would loan me his bulldozer the land isn't mine so that really isn't an option. (There's this one spot I picked out for a farm pond right where the liquor house operated with a steady stream of water flowing right to it year 'round.)
Like me, several of my neighbors have chickens and while they grow gardens their attempts are... well... pathetic. For without ample sun and soil, gardening is hard to do. But that rotted chicken poop sure does make really great fertilizer! And believe it or not, there are horse farms all over Guilford County who will give away their rotted horse manure if you load it yourself or load it on your pick-up for just $5. All you can haul.
Of course, like me they are for the most part broke. We would need a chain link fence to lock out poachers. I know where to buy good used chain link fencing for pennies on the dollar but we have no pennies. I also know where to get great used food grade water storage tanks for cheap and building a simple gravity fed system to collect rainwater to water the garden is a snap. I've used nothing but rainwater on my gardens for many years now.
But alas, I fear I might have caused my neighbors some problems. You see, with my many attacks on City Council I fear Council might take out on my neighbors what is meant for me so I wanted to set the record straight. I will help my neighbors with their neighborhood garden should they decide to do it but the garden isn't for me as I already have more than enough garden to fill all my family's needs. So please, if by chance my name comes up, don't hold that against my neighbors. I'm just there to help because I know how and because I have a mentor with 70 years of gardening experience. Many of them have young families and they are not responsible for my actions. And in hard times like these they need every chance they can get to pull themselves up.
You see, this is in-fact, the absolute cheapest form of economic development a city can provide.
