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Community Gardens
“We presently have gardeners ranging in age from twenty somethings to middle agers and seniors.
Two of us have disabling health problems related to food sensitivities and negative reactions to pesticides. Several of us are on low incomes.
We also have a plot being used by a group of individuals with acquired brain injuries from the Opportunity Centre. We all appreciate the opportunity
to grow our own food in a healthy manner and we love our little oasis in the busy city.”
- Community Garden Leader
Click here to see the flyer for the upcoming Community Garden Fest on May 2nd
Click on the following links to jump to the sections or pages you wish to
read:
There are currently 40 community gardens in the Region of Waterloo distributed throughout Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and the townships.
The large majority of these gardens are volunteer run.
These gardens are used by seniors, children, students, new immigrants, low-income families, middle-class families, as well as mental health and
cancer patients. The gardens are truly diverse.
Currently the Community Garden Network provides space and opportunity for over 700 families to garden and grow their own food.
In 2008 three new gardens were launched and waiting lists soon sprung up of local residents who wanted to take part in these gardens.
There are nine community groups interested in starting new gardens for the 2009 season.
Community garden leaders in the Region of Waterloo have documented the popularity of community gardens by seniors and new immigrant groups.
With the Region of Waterloo predicting to have a large growth in population (many of these being new immigrants), as well as an increase in age
of the population over the next 20 years, the need for community gardens is even more apparent. This combined with the economic slow down in this
Region, community gardens could become an even more important tool to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need.
These green spaces also help offset the impact urban development can have by helping citizens remain connected to nature.
The Diggable Communities Collaborative is a partnership between the Region of Waterloo Public Health, Opportunities Waterloo Region, and the Community
Garden Council of Waterloo Region. The Collaborative has 18 months of funding from May 2008-October 2009 provided by The Ontario Trillium Foundation
and is supported by Together 4 Health.
The goals of the Collaborative are to: strengthen the Community Garden Council, build partnerships with other groups in the community,
develop sponsorship opportunities for gardens, ensure supportive policy for community gardens, aid new garden start ups, and promote community gardens.
The Collaborative understands that planning needs to take place within the next few years to ensure current garden plots can be maintained and sustained,
and that spaces for new gardens can be located with future population growth in mind.
Community Gardens are a powerful neighbourhood based, volunteer led way to build communities. They provide opportunities for increased social
interaction and an increased appreciation of social Diversity; as well as improved safety and security in local communities. Community gardening provides
a wide range of personal and community benefits. The community benefits from improved neighbourly connections. The landscape improves from the creation
of beautiful gardens. These personal and environmental benefits co-exist with the obvious important goal of growing healthy local food.
In some Community Gardens in Waterloo Region, the members may not speak the same language but have a common experience of gardening.
The unique forum of gardening provides opportunities for these diverse communities to interact, co-operate and learn from each other.
Community Gardens also can strengthen the "economic health of the community" by providing skill development, and enabling people the ability
to access low-cost nutritious and affordable food. Strengthening and developing community gardens can also provide opportunities for education
and Income Generation.
Community Gardens also address a need for gardening space often excluded in higher density developments. Community Gardens can help to mitigate any
effects of increased population density by helping to reduce air and noise pollution, and reduce urban heat islands.
These green spaces also help offset the impact urban development can have by helping citizens remain connected to nature.
Many of the existing gardens are located on church, community centre, and private property but there is a need to ensure public space is also made
available for community gardening, especially when considering long-term land use planning. To ensure this, we are working with area municipalities
to encourage them to provide:
- some municipal funds for urban parks to aid in the development and maintenance of community gardens
- infrastructure supports such as water, compost, and top soil as needed;
- a map of potential sites within the city and protect them for community garden use;
- plan new developments with community gardens in mind;
- set a community garden standard of at least one garden for every 2500 households; and,
- offer incentives to individuals starting gardens as well as developers, community centres, and faith groups who provide space for community gardens.
We also look forward to working with other interested parties to build on the excitement around the community garden movement.
For more information, visit the following:
Community Garden Fest website
Community Garden Council website
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