Micanopy Community Garden Gets Underway

Last year, Transition Micanopy partnered with Donni Young of nearby McIntosh and broke ground on a Micanopy Community Garden site with a goal to supply growing space and the availabilty of locally grown organic produce to its citizens and a special desire to help supply fresh healthy food alternatives to nearby families in need.

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Several months ago, several of us built a make shift bamboo and palm frond structure for material storage!

Our first sheet mulching and composing work day

Our first member, Ed Geers, planted collard greens for the children of a family living next door to the garden!

it's starting to look like a garden, right?

The following picture shows keyhole garden beds prepped by volunteers to be planted with produce for donation to local families in need.

We are trying to do this on a little to no budget. So far, all of our materials have been donated by transition members and those have given us a great start but we still need as much as we can get. We will eventually set up a permanent compost collection drop-off spot on the property. For now, anyone interested in donating any composting materials such as bags of leaves, manure, food scraps, etc. can contact us by email at transitionmicanopy@gmail.com to make arrangements. Our immediate goal is to rebuild the severely depleted soil by incorporating large amounts of organic matter. Last month, the first garden members planted their beds and we have plenty of room for more! Check back for updated photos of our progress!

What’s this all about?

It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change? The Transition Towns website admits: “We truly don’t know if this will work. Transition is a social experiment on a massive scale. What we are convinced of is this: if we wait for the governments, it’ll be too little, too late; if we act as individuals, it’ll be too little; but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.” It’s hard to imagine a more visionary yet practical approach to the dire challenges that face us in the years ahead.

It’s Official!!

Micanopy, Florida was recently recognized as the 60th Official Transition Initiative in the United States and the first in the State of Florida!  What an accomplishment.  We began holding monthly meetings in January 2010 and formed a core committee of 8 dedicated individuals that will serve as a steering group for the initial phases of transitioning to a more local, resilient community.