1. August 25, 2016
Grande Prairie Community Garden Project
Five Years: Our successes, challenges,
opportunities and policy development
2. Benefits of Community Gardens
Health Gains
Educational opportunities
Economic benefits
Environmental benefits
Cultural opportunities
Community Building
Youth Engagement
Crime Prevention
Urban Improvements
Strengthened governance
October 3, 2016
2
3. How we got started
We took this plot of land
And made this!
31. What if I don’t know anything
about gardening!
Learn by working beside others!
Areas to get involved in could be:
• building beds,
• planting/watering/weeding,
• harvesting,
• site maintenance,
• fundraising,
• promotions, and
• vision setting.
October 3, 2016
31
The community garden had been discussed for several years prior to the actual build of the garden. We encountered obstacles such as
No one wanted us on their property concerned that it would impact operations, future use of the land, safety concerns
Finances – always a challenge!
Once we found the site we had challenges such as
Water – where were we going to get it from
How would we store tools, watering supplies, taps
The idea for a community garden from our now defunct Communities in Bloom Committee. As we were growing we were noticing the disconnect between the community and how our food is produced. A group of volunteers got together and we developed a plan on what we thought we could do. Over coffee, the plans slowly grew. The group decided that we would utilize the garden to grow food for those who would need it and to show that community that food could be grown in a variety of methods. We discussed having beds available for the community to rent but decided against it based the fact that there were too many unknowns.
One of our biggest challenges was finding a location. We finally obtained permission to temporarily place the garden on City owned property in the Downtown. The garden is located close to Rotary House, an organization that provides housing on a single night basis to short term stays. This worked into our plan of providing the harvest to the community.
Our small group consisted of 5 members of the public and 2 staff (myself and my co-worker Lucy). Our job as staff was to facilitate the group. We wrote a grant and obtained funding from TD Friends of the Environment to construct the garden.
13 raised beds were constructed of cinder block (we paid $.25/block from a farmer who really liked our project), wood plank and cedar that was not treated and we chose to not paint, keeping with our theme of an environmentally friendly garden. No chemicals or fertilizers are used and we mow the lawn with a manual reel mower.
The first year we developed theme beds and provided signage
1) Dan’s Salsa Bed, 2) Borsch Bed, 3) Herb Bed, 4) Three Sisters’ Bed, 5) Eat your Vegies
6) Strawberry Fields Forever, 7) North Square Garden, 8) South Square Garden, 9) Has Beans
10) Peas, Please, 11), 12), 13) Potatoes
We have been truly fortunate in that one of our volunteers works for Dunvegan Gardens and they have provided us with plants from the very first year. All of our flowers come from Dunvegan as well as many of our tomatoes.
Most of our vegetables were grown from seed. McKenzie Seeds donated a wide variety of seeds. We also received donations from residents who had too many plants.
The beds that were built and the soil that was moved into each of the beds would not have occurred without the help of volunteers. While many people were concerned about the location of the garden – its close proximity to Rotary House and being Downtown – the group had made the decision that the garden was for the whole community. We embraced the transient population and explained the project to many of those folks when they stopped by. We were fortunate that several of the men saw that this group or primarily women were struggling with some of the labour and they generously volunteered. While this was not something we had planned – it was probably one of the best spur of the moment decisions we made. The vulnerable population that we were growing the food for took ownership and pride in the garden.
We were able to thank those volunteers with gift cards to Subway, they did appreciate the gesture. It was truly heartwarming as we had struggled with our choices on location as well as deciding not to fence the garden off.
The land that we are situated on was housing at one time and the City had purchased it as right of way access for potential growth. Nothing had been done to the land after the houses had been demolished. So we had some drainage issues on the right side of the lot! This is also where the waterline access is and where we needed to put the shed!
Because it was so wet that summer they were not able to put in the water line, so we had to be creative. With the assistance of our Parks and Transportation Departments they would fill up rain barrels for us and we would water by hand. (that got old very quickly!) The challenge was that we needed more water than they were able to provide – they had other priorities. So we hired a company to water for us while we waited (not so patiently) for the soil to dry out so that they could dig in our water lines
Aquatera (our utility company) , gave us a $1500 discount but it was still a significant cost that we hadn’t considered. Plus we had incurred the $600 cost of having a company water for us for the month of July, thankfully I had the budget to cover the group’s shortfalls.
We were so happy to see the digging start! Bringing the water line from the sidewalk to where we needed it was approximately $6000,
The group had decided that our best way to store our tools and house the water tap was to have a shed on site. In order to place the shed we needed some on the land to be levelled – this was a great training opportunity for some our transportation staff.
