Julie Hanft greets us as we arrive at the house tucked away behind a trellis on a side street in Mill Valley. It's the home of her friend, Hilary Jeffris who is due to arrive home any moment. The two women, gardening and eco-sustainable food enthusiasts, are responsible for creating the Marin Open Garden Project. (click photos to enlarge)
We follow Julie down a path that leads to a garden teeming, appropriately, with veggies, flowers, herbs, fruit and a couple of chickens. There are trellises overhead with masses of foliage, raised beds full of lettuce, strawberries, squashes, tomatoes and a huge planting of fava beans. Twisting up the side of the trampoline safety mesh, are bean vines. Herbs push up dirt here and there, fat roses grow on either side of the yard and lemon trees scent the air.
It's a backyard gardeners dream.
Just next door, Hilary's neighbor might be growing another variety of lettuce, different fruit trees or a special herb or two. Things that Hillary doesn't grow in her backyard, but that she'd love to have.
That's the idea behind the garden exchange meetings that Julie and Hilary have created. They are a way for gardeners to swap their garden bounty in order to sample more produce, and also to eliminate waste that stems from that over-productive zucchini plant.
Julie and Hilary were taking an 18-week class at the Environmental Forum of Marin on sustainability. The two came up with the garden exchange idea as a final project for the class. It was so well received, that the two immediately began working on setting up the exchanges for the 2009 spring/summer season.
"It's a weekly exchange starting on May 9th, and will run through the growing season into early October," says Hilary who has just joined us in the backyard.
The two threw a launch party last weekend to kick off their Open Garden Project and 
much to their surprise, between 75 and 100 people showed up. A few people brought baked goods to share, and Julie and Hilary brought plant seedlings and even a few of their chickens to show off.
The Open Garden exchanges are scheduled each weekend for the next few months at various locations throughout Marin. The exchanges will work on an honor system; people bringing produce when they have it to offer, and taking what they would like in exchange. No money will change hands.
"It's community building," says Hilary, "The families neighbors, friends, 
the whole idea is to get together."
The two have plans to expand the program, sharing more than produce-
"We'd really like to see the whole thing expand in the future," says Julie, "One thing we're going to definitely do as part of our project, is have a gardening equipment lending library."
They also like the idea of urban or 'guerrilla' gardening; taking weedy, overgrown or barren spaces and transforming them into community gardens. They'd also like to set up a network between people who have land but who for whatever reason, can't garden, and people who love to garden but have no land.
Their motto really sums up the effort; "Encouraging sustainable living by reconnecting people with the land."
"It's more than just gardening," Julie starts-
"-It's building a sustainable city," Hilary finishes.
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Marin Open Garden Project will hold garden exchanges beginning the weekend of May 9th & 10th. Look on their website for the schedule and locations, and Julie says you can find them by looking for the scarecrow!
Great work!
Posted by: Pam Hartwell-Herrero | May 08, 2009 at 03:50 PM