1. Consumer Oriented Design Garden Project
By: Dale Robbennolt and Kevin Grosman

2. Randolph-Street community Garden
You will be working with randolph street community garden.
Located in northern champaign within a relatively old and poor neighborhood

3. Garden Goals: Ongoing Improve the access to fresh foods for
local families
Provide educational programming
Pass on traditions of healthy living and
gardening
Especially with being in poor area one main goal is to improve access to fresh foods
Have many programs with the intention of providing educational programing to the youth and adults about the benefits of gardening
Another big goal of the garden is to pass on the traditions of healthy living and gardening to the children who live in the area. Does so by targeting younger residents with programs such as “culture club” which I will talk about in next slide

4. Community Involvement
Make the area feel more cohesive
“Culture club” with local church
Arguably the most important role that the garden fills is that provides a community environment intended to make the north end feel cohesive. Does so by creating a venue for outdoor activities for neighborhood families. Not only gardening
Large scale (making everyone feel like a part of a greater cause)
Small scale (individuals meet and become friends)
Culture club with “church of the brethren”
Cook for people in need (such as for TIMES center)
Also benefits community by teaching kids how to cook

5. Physical dimensions 70 Raised Beds with more being added this summer
Beds are typically 4 feet by 16 feet
Between the beds there is typically 3-4 feet
Additional Artichoke bed that is dug out and filled with compost
There is a newly expanded section of the garden that is about ¼ acre
We took the questions that you had previously submitted and created a survey which we gave to Dawn Blackman, the garden director. The physical dimensions of the garden consist of 70 raised beds, that are 4 feet by 15 feet. There is typically about 3-4 feet between the beds and there is also an artichoke garden that is dug into the ground and filled with compost.
There is also a new section of the garden that is about ¼ of an acre and is currently being developed into gardening spaces.

6. Crops Thyme Jalapeno peppers Tomatoes Oregano Red potato Potatoes
Lavender
Dill
Collard
Mustard
Turnip
Swiss chard
Kohlrabi
Raspberries
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Cucumber
Green beans
Sugar snap peas
Carrots
Beet
Jicama
Sweet potato
Garlic
Fennel
Jalapeno peppers
Red potato
Sunflowers
Okra
Bitter melon
Loofa gourd
Summer squash
Eggplant
Asparagus
Bell peppers
As you can see, the garden incorporates many types of crops, all of which have different needs for soil, sunlight, water, growing season, and labor needs. So in defining a point of view and problem it is important to know about what the different needs are in the different areas of the garden.

7. Timeline Start seedlings inside in March Plant in beds in April
Grow throughout the spring and summer through Thanksgiving
Crops are rotated each year
There is little on-site storage for harvested crops so almost everything is given away weekly
Crops go home with growers, into food boxes for donation, or sold at a weekly market
The garden runs through many of the warmer months. Planting begins in march and april and most of the harvest is done by around thanksgiving each year. As the harvest is happening most of the crops have to be sold or given away immediately because there is very little refrigerated space for storage of fresh produce.

8. Water Currently getting City Water through Unit 4 School district
Limited irrigation systems through drip hoses
Water pressure could be an issue in the new expanded sections
The garden is watered daily unless there is at least and inch of rain
Ideally the garden would use water without Chlorine or Fluoride
Currently the garden gets its water through the Unit 4 School District. They use regular faucet water for the most part, watering daily unless there is a lot of rain. The only irrigation system is a limited system of drip hoses, but much of the irrigation is done manually and the hoses must be hauled from place to place in the garden. The garden is also preparing to stand alone, without the support of the school district, so would like a better system of irrigation, preferably one that doesn’t involve chlorine or fluorine.

9. Crops are not certified as organic
but the use of synthetic herbicides,
fertilizers, and pesticides are
prohibited
The soil that is used in the garden is compost either from the garden or compost from the Landscape Recycling Center
The crops in the garden are not certified as organic but there are no herbicides, fertilizers, or pesticides used. The soil that is used comes from compost produced by the garden or from compost from the landscape recycling center.

10. Money
Currently the cost of water is about $200 per month, which is paid for by Unit 4 but the garden is preparing to stand alone
The biggest expense is wood to repair and build new raised beds
The biggest sources of income are Donations and Grants
Portable generator for electricity
There will soon be some solar panels
The biggest cost to the garden is the cost of wood to repair and build new raised beds. The sources of income include Donations and Grants for the garden. And Water usually costs about $200 each month which the garden will soon have to pay for itself. There is also a portable generator for electricity for special events and will soon be some solar panels installed.

11. Volunteers There are about 300 total Volunteers
Mom and Tots Gardeners
½ day Garden Camp
Unit 4 employment programs
There are often special events and parties where large group come to participate in events.
There are many events held at the garden that try to promote community involvement and learning. There is a total of 300 volunteers that come to work in the garden, including groups that come as part of special programs or educational purposes. These include Mom and Tots gardeners, a ½ day garden camp, and a couple of unit 4 employment programs.

12. Garden Goals: Long-term
Establish an honor garden
Install a greenhouse
Establish a sustainable irrigation system
Obtain more land for programs
Establish an honor garden (already in the works) to recognize those who have done significant work towards making the community a better place
Greenhouse to be able to run for more of the year
Irrigation system to make it more sustainable
Want more land for community programs as well as programs with local universities such as U of I. Not only community members relying and interacting with the garden.