Sharing Garden Spaces In The City

A couple of months ago, I was alerted to this article in the Washington Post about, essentially, a Match.com for gardeners and gardens. SharingBackyards.com connects city-folk living in apartments or small spaces with those who have yard space and are willing to share. The Post has a follow-up today about one particular success from the site, and that space in the photo? Yes, indeed, that is this writer's backyard.

Since moving into my small fixer-upper rowhouse in Columbia Heights, I've renovated most of the inside, but the yard (one of the reasons I bought the place) has remained neglected due to lack of time and funds on my part. SharingBackyards, then, seemed like a brilliant plan. I put an "ad" up with my neighborhood, size of my yard, and any restrictions and/or requirements I had if someone were to use it. Within a week I had a few inquiries, but the first was from Luke Hall (who manages the 14th and U Farmers' Market) and Douglas Hopper. They came over to scope the yard out, and within a few weeks they had built three garden boxes sprouting with life.

I did make one small investment -- installing a spigot they could use; it was something I'd intended to do anyway, but just didn't have the motivation to get done before. Now I get to see my backyard grow into something more than a plot of weeds during the summer (I certainly don't mind that they do some occassional weed whacking around the rest of the space), along with a few tomatoes and peppers from their harvest, while Hall and Hopper get a big space to grow whatever they want within a short bike ride from their apartment. You can keep up with Hall and Hopper's garden on their blog, The New Urban Sharecroppers.

It's free to place and view ads on SharingBackyards.com, which keeps listings for 15 cities across the U.S. and Canada so far.