1. Waterfall Community Garden
Joy O’Neil, MWR
Founder, Kcenia Institute
Sustainability Educator & Consultant
Waterfall Community Garden
Located: 5 miles up county road 203

2. Questions:
Why did you first start this and what is a brief background of the garden?
2. How did you first organize this garden?
3. What are the limitations/challenges of having your type of community/neighborhood garden?
4. What are the future plans of your garden?

3. Why did you first start? Taffy’s vision Enjoyment, socialization
Beautification
Sharing: cook for others, give food to others
Help others: elderly, youth -intergenerational
Community
Sustenance
Land rehabilitation
Food Security
(Notice financial profit is NOT our goal)

4. What is a brief background of the garden?
Several of us jumped on board.
Flier posted neighborhood bulletin board.
Our first year, 3 families.
Now, serve ~50 not including several restaurants.

5. How did you first organize this garden?
Posted a note on the community bulletin.
Held several start up meetings.
Drew up a garden space, tilled, brought in manure, fence, weeding. Collaborative effort.
Donated materials.
Split electricity, tractor, piping and pump costs ~$100 the first year and ~$ every season thereafter

6. Part of organizing was to check out other designs as you are doing here today.

7. What is our type of community Garden?
We split cost for supplies.
We each have our own plot of varying sizes.
We have various models but overarching goal is: to “go beyond the self”; to operate as ecologically, social and economically sustainable as possible.
To support this we: share (with each other and others outside of the garden, teach, grow by organic and/or biodynamic principles, sell - profit goes back to the garden, support, cook for others and most of all we give, give, give.
COLLABORATIVE INDEPENDENCE

8. Pros and Cons to our model?
Independence
Respect for one another’s plots (don’t water someone's unless they ask etc..)
Freedom - Help each other if some one is out of town.
Variety
Share experiences and techniques with one another.
Work on your own schedule (several scheduled events for the “dirty” work”)
Cons (no cons! but, points to remember):
Ensure we all pitch in on weeding, beautification.
Keep an eye on pump.
Helping Taffy when needed
Leave our plot fairly untidy after season so our garden continues to feed Taffy and occasional wildlife.

9. Future plans of your garden?
Buy a new pump.
Add large gate
Revamping our compost pit.
Re-routing our electrical source.
Bring in port a potty?
Need a gas powered weed whacker.
We need more people like Taffy to share their land and replicate this model of community gardening.

10. Understand environment, economics,
A Kitchen & Garden Based Learning Program
July 17th -August 9th
10am-2pm
Animas Valley Grange
Contact:

11. Founder, Kcenia Institute Sustainability Educator & Consultant
Joy O’Neil, MWR
Founder, Kcenia Institute
Sustainability Educator & Consultant