Week
1: Let's Get Started
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY GARDEN?
Any group of people that come together to garden is a community
garden. Every community garden is different and is determined
by what the gardeners themselves want.
Community gardens come in many different shapes and sizes. They
can be large or small, on the ground or on rooftops, in plots
or in planters. And they can be a mix of all of these things.
Some are communal, where everyone shares the work and the harvest.
Some have separate, individual plots (allotments) for each gardener,
and some are a combination of these two styles, encouraging gardeners
to join together to grow some of the crops communally, either
to donate to a food bank or to maximize space for plants that
need lots of room.
Gardens can be created for a specific ““audience””,
such as children, seniors, single parents, people with disabilities
or they can be all inclusive and accommodating for many different
types of use. The community gardeners can decide what they want
to grow as a group or it can be left up to the individual. Gardens
can be focused on vegetables, flowers, native plants, herbs,
or some combination of these things.
There are as many types of community gardens as there are people.
The only hard and fast rule of what a community garden is and
how and what is grown comes from the participants. That’’s
what makes it a community garden.
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WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY GARDENS?
The ability to plant a seed, to harvest food from that seed,
and to return the leftovers to the earth is a true and fundamental
value. Making compost from the spent plant materials and then
using that compost to enrich the soil for the next year’’s
harvest connects us to the cycles of life on our planet and reminds
us that not only are we dependant upon nature for our existence,
we are a part of nature. The farther away we get from the earth,
the more concrete there is under our feet, the more imperative
it is that we can find a bit of earth to plant. There is a community
in that need that brings us together.
We move further and further away from growing our own food as
a daily activity as our lives have become urban. Our children
think that food comes from factories and stores. Why should they
think any differently? Pull a carrot from the ground and the
typical eight year old will think that you are playing a joke
on them. If we don’’t want our children to inherit
a world in which their food really is manufactured in a lab or
factory, we had better start now, even in a small way, to create
opportunities for all of us to participate in and appreciate
the enjoyment and power (yes, power) of growing our own food
from seed, in the real earth of our planet.
BENEFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES:
The benefits of gardening, especially community gardening, send
ripples through the individual, family and community:
- physical exercise - stress relief and mental relaxation
- sense of community belonging
- increased self-confidence
- more affordable produce
- increased consumption of fruit and vegetables
- greater control over food quality
- opportunities for social exchange
- time with kids and family
- connecting with nature
- a chance to protect the environment
- acquaintance with different foods and cultures
- cooperative experience
- improved gardening skills & food preservation techniques
- a chance to share surplus produce
- a chance to learn marketable skills,
BENEFITS FOR COMMUNITIES AND COUNTRIES:
Researchers have found at least three distinct ways in which
community gardens and other community greening activities contribute
to community development. They provide a more livable environment
by controlling physical factors such as temperature, noise
and pollution; they help create a community image that is perceived
as positive by both residents and outsiders; they create opportunities
for people to work together to improve communities in many
ways.
These three factors translate directly into tangible economic
and social benefits, such as a reduction in crime and violence,
higher property values, greater availability of nutritious food,
and increased business activity, all because the neighbourhood
is more attractive and the people within that neighbourhood are
more involved with each other.
Here are additional ways that communities benefit from encouraging
community gardens:
- greener cities and towns
- increased food security
- diversion of kitchen waste from landfills, through composting
- chemical-free food consumption
- improved population health
- reduced transportation-related food costs
- community economic development
- reduction in neighbourhood crime
- community beautification
- sense of community empowerment
- participation in local decision making processes
- cross-cultural sharing, exchange
- greater self-sufficiency
- flower pollination
- wildlife habitat protection/restoration
SOME NUTRITION FACTS*:
- Community gardeners consumed a greater number of fruits and
vegetables compared to national averages :7.5 servings per
day in the fall, and 6.3 servings in the spring.
Of the gardeners surveyed, 70-80% consumed at least five servings
of fruit and vegetables daily.
