Yard-Sharing the 21st Century Version of Sharecropping

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

As an avid gardener I cannot imagine not having some land, and when I say some land I am talking about 1/5 acre in my case.

My yard is divided up into space for my shed, 3 cars, landscaping in the front, my blueberry bed, Chestnut trees, and my herb and vegetable garden.

All my plants fit snugly on my land but what are people to do who want to garden but have no land.

Some container garden, some farm on walls, and some roof garden but I can tell you that nothing beats farming on the land.

As our population grows land becomes scarcer, the gardening movement grows and land is placed in a multi-use tug of war. From this agricultural paradox came the idea of yard-sharing. This concept was born from our two modern day obsessions, that is social networking and safe food with a little Freecycle and a dating website thrown in.

But how does this work? First, Read the rest of this entry »