Is the community garden becoming the must-have amenity?

Pendergrast Farm a farm conservation society in the Briarcliff Woods neighborhood Provided by Pendergrast Farm Drive or walk past a newer housing society and you ll notice a new category of green-minded amenities These days more people want sustainability and housing communities are accommodating this must-have by including energy-efficient appliances organic landscaping using recycled and salvaged building materials and incorporating walkability and access to residents transit As more eco-conscious communities gain momentum around the country amenities such as pools and fitness centers just don t seem to cut it anymore Particular Metro Atlanta apartment complexes and housing communities are going beyond the traditional amenities building shared garden spaces and even farms into the residential package While public gardens aren t exactly new the privatization of such an amenity brings fresh context to agrarianism Rooftop gardens and on-site farms are two types of modern and urban public garden spaces you might find within newer apartment and housing complexes Although idealistic in theory establishing a group garden requires navigating a share of establishment hang-ups Even if the plots or bounty are intended for semi-public use population gardens can only legally exist on private land Houses of worship and schools sometimes offer private land as a workaround Take the Leila Valley Locality Farm in Southeast Atlanta for example which was planted on former housing land that s now the property of Valley View Church of God in Christ across the street Spelman College s Conquest Garden also serves the group and acts as an outdoor classroom for its food studies initiative as do public gardens at Emory University and Georgia Tech Community-run farms didn t really exist in Metro Atlanta years ago That changed in with the launch of East Lake Commons a conservation region clustered around historic farmland straddling East Atlanta and Decatur Each of the properties within the group owns a portion of the fully functioning organic five-acre Gaia Gardens farm which includes a greenhouse two high tunnels a pond a complete irrigation system tractors a blueberry orchard and a group garden plot for East Lake Commons residents Related Story Brookhaven residents grow into new group garden An aerial view of Gaia Gardens at East Lake Commons Provided by East Lake Commons Gaia Gardens Five years later the public took over supervising and running Gaia Gardens But the society doesn t manage the day-to-day farm operations The East Lake Commons Property Owners Association POA leases the land to a farmer or pair of farmers for a year The POA is presently on its sixth contract in exchange for a population supported agriculture CSA venture The CSA model ensures farmer compensation no matter how the growing season turns out Without this structure a farmer could go under in a handful of years Any surplus produce can be sold at farmers markets or via a tent on the property itself providing added income to the farmer s In addition to financial assurance Gaia Gardens farmers reap irreplaceable industry knowledge that sustains their subsequent projects Notable Gaia Gardens alumni include Daniel Parson farmer and educator at Emory s Oxford College Organic Farm and Joe Reynolds and Judith Winfrey founders of Love is Love Cooperative Farm in Mansfield It s been a great training ground for people to either learn farming or upgrade their farming skills and have a minimal capital financing noted Karen Minvielle East Lake Commons resident and -year garden committee member We re only a three-minute drive from downtown Atlanta A lot of places don t know we exist A generation later Gaia Gardens impact on Atlanta is undeniable Farmers markets flourish throughout the metro area and organic produce has proliferated increasing physical and financial access to healthy food More Atlantans prioritize local agriculture and sustainability and private living communities and apartment complexes have taken notice incorporating those values into key locality amenities Related Story Atlanta turns to the soil to tackle food insecurity Via Signal House Instagram Ponce City Arena s Signal House on the Eastside Beltline transformed extra rooftop space into a garden that residents are welcome to use Signal House residents have the option to join a free garden club and the property managers use resident feedback to determine which crops to grow In addition to unobstructed sunlight the rooftop garden at Signal House also benefits from its location where pests such as deer squirrels and rabbits cannot access Lisa Fisher who moved to Signal House last November is an enthusiastic member of the garden club Although convenience and proximity to her workplace were her primary draws to Signal House Fisher can t deny the appeal of the rooftop garden in