Kalevanharju community plantation needs willing growers

Krista Willman and Jonna Niiniaho are showing seed bags and seedlings growing in small pots. In a few months' time, they will be placed in growing boxes in the former greenhouses of the Kalevankangas cemetery. This is the site of the Kalevanharju community plantation, where Krista and Jonna hope to attract many other people interested in growing their own food.

According to the women, the Kalevanharju community is easy to join and new farmers are more than welcome. Anyone can come and try it out, and you don't need to know anything about growing plants beforehand.

The activities are free and open to the public, and you don't have to spend the whole summer caring for the crop. The costs of the activities are kept to a minimum and are covered by the grants applied for. There is no association in the background.

- We have watering shifts, but they can be arranged according to people's holidays, for example, Jonna and Krista say.

The harvest is distributed equally

At the beginning of the summer there are usually a dozen eager farmers, but by the end of the summer the number is usually down to half that, so there is plenty of room. With 50-60 grow boxes and grow bags respectively, there are no backlogs or queues.

Harvesting is usually done on Wednesdays, around 6pm, and the harvest is distributed among the farmers who have arrived. Otherwise, the field needs to be visited mainly for irrigation, but meetings can be arranged on the community Facebook group at other times.

- In autumn, at the end of the harvest season, we'll be fighting over who have to take the last vegetables, Krista and Jonna laugh.

Both exotic and common plants grow in boxes in summer

What will be grown in the boxes will depend on farmers' preferences and willingness to experiment. Some of the species may be exotic to Finland.
- Mostly we grow ordinary vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables, herbs, cabbages, peas, beans and also flowers. It doesn't necessarily save money compared to what the produce would cost in the shops, Krista and Jonna laugh.

Even when growing your own food, you should take the environment into account. On Kalevanharju, they have had to take into account the habitat, which is naturally scorching.
- The soil used as a growing medium is kept in growing boxes. It is therefore separated from the sandy, scorching environment, which is important for the local wild plants as such, Krista and Jonna point out.

The fertilisers are organic, including horse manure, seaweed and chicken poo.

Attracted by the willingness to experiment, the joy of success and the people involved

Krista and Jonna are veterans of community farming. Krista started the hobby at the beginning of the last decade in Aspinniemi, from where the activity moved to the Kaleva cemetery ten years ago. Jonna has been involved for a couple of years.
- When Ranta-Tampella started to be built, our plot had to move. We were able to use the land of the old greenhouses of the parish and also borrow some of their tools, such as wheelbarrows, Krista and Jonna explain.

They both point out that community gardening is a great way to, for example, experiment with growing plants that are not available in the shops. The joy of success is a great feeling, and even failure is not a disaster.

The Kalevanharju plantation is also a great place to meet new people. 
- We've also had green enthusiasts with a foreign backround and our activities are in Finnish and English, Krista and Jonna say.