- In addition, 74% of gardeners preserved produce from the garden
(through freezing, canning, pickling, and drying)
- and 95% shared produce with neighbors, emergency food service
providers, and others
- Those involved with community gardens are more likely to eat
and continue in the off-season to eat more fruits and vegetables
making them more likely to meet "5 to 10 A-Day" goals.
- Of those families and individuals who participated in garden
projects, 89% ate more fresh vegetables than usual, 96% planned
to eat more fresh vegetables all year round, and 79% learned
a new way to prepare fresh vegetables
*Source of the above data:
-Ohri-Vachaspati P and Warrix M. Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Among Urban Gardeners. Ohio State University Extension. As
published in the 1999 SNE Annual Meeting Proceedings, page
33.
-Savoie KA. Growing Good Nutrition: EFNEP Improves Dietary Behavior
Through Gardening. University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
1998
GARDENING REDUCES STRESS
These days stress relief is a high priority for us all. Never
before have humans had to cope with such as wide variety and
type of stressful situations. While many people seek artificial
ways of relieving stress, quietly tending your garden can be
a real stress-buster, helping relieve feelings of anxiety and
giving you a break from the general rush of life. Believe it
or not, simply looking at a plant can reduce stress, fear,
and anger, and lower blood pressure and muscle tension. Studies
have found that prison inmates in cells with windows overlooking
greenery need less medical care and report fewer symptoms of
stress, such as headaches. Hospital patients whose rooms have
windows that overlook trees and other plants spend less time
in hospital than those who overlook parking lots. Other researchers
have documented that people shown urban scenes with some vegetation
recover more quickly from stress than people exposed to urban
scenes without vegetation. A visit to even a small community
garden can offer a person the feeling of being away from a
stressful setting.
GARDENERS LEAD ACTIVE LIVES:
- Gardening is the second most popular physical activity in Canada,
attracting 72% of Canadian adults. Gardening contributes to healthy
active living. Numerous studies have shown that regular physical
activity reduces your risk of premature death, heart disease,
obesity, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, osteoporosis,
stroke, depression and colon cancer. Gardening activities like
raking, hoeing, pushing a wheelbarrow and carrying leaves draw
on your endurance, flexibility and strength, and will help weight
control.
- Endurance activities help your heart, lungs and circulatory
system stay healthy, and they give you more energy. Digging in
the garden, raking and gathering leaves, hoeing, spreading mulch
and pushing a wheelbarrow keep you on the move and bring endurance
benefits. - Flexibility activities contribute to easy movement.
They allow your muscles to stay relaxed and your joints mobile.
Bending and stretching to plant, weed, prune, mix potting soils
and water plants by hand are all great activities to help you
stay flexible.
- Strength activities keep your muscles and bones strong, and
assist in maintaining proper posture. Digging in the garden,
turning compost, carrying wood, hauling branches and other clean-up
activities help keep you strong.
- As a general guide, 3-1/2 hours of gardening or yard work ‘‘burns’’ about
1,000 calories.
CULTIVATING COMMUNITY
Community gardens are places where individuals work side by side--neighbourhood
children, businesspeople, artists, single parents, and newcomers
to this country--everyone all at once. They share stories and
shovels, laughter and water, and slowly they build relationships
that extend beyond the garden and into our larger community.
On any given day, the gardeners toiling side by side in any of
Toronto’’s 100 community gardens may include Vietnamese,
Russians, Eritreans, Tamils, Ukrainians, Filipinos, Italians,
Cambodians, Iranians, Greeks, Jamaicans, Somalis, Czechs, East
Indians, Chinese, Lebanese, West Indians……and many
more. Some Canadian-born participants speak English, some French,
others Inuktitut. Somehow, from this huge mix of languages and
cultures, we are able to find enough in common through our love
of gardening to create communities.
The mix of gardeners means many are meeting some foods for the
first time. Callaloo, mustard greens, bok choy, edo, water grass,
bitter melon, fava beans, Lebanese cucumbers and Bengali beans
are unfamiliar to most North American-born participants. In turn,
newcomers are getting acquainted with swiss chard, strawberries,
rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes, kohlrabi and sunflowers.
