Access, visibility, existing traffic and educational value.
EDIBLE COMMONS · FIRST-HUB FRAMEWORK
How It Works
The standards behind proposing, selecting, funding and following the first Edible Commons hub. Applications are not yet open.
01 · Proposing a hub
Who can apply?
Anyone or any entity may propose a hub: individuals, private landowners, businesses, nonprofits, schools, churches, neighborhood groups, community organizations, government entities and others.
The applicant does not have to own the property. They must have permission from the owner, leaseholder or other party authorized to approve use of the land. Commercial sites are allowed.
Geography
Projects in St. Tammany Parish receive priority. Applications from elsewhere in southeast Louisiana may also be considered.
02 · Sharing the place
Access and harvesting
A qualifying hub must be genuinely accessible to the public. The current minimum standard is at least three hours of public access per day or one full day per week. Greater accessibility makes a proposal stronger.
Take what you can reasonably use, leave enough for others, and harvest in a way that allows the plant to continue growing.
Public harvesting should normally be allowed. It may be restricted when there is a strong practical reason, including safety, contamination, establishment needs, legal restrictions or a similar issue.
03 · Choosing what grows
Plant priorities
Every hub should include Louisiana-native edible plants to a meaningful degree. The goal is to be as native and locally rooted as practical, with inspiration from foods historically used by people living in Louisiana before modern grocery systems.
Preference should be given to plants that are:
- Native to Louisiana
- Perennial or naturally recurring
- Edible during as much of the year as possible
- Nutritionally valuable
- Useful alongside familiar grocery-store foods
- Low-maintenance
- Adapted to Louisiana conditions
Non-native edible plants are allowed when they improve the site’s usefulness, resilience, productivity or nutritional value.
04 · Making knowledge usable
Education and safety
Each hub should provide—or link visitors to—clear information about what each plant is, what part is edible, whether cooking or special preparation is required, important warnings, basic nutrition, ordinary ways to use it and what familiar food it might supplement or replace.
Simple physical signs and QR codes may direct visitors to detailed hub and plant pages on the OverDevelopment website. Each active hub should eventually appear on an OverDevelopment map.
DO NOT EAT UNTIL INFORMED.
05 · Designing for continuity
Maintenance
Hubs should require as little ongoing maintenance as reasonably possible. Once established, they should rely primarily on normal rainfall, seasonal cycles and suitable plant selection.
Where practical, people interacting with the site should be able to help with simple care. The goal is not to create another garden that depends permanently on one dedicated caretaker.
06 · The first award
$500, provided up front.
Before receiving the money, the selected recipient must submit a simple plan explaining how they expect to use it. After that, they have broad discretion to spend it in any reasonable way that advances the approved hub.
- Plants and seeds
- Propagation materials
- Mulch and soil
- Tools
- Signage
- Watering or irrigation supplies
- Labor and transportation
- Permits and site preparation
- Protective materials
- Other relevant expenses
Recipients may add their own money, volunteer labor, donated materials, sponsorships or outside funding. Any money left after the main hub is established may support the Edible Commons mission or another clear local benefit, provided that use is publicly disclosed.
07 · Keeping it alive
Responsibility and longevity
The selected recipient remains the designated responsible party for at least one year after the hub is established. The goal is for each hub to remain in place for as long as reasonably possible, but responsibility may later pass to someone else willing to continue it.
If a site is sold, redeveloped, loses public access or otherwise ends, that change should be documented. Where practical, surviving plants, seeds, cuttings, signs and other useful materials should be salvaged and moved.
08 · Choosing the first hub
Selection
Applications are reviewed privately. Strong proposals may be scored on a 10-point scale across the following groups of considerations:
Nutrition, seasonality, native plant use and practical usefulness.
Site stability, maintenance requirements and property-owner commitment.
Applicant preparedness, proposed budget and likelihood of completion.
Participation, local support and opportunities for shared stewardship.
After a private review, I expect to choose approximately two strong proposals to share publicly. The community will vote between them. That vote will matter, but it will not be binding. I will make the final decision and publicly explain the choice.
09 · Creating a public record
Transparency
Only selected finalists and the chosen project need to become public. Unsuccessful applicants may remain private.
For the selected hub, the public record should include where practical:
- The proposal and intended use of funds
- Receipts and major expenses
- The planting list and photographs
- Progress and plant survival
- Maintenance and public use
- Harvesting and public reaction
- Opposition and problems
- Successes, failures and lessons
Success
Useful food and useful knowledge.
A strong hub produces food while helping people become more familiar with edible Louisiana plants and more comfortable sourcing some food outside the conventional grocery system. Success may be as simple as someone learning enough to replace one recurring purchase with something they can responsibly grow, forage, harvest or source locally.
Failure
Make the lesson public.
Plants may die. The public may not use the site. Access may disappear. Maintenance, neighbors, an HOA, regulations, property changes or a storm may end the attempt. An idea may simply fail to work. The purpose is to document that result and improve the next hub—not hide it.