a guide to community gardening

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Community Gardening Best Practices Guide City eat . grow . share Greenest

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This booklet is designed to give many different groups the basic information they need to get their gardening project off the ground, and then to both sustain and help it thrive. These methods are in no way meant to be complete, they are a collection of practices our organization has found to be useful and constructive. Please pick and choose those that seem to apply to your own situation.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: A Guide to Community Gardening

Community Gardening

Best Practices GuideCit y

eat . grow . shareGreenest

Page 2: A Guide to Community Gardening

This booklet is designed to give many different groups the basic information they need to get their gardening project off the ground, and then to both sustain and help it thrive. These methods are in no way meant to be complete, they are a collection of practices our organization has found to be useful and constructive. Please pick and choose those that seem to apply to your own situation.

We would like to thank these organizations for their generous support to make this Guide possible:

Des

ign

serv

ices

don

ated

by

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Page 3: A Guide to Community Gardening

Introducing Greenest City 2 • Aboutourcommunity 2• Whatwedo 2• Community building 3

Greenest City Gardens 4• H.O.P.E. 4• MilkyWay 4• DunnParkette 5-------------------------------------Timeline of Seasonal Events 6--------------------------------------Growing a Community Garden from the Ground Up 7• Engageyourcommunity 7• Organizeameeting(s) 8• Tipsonhowtogaininterest 8• Arrangetranslationservices 9• Createavisionforyourgarden 9• Establishworkgroups 12• Mapyourassets 12

How to sustain your Community Garden 13• Setbehaviouralexpectations 13

Behavioural contract (sample) 14• Housekeeping 14• Rules 14• Attitudes 14• Conflictresolution 14• Manageconflict 15

Conflict resolution procedures 16• Decisionmaking&governance 17• Getfeedback 17• Invitethecommunityin 19

References and resources 20

Community Gardening Best Practices Guide

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Introducing Greenest CityGreenest City is a community based charita-ble organization dedicated to creating inno-vative projects that promote health, support community action, and enhance social and environmentaljusticeinToronto.Weinspirepeople to build healthy neighborhoods through community gardening and the cel-ebrationoffood.WehavebeenfocusingonbuildingrelationshipswithmembersofSouthParkdalesince2006.

About our community

AccordingtoStatisticsCanada2006,2011Census,SouthParkdaleisahighdensityur-ban area and home to one of Toronto’s most diversepopulations.Approximately90%ofits25,000residentsarerentersandmorethan46%arelow-incomefamilies.Over52%ofallfamiliesself-identifyasimmigrants,and42%speakalanguageotherthanEnglishandFrenchathome.SouthParkdaleisalsohometoasignificantproportionofoneofToronto’smost vulnerable populations, people strug-glingwithmentalhealthissues.

Theserealitiespresentsomespecificcon-cerns, access to nutritious, culturally appropri-ate food, opportunities for meaningful work and skills development, and activities that encourage and support engagement and positiveconnectionswithinthecommunity.

What we do

We manage a large number of programs eachyear,workingwithfivedistinct(butoccasionallyoverlapping)groups:children(age4-12),youth(age13-16),youngadults(age17-22),adultESLstudents,andgarden-ersoftheH.O.P.E.Garden(primarilyadults).Activitiesincludegardening,communitykitchens, after-school programming, a youth summer employment and mentoring pro-gram, interactive workshops on organic gar-dening and other environmental topics, farm fieldtrips,andtheannualFood,Earth,andCultureFestival.Wepartnerwithlocalagen-cies to create customized programs aimed at different physical, social and language needs,aswellasprogrammingspecificallyadaptedtodifferentagegroups.

We inspire people to build healthy neighborhoods through community gardening and the celebration of food.