We bought our shed from Totem Building Supplies who gave us a discount, then built it and delivered it to the site. So now we had a shed right in the Downtown and of course it was tagged really quickly! Our group considered our options and it decided we should have a mural on it. Working with our Crime Prevention Dept and the Centre for Creative Arts we found an artist who would paint the shed for us.
We provided the paint and the blank canvas and Kane provided the art. Best of both worlds – we thought. While many people liked the shed and they liked the anticipation of knowing the art would change, others didn’t like the art style and decided that we were encouraging graffiti. We had initially referred to Kane as our “Graffiti Artist” which we changed to our “Urban Artist”. The Beautification Committee for the Downtown Association expressed their concerns regarding the art on the shed, there was some discussions as how to resolve it and we suggested that we would heed to their request of having a white shed if they would keep it graffiti free. They decided that they could live with the art.
Janice, one of our founding members has always been in charge of the harvest. We checked with AHS regarding our ability to give away our produce and they advised that we should record where we are taking the food and the quantities. This food has gone to the Youth Emergency Shelter, the Soup Kitchen, Rotary House and Odyssey House (shelter for women).
It took a couple of years but we have encouraged our neighbours (primarily street folks) to pick and enjoy the fruits and vegetables as they are ready so that no food goes to waste. This has proven very also to be very successful, our neighbours are quite protective and caring for the garden.
We have begun measuring the harvest in servings, it was easier for people to understand how much produce was coming out the garden. We harvest approximately 1500 servings of fruits and vegetables annually.
We have been truly blessed with successes. We have had some challenges but our successes outweigh the challenges.
The shed has continued to be a success. The artist who we had initially worked with passed away this winter and a new group has taken over the painting of the shed. They have worked very hard to keep it current, if you are familiar with Pokemon Go you may recognize the current art as part of that theme. We recently learned that we are a Poke stop and the artists wanted to incorporate that theme
Additions to the garden are:
Wood chip mulch – our Parks Dept chips up trees and branches as they are being removed or trimmed. Any of the wood chip mulch that they are not going to be using for City projects is placed in the garden for members of the community to come and take. There is no cost to take the mulch – you just have to shovel it into your pickup or container. We have encouraged this as a great environmental initiative and Parks staff are seeing the wood chip mulch in yards throughout the city
Wood – as the trees are taken down Parks will leave the wood, again for residents to take. This has also proven to be very popular.
This photo is of Cameroon Spinach. As many other communities throughout the province and across the country we have seen an increase in our immigrant population. We have worked closely with our Cultural Integration Academy to provide volunteer experiences for our newest members of the community as well as an introduction to our culture. We were approached this spring to have a bed for one of the newest members of our community. She hails from Cameroon (just arrived in November), and she has planted, maintained and harvested the spinach. She has educated us on how to cook with it and it has provided her with the opportunity to meet members of the community. It has been very successful and we are looking to expand it next year. The goal will be to add signage to help educate other members of the community about other cultures.
We have been fortunate to work some of the youth in the community, from schools to community groups. Youth have been actively involved in the garden.
Classes have come and planted, they have started plant material in the classroom and then transplanted the plants.
Youth groups have come in and helped with tasks such as watering, weeding and planting.
This year the Guides sponsored a bed and chose the plants and have helped with the maintenance.
Easter weekend 2013 the Community Garden experienced vandalism that could have been catastrophic to the program. Someone burned the shed (it was deliberately set on fire) but thanks to the great community that we live in, the shed was replaced and delivered to the site. Residents donated equipment, businesses provided us with new tools and the very day the shed was delivered, Kane painted!
In the 5 years of the program we have seen many changes and have interest peak and wane over time. We traditionally see an abundance of volunteers in May and June and then a decline for the rest of the summer.
Due to the success of the program the City has received enquiries about having community gardens in neighbourhood. We received direction to develop a policy regarding community gardens and the Community Growth Committee also added edible landscaping to the direction.
Policy 212 recognizes that food security is an important factor in our sustainability as a community. Community gardens aid in providing fresh fruit and vegetables as well as teach members of our community how to garden. As an organization we will provide support to various community groups and neighbourhood associations to incorporate community gardens into their neighbourhoods to benefit the City and its residents. It is expected that community groups or neighbourhood associations will meet established criteria, provide supporting documentation, and have the required community support to develop a community garden.
As an organization we commit to planting fruit bearing trees and shrubs as a portion of our annual plantings in parks to support food security and act as an educational tool for the community at large.
In 2014 Parks began adding fruit trees to parks. Sites were chosen based on close proximity to a school or in an area that has an active neighbourhood association. This year the trees are bearing fruit!
This September will be the first time that we work with a school on harvesting apples.
These mini orchards are fenced off to ensure that the trees had a good start.
