From VP Lane Chandler  January 2007

Proposal For:

Unity Village Community Vegetable Garden

 Upon approval, I will announce during Sunday service my vision and plan for this project, intending to motivate and enlist volunteers and sponsors. I will also set a time and place (community center) for all interested to convene where I will propose a general outline and plan of action in detail as follows: (Open to suggestion)

    Sponsorship

 There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer for potential sponsors. Sponsors will decide which vegetable plant or seed they will provide, from a list of locally available plants hardy to our growing zone.(Zone chart & planting time chart will be available) Each sponsor will be responsible for one row to plant with the vegetable of their purchase. The number of sponsors will determine the size of garden. In the event there are more sponsors than garden space, rows will be divided in half (two sponsors per row). At the end of each row, a stake will be placed with a laminated tag bearing the sponsors name(s) and vegetable type and name, ie: Fred Jones- Big Boy Tomato

    Qualifications

 Attendees and Members of Unity Village Chapel and their guests, and employees of Unity Village qualify as sponsors. For those sponsors physically incapable of tending their plants, other sponsors and volunteers will care for them.

    Responsibilities 

Sponsor responsibilities to garden are as follows: Purchasing their plants or seeds, planting, watering, weeding, pruning, harvesting and assisting others. This can take place any day, during daylight hours as permitted by Unity Village. We will attempt to keep the vegetables as organically grown as possible by allowing no chemical herbicides, fertilizer or pesticides. A list of organic alternatives will be made available. Sponsors are encouraged to harvest and take home only what their immediate family or household will consume. All other produce should be refrigerated and returned for sale after Sunday Services in the vegetable stand. I will attempt to find a used refrigerator to place in the community center to keep produce fresh until Sunday Services.

    Proceeds 

 All cash from sales will be placed in an account (determined by chapel staff) to pay for start up costs, if any, for this years’ garden. Any profits will be donated to Unity Village Chapel or a charity of its’ choice.

    In Closing: 

I know that a proposal and vision such as this does not come without speed bumps. I am readily available to discuss any issues of concern. Spring will be here soon and there is much planning and preparation if this dream is to come to fruition.

A properly landscaped and cared for garden is a thing of natural beauty and an asset to the aesthetics of our grounds. It inspires me to think that Charles and Myrtle Fillmore fed this community from gardens on this very ground not so long ago

I propose the “Unity Village Community Vegetable Garden” in the hope that the simpler life of the past can be reconstituted, rewarding this community with hope, fellowship, and fresh produce as we “GROW” together.

Lane H. Chandler

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