Greenest City Community Gardens Best Practices Guide 2012

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Thesebenefitsincludeprovidingopportunitiesandasocialvenueforindividualstorelax,participate in physical activity and socialize withneighbours.Breakingdownisolationbycreating a social community enables sharing across cultures, religions and fosters com-passionandempathywithinthecommunity.Community gardens also afford opportunities to learn about horticulture and sustainable environmental practices, such as composting and recycling, as well as providing low-cost freshproduceforahealthydiet.Additionally,recentresearchconfirmsthatcommuni-tygardensbenefitpasser-byers,andtheenvironmentatlarge.Ultimately,communitygardens provide a safe space to build and sustain relationships between urban residents and the local environment while supporting broadersustainableprinciples.

Community Gardens...can play a significant role in enhancing the individual well-being necessary to build healthy and socially sustainable communities.

We are a relatively small organization, but in manywaysoursizeisourstrength.Ourofficeisinthecommunitycenter,theheartofSouthParkdale.Ourprojectsareinter-connected,each one building on and contributing to oneanother.Itisanapproachthatallowsus to run cost-effective and sustainable pro-gramming.WemaintaincloserelationshipswiththepeopleofParkdale,whichensuresthatwe get continuous feedback as to whether or not our mutual goals and objectives have beenmet.Thisalsoallowsustocontinuetolearnandgrowasanorganization.

Community building through community gardeningCommunity Gardens are associated with a broad range of positive physical and psychologicalbenefits,specificallyforurbanresidents,andcanplayasignificantroleinenhancing the individual well-being neces-sary to build healthy and socially sustainable communities.

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Greenest City GardensH.O.P.E

H.O.P.E(HealthyOrganicParkdaleEdibles)GardenisGreenestCity’slargestgarden.AsParkdale’slargestcommunityledgardentheH.O.P.EGardenisapproximately4000squarefeet with a total number of plots varying from 35-40spacesbetweengrowingseasons.EachplotisassignedtocommunitymembersfromwithintheParkdalecommunityandissub-dividedinvariousdimensions.TheH.O.P.EGarden is used by individuals, families and organizationssuchasSKETCH(artorgani-zationengagingstreet-involvedyouth),ParkdaleNeighbourhoodChurch,&HabitatServices,additionallythegardenisasiteforabeediversityresearchproject.Aclearedarea within the garden is used for weekly WorkshopsandChildren’sprograms.

Milky Way

TheMilkyWayGarden,orotherwisecalledtheEnglishasaSecondLanguage(ESL)Garden is a piece of privately owned land whereweusecontainerstogrowfood.TheESLclassatParkdaleLibraryisresponsiblefor this garden, which is now mostly com-prisedofTibetannewcomers.Manyculturallysignificantplantsaregrowninthisproductivespace and it has been a great success with theESLclass.

At Greenest City our three gardens each aim to accomplish something a bit different while supporting our overall goal of inspiring people to build healthy neighbourhoods through community gardening and the celebration of food.

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Dunn Parkette

In2010,TheCityofTorontoParks,Forestryand Recreation approached Greenest City aboutexpandingtheexistingYouthGardeninDunnParkette.BasedonthesuccessoftheoriginalprojectandonthatoftheH.O.P.E.CommunityGardeninadjacentMasarykPark,theCityrequestedthatGreenestCityadopt another under-used portion of the park in order to further animate the space andaddresstheneedsofarearesidents.Inresponse,GreenestCity’sdesignedtheGardenforLearning,whichusesboththenewgardenspaceandexistinggardenspaces to develop an enhanced area used for programming and educational initiatives foryoungpeopleaged3to25,aswellasthegrowing number of Greenest City partici-pantswithmentalandphysicaldisabilities.

Inordertomakethegardenaccessibleforall, the new garden incorporates a number of new features, including a seating area that will act as an environmental learning node, raised beds designed for children and those with limited mobility, woodland plantings undertheexistingcanopytrees,animprovedvegetable planting area that will allow for the planting of a greater variety of species, and the enhancement of adjacent native plant beds to increase wildlife habitat and createanaturalwindbreakforthegarden.Thisgardenwillbethefirstofitskindinthecommunity, allowing Greenest City and its partners to better integrate gardening with other food and environmental education activitiesfortheentirecommunity.

