This blog is dedicated to the process work,
experiments and conversations throughout
Studio Three Industrial Design Project: Savannah's Food Exploration.
These are nots and things I need to remember, but it’s a bit rambling:
Jenny has headed the Healthy Savannah/Excel garden project since the beginning. Her initial idea was easily adopted and the group has since split into teams which Jenny unofficially oversees, ensuring progress is made as planned.
The garden space is placed prominently near the entrance to the community center, which is also on a small lake. The garden itself is a fenced rectangular plot about 40 by 60 feet. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the space was that the garden was so small compared to the space of land it is in the middle of it. Perhaps that was the only space the center wants to maintain, but a bigger plot could do many more things. It’s also frustrating to see that they’re using a large part of the fenced space for wide walkways and borders, not garden.
Planning has been the key issue with this community garden. The team’s challenge was to find a space and make it ready for planting in one month. The 25 Excel teammates divided themselves up into five teams dedicated to planning, design, construction, presentation and analysis, all led by one extremely motivated person, Jenny. Actual construction of the site will be completed after only three or four workdays. On Thursday, February 14, the land was marked out and fence posts were erected. Friday the 15 was spent erecting the fence and a CAT turned the earth to a foot deep and mixed it with rich topsoil. Tuesday the 19th will be the last day of preparation; a city dump truck will unload mulch on the garden and the paths will be established. The following Thursday there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony to complete the city’s contribution to establishing a community garden.
Originally the “design team” planed a blueprint incorporating one large plot (448sq.ft) and six small plots (36 sf) including two benches and a shade covering. The plan has since changed so the garden will be two simple large plots.
Lots of questions arose in the conversation today. Who will be planting here? The community center is in charge of that. How do you get them excited about the garden and how do you spread word of this opportunity so the community can experience it fully? How much has this cost? What are the next steps? What challenges has the team dealt with in the project with people, planning and execution? How is this project going to translate into future endeavors? What’s gone differently than expected? How is it being documented?
Once the building of the garden is complete the presentation team will step in to document the process and deliver it in a stakeholder meeting next week.
The community garden brainstorming meeting at the city’s offices was GREAT. I met some people that are involved in making Savannah healthier and more knowledgeable about their food intake … people that care and are trying to change things.
Discovered that there is in fact a community garden already, and it’s run by UGA’s cooperative extension. And it’s FREE to use. Water is free, land is free and I think they offer free classes in master gardening, fruit growing, et cetera.
This meeting led to a new focus for the project: after the research phase, I will be documenting the progress of the city sponsored garden project to create a business plan and analysis of their process with the intention of creating design ideas to improve their process for future projects. This is a pilot project for the city, and they understand they need a documentation tool that can help them build gardens in Savannah easier and more efficiently in the future, plus add awareness to the projects to get the community actively involved.
Is the only CSA, farm-fresh source of directly distributed fruits and vegetables in southeastern Georgia. The best part is not only their organic and low-impact growing techniques, but the are community oriented, educate and work with other farms, and provide farm share to area residents. No wait, the best part is that on FRIDAY I get my first box of veg! Go see for yourself!
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