Sharing Space

Some people do not have their own space upon which to grow food. Some of these people want to get involved in taking it back to local, and want to grow some of their own food. Some people have more space than they are using. Some of these people are willing to share a piece of their space for community outreach to allow the space-have-nots to be space-sharers.

Did you get all that? I was part of #sustagchat last night on Twitter, and while some of the views did not completely mesh with mine, I learned some new things and met some new people. One of the things I learned, from one of the people with whom I somewhat disagree on which avenue will take us to success, is the idea of space sharing. The part that I do admire is her site called hyperlocavore.com and her support of yard sharing.

Now, this is not a *new* idea. People have been sharing space since the nomadic days, and have been living together in communes at least since the days of free love. But the new twist on the idea is that the group wishing to find land is not traveling around together looking for it, nor looking to rent or lease it to live together. Individuals are looking to help individuals. People who have yards are converting them to "edible landscapes" and sharing some of that garden space with others. People who have rural land are also sharing garden space. People who have no balcony, roof space, or other yard or land are looking to plant a bit of seed on a neighbor's yard.

This takes the simple sharing the bounty from your garden one step further by allowing someone else to grow some items in your garden space as well. They are allowed to come and tend it as needed. I did a search on Twitter for #sharing, and I came up with a good site called Garden Sharing. It explains more about who is participating in this trend, and how you could become involved. It would be nice if it became more than a "hipster" or "indie" trend. If we all speak with our consumer dollars and go back to the earth ourselves, we can successfully achieve thriving local economies and food safety by knowing the farmer who grew our food.

Sharing a bit of your yard shows an awfully big sharing and giving spirit,
yes?