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January—February 3 Hostaseedpackingpartytogetreadyfor

SeedySaturday.Gardenersgathertosortand package the seeds saved from the previousseason.

3 Offeracommunitykitcheneveningsogar-deners can remain connected by cooking togetherinthewinter.

3 Work on a communal winter art project, suchasagardenquilt,tomaintainties.

March 3 Openthegardenwaitinglistfornewmem-

berstosignup.

3 OrganizeaSeedySaturdayeventforcom-munitymemberstoexchangeseeds,sharegardeningknowledgeandgetexcitedforspring.

April 3 Reconnect with community garden

SteeringCommitteeandholdfirstmeetingtoplanforseasonstart.

3 Gather gardeners to review update and sign the community garden contract and conflictmanagementprocess.

3 Sourcefreegardenresourcessuchasplants,seedsandcompost.

3 Prepareseedstartingworkshopsandactivities.

May 3 Opencommunitygardensfortheseason.

3 Confirmavailableplotsandfillwithnewmembersfromthewaitinglist.

3 Conduct pre-season evaluation with gardeners.

June – September 3 Holdweeklyworkpartieswithvolunteer

tasksidentified.

3 MeetwithSteeringCommitteemonthlytocoordinate garden activities and get input onissuesthatarise.

3 Planmonthlypotlucksopentothebroadercommunity.

3 Organizeorganicgardeninghands-onworkshopsandcommunityartactivities.

3 Offerteambuilding,leadership,facilitationandconflictmanagementworkshopsforgardenersandstaff.

3 Encourageseedsavingthrough-outtheseason.

3 Hostcommunitykitchensforcanningandpreservationofproduce.

3 Visit a local farmers’ market, a community gardeninadifferentareaoranexcitingurbanagricultureinitiative.

3 Goonafarmfieldtriptopicklocalfruits.

3 Keepagardenjournalofallactivities.

October 3 GetoutoftheCitywithafallfieldtriptoa

farmtopickcornorapples.

3 Celebrate with a harvest festival that invites thecommunitytoshareinthebounty.

November 3 Holdagardenclosingday.

3 Complete post-season gardener evalua-tions.

December 3 Gathergardenersforafinalappreciation

event, special recognitions and a shared mealtoconcludetheyear.

Timeline of Seasonal Events

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Whether you are starting a new community garden as a volunteer or heading into anoth-erseasonasanestablishedcharityorNGO,gettingyourgardenupandgrowingrequiresagreatdealofplanningandpreparation.The majority of work will occur before any seeds are sown and it is important to establish aclearoverallprocessforasuccessfulyear.

From the Ground Up includes:1. Engageyourcommunity2. Organizeameetingtogetpeople

involved3. Arrangetranslationservices4. Create a vision for your garden5. Establishworkgroups6. Mapyourassets

Engage your community

Initialoutreachisessentialtogaugethe interest present in your community for the creation and sustainability of a garden.Outreachcanbeconductedin a number of ways and it is important to consider the members of your community when deciding on an outreachstrategy.Forexample,manyof our gardeners do not have access to internet, so while social media and online postings are an effective means it would not be an applicable strategy for ourresidents.Usingrelevantstrategiesare central to constructing a realistic portrayalofcommunityinterest.Wehave found that holding a community meeting in a local space that has been advertised over the phone, in postings at community centers, local businesses and through word of mouth has brought out interested members of the community.

Grow a Community Garden from the Ground Up

We have found that holding a community meeting in a local space that has been advertised over the phone, in postings at community centers, local businesses and through word of mouth has brought out interested members of the community.

The majority of work will occur before any seeds are sown

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Organize a community meeting to get people involved

Oncecommunityappropriateoutreachefforts have been made to generate interest it is useful to advertise a community meeting in order to begin buildingthecommunitygarden.Preliminaryresearchontheorganizerspart is essential as community members willcomewithmanyquestions.

Greenest City recommends researching the following key area’s as soon as possible as they are essential in planning your garden space:

1. Apreliminarybudgetofstartupcosts

2. Potentialfundersandgrantsthatcouldsupport the garden

3. Possiblegardensites

Tips on how to gain interest• Let people know the benefits: inform people of the economic, health,

environmental,educationalandsocialbenefitsofcommunitygardens.

• Use word of mouth: promote the garden to neighborhood friends and familiesandaskthemtopassthewordon.

• Partner with established organizations: talk to groups already invested in the community such as churches, community centres, local councils, schools,clubs,andbusinessesaboutgettingtheirmembersinvolved.

• Do local promotion: create garden posters that list contact informa-tion, meeting times, and upcoming activities and post those in public locations.Putnoticesinthecommunityeventssectionofnewspapers,onlocalwebsites,andonsocialmedia.Considermakingasimpledisplaytogiveoutinformationatwell-attendedcommunityevents.

We can’t stress enough the importance of having your meeting in an accessible location, where discussion can be inclusive and happen easily and freely.

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Creating a vision and setting goals is an excellent community event that can weave the hopes and concerns of your community into a strong mission.

During community meetings, either at the initial community event or during follow up gatherings it is important to consult community members on other key areas that include:

3 Thegarden’sformat(i.e.vegetable,flower,etc.)

3 The garden’s focus: either what you will be growing or the groups whowillbegrowing.

3 Potentialsponsorshipforthegarden

During your meeting we suggest allotting some time both before and after the meeting for participantstoaskquestions,networkandgetafeelfortheevent.Wecan’tstressenoughthe importance of having your meeting in an accessible location, where discussion can be inclusiveandhappeneasilyandfreely.

Managethemeetingtoonlytakeanhourorlesstoensurethatpeoplecanfititintotheirdailyschedules.Itisalsogoodtohavenametags, a meeting leader, and a person who willbetakingnotes.

Ifpossible,adedicatedspaceforchildcarewill make the meeting more accessible for busyfamilies.Postthemeetingagendaso

participantsknowwhatwillbediscussed.Follow up with everyone that showed interest atthisfirstmeetinganddecideuponafuturemeetingschedule.Atthesefuturemeetingsyour group will continue to develop the communitygarden.

Arrange translation servicesDepending on the members of your commu-nity it may be worthwhile to consider enrolling local members to conduct translations during outreachandmeetings.Thisensuresdiversemembers of your community are both able to contribute and feel comfortable partici-patingintheessentialfirstdecisionsofyourcommunitygarden.Italsosetsthetoneforyour community garden as an inclusive and welcomingspace.

Create a vision for your gardenOncesupporthasbeengarneredandthereis tangible interest within the community it is useful to determine what type of goals your gardenaimstomeet.Clarityatthisstagewillhelp guide future decisions and will shape yourgarden.

Creatingavisionandsettinggoalsisanex-cellent community event that can weave the hopes and concerns of your community into astrongmission.Askingpeoplewhattheyhopetogetfromthegardenisaquickwayto begin discussion on the overall aim of your space.Forexample,willyourgardengrowmostlyvegetables,flowersornativespecies?Will some of the food be donated to local organizations or will the food be largely for thegardeners?Beingclearabouttheaimofyour garden doesn’t mean it can’t evolve in the future, it ensures that the gardeners have participated in the direction of the garden and havealreadybegunbuildingthecommunity.Marco

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Productive green space has demonstrated a clear reduction of violence, an increase in aesthetic benefits and an increase to a communities tie to keeping a clean environment.

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At Greenest City we inspire people to build healthy neighborhoods through community gardening and the celebration of food.

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Map your assetsAssetmappingisaneffectivetoolforunder-standingthewealthofuniquetalentandresourcesthatexistsineachcommunity. The long-term development of a community rests on its ability to uncover and build on the strengths and assets of its people, institutions, andinformalorganizations.Forcommunitygar-dens,assetmappingcanbeextremelyinstru-mentalingettingthegardenofftheground.