her decision to move there especially since maintenance of it is shared Fisher may have had the space for a garden at her house in the suburbs but she declared she lacked the time necessary to maintain it Pendergrast Farm a not long ago constructed farm and conservation population in Briarcliff Woods takes a slightly different approach Along with Serenbe miles south of Atlanta Pendergrast is one of two farm conservation communities in Georgia East Lake Commons rather is a co-housing society that holds sustainability as one of its founding tenets The whole idea behind a conservation society is to build new houses to build a society but to do it in such a way that we preserve as much of the natural circumstances as doable reported Candace Fuqua broker and owner at Avenue Realty Metro in Decatur Built on family land energy-efficient houses are grouped together void of large lawns in exchange for a one-acre working organic farm acres of undeveloped woodland space and a half-mile walking trail Additional eco-conscious amenities include a saltwater pool shared lawn space and locality center with room to house overnight guests Developers Dennis McConnell Healthy House of Georgia and Greg Ramsey Village Habitat Design also considered the farm plot s economic sustainability The business concern is that no one can make money on a farm McConnell noted who is also a Pendergrast Farm resident You don t see any rich farmers unless they re big industrial combine kinds of things Pendergrast s response was to create a financially sustainable farming position through a CSA campaign The district hired farmer Vincent McKoy a HABESHA Works Venture graduate with more than six years of experience McKoy who specializes in sustainable agriculture and has worked for Eco-Paradigm leases the farmland and has the option to live in an adjacent apartment space at the moment under construction But new eco-friendly developments don t come cheap Pendergrast homes are all ADA-accessible range from to square feet and start at million Rent for a one-bedroom apartment at Signal House starts at while a two bedroom apartment starts at Meanwhile a three-bedroom two-bath home at East Lake Commons which includes a portion of Gaia Gardens is just shy of However these sustainability initiatives may be the very feature that first attracted residents to such communities Minvielle explained that East Lake Commons sustainability initiatives appealed to a large number of residents including her own family before deciding to buy a home there We had this fabulous fund right in our backyard she announced My daughters grew up knowing where carrots are grown They just don t appear in the grocery store in a plastic bag Related Story Renovated Wylde Center gardens reopen in Oakhurst Aerial shot overlooking Gaia Gardens and East Lake Commons toward Glenwood Avenue Provided by East Lake Commons Gaia Gardens Gaia Gardens farmer Stephanie Simmons at the beginning of this year s carrot harvest Provided by East Lake Commons Gaia Gardens Pendergrast resident Ming Han Chung co-owner of Minhwa Spirits in Doraville agrees with Minvielle The farm and conservation efforts offered as part of the Pendergrast residential package appealed to Chung and his family Vincent McKoy s CSA isn t cheap but we all want it to succeed stated Chung We all bought into this neighborhood with that being part of it Chung and McConnell add that Pendergrast is full of chefs and food lovers One resident for instance is a Thai chef who frequently makes and gifts mango sticky rice to her neighbors We all get random food all the time Chung commented Over at East Lake Commons Minvielle cites a number of work party opportunities that allow residents to gather and get involved with the garden Events range from chores like mulching tomatoes to larger group operations including installing the irrigation system at Gaia Gardens We ve had farm dinners that specific of the farmers hosted using locally grown produce in addition to their own produce bringing in a local chef setting up long tables around the farm and serving a literal farm-to-table meal right there Minvielle mentioned of specific of the other area events at Gaia Gardens More than a year into Pendergrast Farm s existence McKoy is still testing the land s terrain calling farming a series of trials and errors One segment houses a foreseen fig orchard centered around an archway encouraging miniature watermelon vines Kale grows in tandem with bug-deterring herbs an organic alternative to pesticides It s been great to see the evolution of the farm and locally grown organic produce as a whole in metro area Minvielle commented of Gaia Gardens and living in East Lake Commons Sustainability and healthy organic food have become much more popular than they were years ago The post Is the society garden becoming the must-have amenity appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta