In the early 1980s, the Gardens were restructured like a not-for-profit with a volunteer board. Efforts at the time to obtain a 501(c)(3) designation from the Internal Revenue Service foundered in a sea of never-ending paperwork, says Uhlenbrock. But the Gardens for Nutrition finally hired an accountant last year to rectify the situation, and official not-for-profit status is now pending.
Though enlightened self-interest nowadays plays more of a role in the Gardens’ remarkable longevity, it still takes a village (literally) and a lot of cooperative effort to keep them going. “The Department of Public Works collects leaves and brings frontloaders to turn the piles. Then they move the composted leaf mold down to the end, where the gardeners can collect it and put it through the sifter,” said Uhlenbrock. “We have a very good relationship with the village, and especially with the DPW. This would be very hard to do without that cooperation. We feel very privileged.”
The gardeners are all expected to adhere to certain guidelines if they want to keep their plots, for which there is nearly always a waiting list. You can view the rules on the Gardens for Nutrition website at www.gardensfornutrition.org/garden-rules.html. Besides paying a nominal fee each year – $40 for a full plot, $25 for a half-plot or for seniors – each user must commit to a couple of hours per month of volunteer maintenance work. At least 75 percent of each plot must be kept under cultivation; what you grow can’t unduly shade neighboring patches; and if you let your plot become too unkempt, you stand to forfeit your rights to use the space (after a series of official warnings). “We’ve become very strict about compost and debris piles,” says Uhlenbrock, noting that such deposits provide ideal habitat for voles – the most destructive animal pests visiting the Gardens since a solar-powered electric deer fence was installed around the perimeter about eight years ago.
“All non-organic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and repellants are absolutely prohibited,” say the rules. But it seems almost silly to resort to chemical measures anyway, considering the enormous compost pile a short walk away. And everyone seems to agree that the alluvial soil on the site is great to begin with. “The soil is wonderful. The floods deposit good stuff,” says Arnold Projansky, now in his fourth season at the site. “I knew about these gardens for a long time, but I gardened at home and struggled with the shade. Then one day I took a walk down here, and I was amazed at the fecundity – even late in the season, it was still going strong.”
But the strength of the location is also its greatest weakness: “After the hurricane, this place was underwater for about two weeks. A lot of people got discouraged. We lost about 30 members,” says Gregg Gocha, who also serves on the board along with his wife, Maria Rosales. It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, though, and the next season a new generation of users was quick to snag the abandoned plots; some longtime users actually expanded their plots by renting adjacent ones.