Ifyouexpectthistobeachallengingexer-cise for your participants, begin by brain-storming what your garden projects needs to be successful, try to move people beyond horticulture as this will better enable more peopletofeeltheyhavesomethingtooffer.

Lookforwhatthegrouphasalreadyanddon’t make it your job to get everything that isnotlistedorthatisrequestedthisisulti-mately the community building process and everyonecancontributeinsomeway.Asset mapping is an effective tool

for understanding the wealth of unique talent and resources that exists in each community.

Establish work groupsOncethecommunityisengaged,itis extremelyusefultoformagardencommitteeof volunteers to help establish and run the garden.AtGreenestCitywecallthis theSteeringCommittee.

This committee can be made up of people who feel committed to the development of a community garden and have time to devotetoit.Havinggardenparticipantsonthe committee will ensure continual gardener feedback which is essential to the success of thecommunitygarden.Thegardencommit-tee hosts regular meetings during the year to make plans and decisions about the garden, andwillhelporganizegardenrelatedevents.

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Set behavioural expectationsGreenest City believes that each person deserves to be treated with dignity, re-spectandcompassion.Settingbehaviouralexpectationsinthegardenisadefinitivewaytoensureapositiveexperienceforyourcommunity.Settingcontractualbehaviouralexpectationsprovidesgardenersandothermembers with a clear understanding of what isexpectedfromtheirparticipation.

Additionally,itprovidesestablishedcoursesofactionifaneventorconflictarises.Anagreement should provide information on the expectationsofbehaviouronsite,theman-agement of shared garden areas and plots; andaconflictresolutionprocess.

Settingthecontractisagreatopportunityforyour community to come together and voice expectations,concernsandhopes.GreenestCitysuggestscreatingexpectationsforfour major aspects(pg16)relatedtothegarden.

Animportantnoteisthecontinualrevisitingandrevisionofthegardener’scontract.Greenest City recommends discussing and revising the contract at the beginning of everynewseason.Thisensurespeople remain actively engaged in setting behaviouralexpectations.

How to sustain your Community Garden!

Setting behavioural expectations in the garden is a definitive way to ensure a positive experience for your community.

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1. HousekeepingIssuesinvolvedwiththemaintenanceofthegarden. Examples include:

• Iwillonlyuseorganicmethods,fertilizers,andinsecticidesapprovedbygardenparticipantsandtheCityofToronto.

• Iwilltrytocontainorcutbackanyaggressiveplantsfrommyplotthatmightbeinvadinganothergardenplot.

• Iwillnotpickfromotherpeople’splotsunderanycircum-stances(unlessgivenpermissionbytheplotuser).IfIamconcerned,IwilltalktotheGreenestCitystaffaboutmyconcern and let her/him deal with the situation

2. RulesIncludesmoregeneraldutiesthatarerequiredinthegardens.Examples include:

• Kidsunder12yearsoldwillgardenwiththesupervisionofanadult.

• Iamresponsibleforgeneralsitemaintenance.Iwillpar-ticipate in at least one community workday at the end oftheseason.Iwillalsovolunteertoassistwithgardenevents and regular clean up nights at least once a month during the growing season

Greenest City suggests creating expectations for four major aspects related to the garden.

3. AttitudesIssuesinvolvedwithbehaviouralconductinthegarden. Examples include:

• IwillkeepourCommunityGardenfreeofdiscrimination,harassment, and hate activity, based on age, ancestry, citi-zenship,creed(religion),colour,disability,ethnicorigin,familystatus, gender identity, level of literacy, marital status, place of origin, membership in a union or staff association, political affiliation,race,receiptofpublicassistance,recordofoffences,sexualorientation,oranyotherpersonalcharacteristics.

• IwillrefrainfrombeingintoxicatedwhileIaminthegardenand/orparticipatinginanyGreenestCityprogramactivities.

• IwillcontactGreenestCityifIamunabletotendtomy gardenonatemporarybasis(health,vacation,work,etc.).

4. Conflict resolutionAveryimportantconsideration.Thisiselaboratedinthenextsection.

Behavoural contract: “I will...”