New friendships bloom as gardeners swap tips and ideas, share
labour, or stop to chat and rest in the shade. A midsummer potluck
dinner features dishes the gardeners made from their own produce.
There will be workshops to help them preserve what they and their
fellow-gardeners have grown, through pickling, freezing and canning.
Many say they share the harvest with friends and family and that
on average, seven people eat from each plot.
Here’’s what some gardeners have to say about it
all:
"
Gardening is good for body and soul."
““
My children will now eat vegetables because they grew them themselves.””
"
Gardening helps me save money for something else."
““
I just love spending time in the garden--it gives me something
to look forward to every day.””
"
The garden plot helped my family relax and have fun together.””
““
Before we didn’’t know any of them and now we’’re
friends, almost like family.””
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BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING
-Creating a successful community garden begins with the people.
Sure, having land is important, but it isn’’t the
first thing that you need. Begin by cultivating the group and
you will be assured of a successful garden. Spend the time now,
before spring is at your door, to find and involve members, create
a steering committee and cultivate leadership. The garden’’s
members must be involved in all decisions, every step of the
way. If you try to do it all yourself, you can guarantee burnout
within 3 years and your garden group will not have the skills
to keep it going without you. Week #2 is entitled "Growing
The Group" and there you’’ll learn the skills
to help you with this most important, and often overlooked, aspect
of starting a community garden. And we’’ll keep saying
it over and over again——it’’s that important.
-Why should this community garden exist? What’’s
the community need? Is it for food, beautification, social interaction,
neighbourhood safety, contact with nature, or just plain fun--ask
each member of the group and you’’ll be surprised
at the variety of answers. Try to reach consensus on the most
important reasons. There can be many equally important reasons
and you shouldn’’t feel that you have to come up
with just one. When you have consensus, then write a ““mission
statement””. This will help at every step of the
way--to set goals, to make decisions easier, to prioritize, to
fundraise, etc.
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KEYS TO SUCCESS
- ESTABLISH GOOD LINES OF COMMUNICATION AMONG ALL PARTICIPANTS
Everyone likes to feel that their voice matters, that what they
say and think is acknowledged on an equal basis with everyone
else. Good communication is the key to ensuring this. There are
often many major decisions to be made in the development of a
community garden, especially at the outset. It may sometimes
seem easier for one or two people to make decisions for the group,
but this usually backfires, especially at the beginning before
everyone has had time to get to know each other’’s
strengths and weaknesses. A good garden coordinator will recognize
this and give people the opportunity to express their opinions
before decisions are made. Obviously there are some things that
the coordinator can and should decide independently, or why else
have a coordinator. But it is better to err on the side of caution
than to pre-empt discussion for the sake of (often imagined)
expediency. In addition to regular group meetings, a notice board
in the garden is a good way to keep everyone informed about important
issues, as is a regular newsletter. And so that no one person
is overburdened with the task of telephoning, it is best to set
up a telephone tree system.
- DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
Involve as many like-minded groups and individuals in your project
as possible. It is not necessary to be a gardener in order to
enjoy and participate in a community garden. Create a ““Friends
of the Garden”” membership category for those people
who want to help the project but aren’’t able, for
whatever reason, to take a garden plot. Actively seek out local
politicians and other community leaders, members of the media,
health professionals, the landscape industry, anti-poverty activists,
and anyone else that could help. The more people that feel a
personal attachment to the project, the better.
- DON'T RELY ON ONLY ONE PERSON
As important as a good coordinator is, it is equally important
to have a good organizational team. The success of the project
should not rest on any one person’’s shoulders. If
the garden is associated with a community center or other institution,
the coordinator is often a staff member of that organization.
But what happens when that person moves on to another position?
Without the active involvement of a committed team, the entire
project could go into a rapid nose-dive.
- THE PERFECT GARDEN COORDINATOR
A good garden coordinator is all things to all people. She or
he is dynamic, enthusiastic, inspiring, a diplomat, a veritable
garden encyclopedia, tireless, devoted, able to deal with any
problem with ease...and just about impossible to find. Since
that’’s the case, make sure that the candidates fully
understand the scope of the job and that as many garden members
as possible are involved in the selection process. You may decide
that the job is too big for one person (especially if it is a
volunteer position) and want to have 2 or 3 people share the
coordinator’’s tasks. If so, just make sure that
each person knows where her job begins and ends.
