Community Garden
The Community Garden project in Romania has one main placement with the possibility to get involved in various side projects, depending on the need at the time and the abilities of the volunteer. Community Garden volunteers take a crucial role in the upkeep of the garden and greenhouse of the recently set up community garden. You can expect to plant a variety of local seeds, utilise home made solar panels, create eggshell powder and use wood ash to add nutrients back into the soil, as well as collect rain water to sustain the garden. The garden is also a place where volunteers can socialize in summer months, or just relax after a busy day.
Specific roles will vary depending on the time of year and your placement location. Tasks in spring, summer and autumn can involve; maintaining the water collecting system, weeding, cutting the grass, raking, composting and other garden maintenance work, furthermore in small scale: planting, harvesting and cultivating flowers, vegetables and herbs. On occasion, there may be additional opportunities to help out in the gardens of local communes / communities, children’s homes or after school clubs. Volunteers can expect to help maintain the surroundings of the vegetable patches, and where possible engage the parents and children so that they can continue to manage the garden in the absence of volunteers.
Roles and Responsibilities
Weeding the herb garden, veg garden & path
Lawn Mowing
Planting flowers/fruit/veg
Watering and cultivating the herbs, fruit & veg
Maintaining, improving garden, DIY work, e. g.:
-water reservoir system
-maintaining/improving the fence
-drain system
Raking the soil
Harvesting
Helping prepare the vegetables into edible food (peeling, chopping, cleaning etc)
Composting
Organizing tools
You’re encouraged to use innovation and sustainable practices to try out new techniques. As an example, previous volunteers have created an active composting system, installed a drip irrigation system and built a solar panel using recycled cans.
And finally, on occasion, local environmental and conservation NGOs seek volunteer help in their bid to preserve the natural environment through tasks such as hay meadow mowing, river clean-ups and monitoring and protecting endangered flora & fauna. Such work usually comes in the form of one-off events, which the local team ensures volunteers are informed about.