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Manage conflict in the GardenWhile Community Gardens should aim to promote an environment that is support-ive,tolerantandcaring,conflictwithinthecommunity is inevitable—either within the gardengrouporwithexternalstakeholders.Often,thegardenspaceactsasamicro-cosm for larger societal issues and proper conflictmanagementandresolutioncansupply gardeners with tools that are useful in abroadercontext.Understandably,itisim-portant that community gardeners develop a management plan which includes a garden-er’s agreement that all members agree to follow.Conflictsarisinginthegardenarebestdealt with immediately to avoid escalating tensions.

Additionally,communitygardensbringuptheimportantissueofresourceconflict.Manycommunity gardens have limited resources and Greenest City has found that a major areaofcontention.Wehavefounditofin-creasingimportancetodealwiththisspecificarea of concern to decrease tensions within thegarden.Wehaveincludedour Conflict Resolution Proceduresasanexample:

It is important that community gardeners develop a management plan which includes a gardener’s agreement that all members agree to follow.

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Greenest City conflict resolution procedures

Gardener Conflict Resolution1. Allgardenerscanavertconflictbycommunicating,nurturingandencouragingappropriateattitudes

andbehavioursthatwillmakethegardeningexperienceahappyandahealthyoneforall.

2. Whenaproblemorconflictoccursinthegardenanditcannotbeworkedoutinconversation between the individuals involved, the matter should be taken to Greenest City staff who may ask for thecomplaintinwriting.

3. Allproblemswillbedealtwithassoonaspossible.Encourageworkingthemoutimmediately. Ifextremetensionorangerisinvolved,theremightbeadelaytotheresolutionforafewdaystogivebreathingtime.

4. Greenest City staff will meet with the individuals separately to hear all sides of the story and discuss resolutionsthatwillbebeneficialforallparties.

5. GreenestCitystaffwillthensetupameeting(ifappropriate)forallinvolvedindividualstodiscussresolutions.

6. GreenestCitystaffmayaskindividualSteeringCommitteemembersforadvice/inputifappropriate.

7. Ifthereisnosolutionthatcanbereached,theGreenestCityExecutiveDirectorisresponsibleforcom-ingupwithanappropriateresolution.

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Decision making and governance in the GardenHavingacleargovernancestrategycreatesmechanismstobettermanageyourgarden.Determining how decisions are to be made establishes a set of steps that moves the garden plans forward in an effective and democraticmanner.Consistencyindecisionmaking processes is important to the commu-nity.Beingopenandembracingerroraspartofthelearningprocessisextremelybeneficialin order to determine the best course of actions fordifferentissuethatwillariseinthefuture.

Some options for governance in the garden include:

• By consensus: Steeringcommitteepres-ents and discuss different ideas around a concern.Thegroupreachesconsensuswhen everyone accepts to adopt a specificsolution,eventhoughnoteverymemberhastoagree100%withit.

• By Vote: This is the traditional “majority wins” approach, which may or may not beprecededbydiscussionoftheideas.

• Autocratic: The steering committee ap-points a leader and accepts his/her decisions indespiteofsomedisagreement.

Get feedback!Gaining insight into the success of your com-munity garden is most easily accomplished throughfeedbackfromthoseinvolved.Conducting feedback can be done both formally and informally and Greenest City rec-ommends using a combination of both to gain arealisticpictureofhowyourgardenisdoing.

Ask the Gardeners

Informallydiscussingthesuccessofthegarden is something that happens on a continualbasis.Inourexperience,gardenerswill often let you know if something is wrong, and openly discuss their views regarding the space.Itisusefultoconductmoreformalfeedbacktogaininsightintoanyspecificconcernsorideasthatmightbegerminating.

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Greenest City recommends a formal sheet or interview for gardeners to respond to at both thebeginningandendoftheseason.Thisen-deavor often takes a lot of man power, but theresultsarealwaysusefulandconstructive.

