Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Thank you Jim, from the bottom of my heart. I am about to do battle and
do not want to lose this one for fear that it will be the end of the very
expensive community garden. It cost $600,000 to build and they want to
destroy it for dogs. Dear Lord, please give me strength. Keep us in your
prayers.

Love,
Joanne


In a message dated 10/27/2011 9:20:50 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
jbkennard@foodforeveryone.org writes:

Group: Please consider the following from our "resident disease expert"
Joanne, who is troubled with a problem faced by her Community Garden. Thanks,
Jim Kennard

Dear Jim,
For several years now, I have been giving advice to the group regarding
disease and pest control. Now I need some input from all of the group as to a
problem we are having at our community garden.

The Department of Parks has decided to put a Dog Park on the other side of
our fence. We will be sharing the fence and that would be fine except,
that parcel of land, when it rains (and we get very big rains here that flood
us) floods us regularly. That means that when it rains, we will be getting
contaminated water into a great many of our garden plots. Water that will
carry every disease that dogs carry in their feces.

We have tried to bring this health issue to their attention but they are
adamant that this Dog Park is going to be there. We are not against a Dog
Park. Just the location.
IF our El Dorado Regional Park did not encompass miles and miles of park,
I could see why they are insistent on locating it where they want to. But,
they are insistent and will not listen to anything we have to say.

Dog excrement carries many diseases. Even though they say they will grade
the area so that there will not be run off into our gardens, there is still
potential for that run off to happen. Twice they have promised us that
there would not be run off into our community gardens and twice, it has failed
and we are flooded with every rain.

Jim, please put this letter out to the group. I am hoping they can give us
some ideas on this. The uncertainty of contamination of our gardens is of
great concern to me.
It seems like insanity to even think of putting a Dog Park next to
vegetable gardens especially when the chance of contamination is one hundred
percent. The fact that they will not even listen to us makes me wonder why they
think dogs are more important than the health of people.

The sad part is that we, as a community garden, feed the poor. We deliver
to the missions and shelters every day. How can we safely do that knowing
that our vegetables could carry disease?

Thank you, Jim.

As Ever,
Joanne

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