40,000 People; One grocery store!

Sharing Gardens Reaches Beyond Oregon

Here is an email we just received from someone who saw the Peak Moment TV interview about the Sharing Gardens on YouTube. We wish to extend our sincere thanks to all the many supporters near and far who have nurtured the program up to this point. Here is evidence that our effort reaches out beyond our own small community. We wanted to share our excitement with you all.

Scenic Chester, Pennsylvania!

Hello Chris and Llyn.

First of all, please accept my thanks for being the "break-through" people in trailblazing this idea.  I wish I had the words to describe how my heart leapt when I watched your video on Peak Moment.  I have been reaching out (metaphorically speaking) launching my faith in hopes that what I am supposed to do and be in this world will come to me.  I believe it has.  I love gardening.  I feed my family from our small garden.  And last year, I was able to give a lot of food away.  I have been praying for an opportunity to share that will incorporate my love of gardening.  I believe this is it.

Our city, Chester, PA, is a very poor and declining city.  We have one supermarket in the entire city of 40,000 people.  And although there is a state of the art soccer facility and Harrah's Casino in our town, the people struggle to eat.  The majority of our residents rely on government help to feed their families.  For the first time in the many years I have lived here, I see people begging for food or money. 

There is also an abundance of vacant land in the city.  I believe a sharing garden will serve to feed many hungry people and aid in the revitalization of the city.

You mentioned your willingness to help folks who have a heart for such a revolutionary idea.  That would be me.  If you would consider mentoring me, I would love to share your vision here in our dear city.

A. Costa

Click on image for link to map of Chester, PA

It appears that the "Sharing Gardens" website has been translated into Russian!? (Click Here) Our site is being linked to other sites all over the world.

Happy Birthday! - Sharing Gardens

Dustin digging onions

The "Sharing Gardens" turned "two" on April 15th! Hard to believe it's only been that long...This past few weeks we've been dodging raindrops and spending time transplanting and preparing beds with the trust that sunnier weather is on its way. Our young friend Dustin McClintock showed up to help us dig up the last few onions that wintered over. We always appreciate his willing smile and "can-do" attitude!

Doreen transplanting

Doreen Millar managed to join us a few times already this season. She and her husband Rann were some of our most dedicated volunteers last year. Here she is transplanting out a few lettuce plants. The slugs are getting plump on many of our early transplants. It's a good thing we have many more at "The Ark" - greenhouse - awaiting their turn to be planted out.

4-H Giveaway

We enjoyed our time at the 4-H Giveaway on Saturday, April 16th. Chris and I brought a whole table-full of starts: broccoli, lettuce, kale, spinach, amaranth and sunflowers. It was fun to see the smiles of people taking their free "starts" home for their own gardens. The young people in Christie Warden's 4-H group did a beautiful job of putting on the event. They volunteered their time to set up, be there for the day and clean up the leftovers. It felt good to see all these young people being in service to their community.

Many of our wishes have been granted (we'll write up a thank-you blog soon!). Take a look at our current wish-list to see if there's anything you can help us with:

Our Current Wish List

Christie Warden - 4H leader and Ismael Ramos, one of the young people in her group.

The "Sharing Gardens" is on Peak Moment TV!

On August 8, 2010 we were visited at the Alpine site by Janaia Donaldson and Robyn Malgren of Peak Moment TV, a traveling video-production team that focuses on issues related to our currently challenging times. You can watch this 28 min. video online at

www.peakmoment.tv, or listen to the audio file here: audio (Peak Moment Conversation 193).

"Sharing Gardens - Giving and Receiving"

More than a community garden, this sharing garden provides fresh produce for all who've contributed to it, with surplus going to the local food bank. Coordinators Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody note that with one large plot rather than separate plots, the Sharing Gardens enable more efficient food production — from watering to optimizing for pollinators. They share tips for getting started, garden planning, communicating with volunteers, garden practices like deep mulch, and especially the joy of giving without expecting a return. [www.alpinegarden.blogspot.com]

Peak Moment: Locally Reliant Living for Challenging Times is an online television series with people creating resilient lives and communities for a more sustainable, lower-energy future. Peak Moment TV is cross-pollinating the most challenging shift in human history — an energy transition away from fossil fuels to sustainable living. 193 programs are online at www.peakmoment.tv/conversations, where DVDs can be ordered. They are available by download to all community access TV stations nationwide. Peak Moment Television is produced by Robyn Mallgren and Janaia Donaldson, Yuba Gals Independent Media of Nevada City, California.