Analize the Numbers

The analysis of participant numbers is a criti-cal piece to moving the community garden intherightdirection,morespecificallyinthedirectionthatthecommunitywantsittogo.

Keepingtrackofhowmanyparticipants attend will also allow you to identify areas that need to be transformed in order to meet thecommunity’sneeds.Trackingnumbersare an interesting measurement to gauge howyourgardenisdoing.

The greatest sign of success for the communi-ty garden and garden events is the high per-centage of participants returning week after week,andyearafteryear.50-60%ofrepeatattendance is a good indicator that you are being successful in engaging the community inactivitiesandeventstheywanttodo.

Onanothernote,fundingagenciesalsofocus on the impact their sources of revenue contributes to, and a clear way to demon-stratequantitativeimpactisthroughyourtrackingnumbers.

The greatest sign of success for the community garden and garden events is the high percentage of participants returning week after week, and year after year.

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Invite the community inCommunity gardens are notorious for improv-ingthesurroundings,andbenefitingmorethanjustthosewhogardeninit.Productivegreen space has demonstrated a clear re-duction of violence, an increase in aesthetic benefitsandanincreasetoacommunitiestietokeepingacleanenvironment.

Inordertosustainyourgardenandhelpitthrive, it is important to invite the community at large to a variety of garden hosted events, suchasapotluck.Thisensuresthatthegar-den feels like a part of the community and is activelyengagingeveryonelivingcloseby.

AtGreenestCity,thediversityinourgardensprovidesauniqueplatformtoaddressbroad-erissuesoccurringinthecommunity.Byusingthe garden space as a venue to conduct workshops on societal issues alongside horti-cultural ones, we aim to improve the environ-mentaswellasthecommunity.Workshops

include managing diversity, anti-racism and bullying and information sessions on access tohealthyfood.Workshopssuchasthisopeninsight into the issues of concern to the com-munity, and provide the language and the framework for open and honest conversa-tions about the issues at hand while providing thetoolstobegintoovercomethem.

Additionally,theseworkshopsinvolveunitingwith other local organizations which strength-ens community action and creates a support networkforlike-mindedorganizations.

Largereventssuchaspotlucks,festivalsandfieldtripsenablecommunitymemberstoenjoythecommunitygardenanditsmission.These events bring communities together and gather support for the continuation of yourgardenasapositivespace.Ultimately,community gardens are about growing a sus-tainablecommunity,aswellasgrowingfood.

Community gardens are notorious for improving the surroundings, and benefiting more than just those who garden in it.

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References & Resources

FoodSecurityNetworkofNewfoundlandandLabrador(2011).Community Garden Best Practices Toolkit: A Guide for Community Organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador.

FoodShare(2012)FoodShare Learning Centre Toolbox: Community Garden Month-by-Month.

GardeningforFoodandMentalHealth:The CMHA Grey Bruce Experience: Community Gardening as Part of the Therapeutic Process and to Provide Employment:

http://www.mindingourbodies.ca/toolkit/resources/gardening_for_food_and_mental_health

GehronBurkholder,PollyNg,JingNiu,AnjuliSolanki(2007)Growing Gardens: A Resource Package On How to Start Your Own Community Garden.InConsultationforSocietyPromotingEnvironmentalConservation.

HerbBarbolet(2009).Dig it! A Practical Toolkit: How Local Governments Can Support Community Gardens. Centre for Sustainable Community Development.

How to Start a Community Garden ToolkitbyTheTorontoCommunityFoodAnimatorsFoodProject(TorontoCommunityGardenNetwork—www.tcgn.ca

LauraBerman:How Does Our Garden Grow?A Guide to Community Garden Success

MasterGardenersofOntarioInc.—www.mgoi.ca

NewcastleCommunityGardenProject(2010)A Community Garden Manifesto,CompliedbyJennyCameron(withJamiePomfrett),CentreforUrbanandRegionalStudies,UniversityofNewcastle.

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Cit yeat . grow . share

Greenest220 Cowan Avenue

Toronto Ontario M6K 2N6

[email protected]

647.438.0038