How to get a plot

On Saturday a new resident across the street from the community garden asked me how to get a plot there. Many of my friends have also asked how to get a community garden plot in Portland, OR. Here's how I did it:

Look at the Portland Parks and Recreation site. They have a map of community gardens. Pick a few that are not too far away from you. Phone them or email them. Remember, community plots are like gold dust. Be prepared to wait. Unfortunately, no plots were available in my preferred gardens but they offered me a plot further away. It's manageable by bike (30 minutes), better by car. At least I'm gardening. I jumped at the chance.

Some statistics

In absence of any real work and the presence of rain, here are some stats about the garden plot.

• Plot dimensions: 10' width x 22' length (3m x 6.7m)
• USDA Hardiness Zone: 8/9
• Zone according to How to grow a thriving vegetable garden: 5, with 240-280 frost-free days, last spring frost date 5-20 March
• According to the Oregon State Extension Service: 150- to 250-day season
• Last usual frost date according to the guy from Garden Fever: early-mid May

Hopefully digging in some fertilizer next week, and getting rid of some more of the weeds.

Oh joyous day!

Today - after some failed starts - I received my registration papers for my community garden plot (that's an allotment for Brits or Schrebergarten for Germans) in North-East Portland, OR. Finally! I suppose the office is staffed by volunteers and my emails have just been falling through the cracks. Receiving it almost became an obsession - every time the mail came I was perking up, just to have my hopes dashed every day.

I am quite excited about my first community garden experience and have been looking through gardening books and seed catalogues for the past few weeks now. I have grown vegetables in the past, so I kind of know what to go for and how much to plant. But it will be fun to throw in an "experiment" just to see. I will also have to adapt to gardening in the Pacific NW, which is similar to SW UK in climate but not quite the same. For one, it gets much hotter and drier in summer here.

So there you have it. This blog will chronicle my experiences gardening, warts (slugs?) and all.