Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Thank you all for your solutions. Our community gardens are so large and
already compromised by flooding from two sources. This will add even
another but the contamination is the thing. If the flood waters contain dog
excrement, then all is lost.
The flood waters come into our gates and also through the fence. You
cannot believe how big eight and one half acres of gardens is. There are a few
meetings coming up this coming week and I have pictures of what the floods
cover. Having to test 300 20 feet by 30 ft. gardens would be an
impossible task.

This park has miles of park land that could be used for a Dog Park. Why
next to a beautiful community garden that serves to feed the poor and hungry
of Long Beach?

Time will tell. The Long Beach Audubon Society and the Long Beach Nature
Center, all impacted by this, will also be opposing this.

Again, thank you all for your input. It is food for thought and I will
pass it on to those of us who are spear heading this task.

Jim, thank you also for your help.

Will keep you posted.

Joanne


In a message dated 10/27/2011 6:28:11 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
bernardbailey1@verizon.net writes:

Dear JoAnne, Would it be possible to line your fence with sandbags or a low
berm that would route the runoff around your gardens and to another area?
Bernie

From: _MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com_
(mailto:MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com)
[mailto:_MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com_
(mailto:MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com) ] On Behalf Of Jim Kennard
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 9:21 AM
To: _MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com_
(mailto:MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com)
Subject: [MittleiderMethodGardening] Long Beach, California Community
Garden
- Problem with Runoff from Dog Park

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

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

• New Members 5