- START SMALL
Taking on too much at the start of any project usually results
in burnout after only a short time. You can always expand in
the years to come. Most people are very enthusiastic gardeners
in the spring, when that heady combination of sunshine, warm
temperatures and sweet smelling soil is too intoxicating to resist.
By mid-summer that enthusiasm has waned considerably as the less
than glamorous garden chores, like weeding and deadheading, compete
with swimming, baseball and other summer fun.
- CHOOSE YOUR SITE WELL
Look for a site that is visible, safe, centrally located, in
an area that will benefit from a community garden, has plenty
of sun, good access, both by foot and for deliveries, and has
the support of the neighbours. Other physical features, such
as soil and drainage can always be improved upon, if necessary.
- KEEP THE GARDEN WELL MAINTAINED YEAR ROUND
Vegetable gardens often have the reputation of being less than
attractive. This is usually the result of haphazard maintenance
by the people rather than an aesthetic shortcoming on the part
of the plants. Don’’t give any would-be detractors
ammunition against the garden. Let the gardeners know what is
expected of them with a clearly defined, written set of garden
by-laws. Keep the grass trimmed, common areas neat, the beds
weeded (or better yet, mulched), pick up trash daily, locate
the compost area out of sight as much as possible, plant flowers
around the edges of the site as well as within the plots, and
try to design the site with imagination––there’’s
no rule that says a garden has to be laid out in perfect 10’’ x20’’ rectangular
plots.
- PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE GARDENERS
Not all, or even most, of the participants will be knowledgeable
gardeners when they join the garden. A wise coordinator will
understand that a first time gardener’’s enthusiasm
is linked to a successful harvest. That doesn’’t
mean that the first year has to yield a record bumper crop, but
it can be very demoralizing if nothing does well. Many novice
gardeners will benefit from a bit of guidance from a more experienced
gardener, either formally, as in a workshop, or informally, from
the life-long gardener in a nearby plot. Actively encourage these
opportunities, if necessary.
- BUILD A STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITY RIGHT FROM THE BEGINING
Most community garden projects don’’t start out with
this elusive quality already intact, unless the group has come
together before for other projects. Quite often most of the gardeners
have never met before, or are the all too common kind of neighbours
who say hello to each other but never really get beyond that.
A community garden provides an excellent setting in which to
get to know other people without many of the normal barriers
to communication that we, unfortunately, create. It’’s
hard to develop respect for someone when you don’’t
have the opportunity to get to know him or her for who they really
are. When people are working together for a common cause, enjoying
the fresh air, with their hands in the soil and the beauty of
nature all around, things like how much money they make and where
their grandmother was born don’’t seem to matter
as much as they did before.
When we can come together to create something with other people,
especially something that adds beauty to our lives and helps
us to feel that we are contributing something positive, a very
special bond can begin to grow. And with careful nurturing it
can blossom into that essential ingredient to human happiness:
connection, a sense of belonging, a feeling of community.
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TROUBLESHOOTING
- To get off on the right foot, you need to involve the potential
members from the beginning. That means having a meeting with
all those who might be interested before any decisions are made.
It may be a slower way to do things but believe me, it will make
for a better, stronger, longer lasting community garden.
- Decide, with the group, why this garden should exist. Without
all members having understanding of the garden’’s
reason for being, you’’ll have a collection of allotment
plots, rather than a community garden.
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Links to other community garden and greening studies
by ACGA website
http://www.communitygarden.org/links/index.html#Studies
Link: "Green Streets, Not Mean Streets: Vegetation May
Cut Crime in the Inner City"
by Human-Environment Research Laboratory
www.herl.uiuc.edu/canopy--short.htm
Link: What Good is Community Greening?
by David Malakoff
http://www.communitygarden.org/pubs/whatgood.html
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