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Community Gardens

Community Gardens Are Growing!
Thanks to support from The Calgary Foundation, Evergreen and the Calgary Horticultural Society there is a new project to strengthen and promote community gardens in Calgary with the Community Garden Resource Network.

This web area will be expanded to include information about, photos of, and details on how to contact each community garden.  News, upcoming events, Calgary gardening tips, and useful web sites will be posted here too!  If you have a question about community gardens in Calgary contact Gael at communitygardens@calhort.org

 
Where are Community Gardens? Google Maps
 
 
 
 

The Community Garden Stock Exchange

Gardens are starting all over Calgary and stuff is needed to make the gardens grow.  If your community garden has a need or you have something to donate send a message to communitygardens@calhort.org describing the item and include contact information and it will be posted here.  All items are to be in working condition unless described as needing minor repair or maintenance.


Gifts and Donations

What: Clean non-organic compost material from a green commercial kitchen
Contact: communitygardens@calhort.org

What: Rototiller
Contact: communitygardens@calhort.org


Upcoming Events for Community Gardeners  

Cookies and Questions: Community Garden Resource Network
POSTPONED (date to be determined)
Calgary Horticultural Society
208 - 50 Avenue SW Calgary
(the blue bungalow on the NW corner of Macleod Trail and 50 Avenue SW
behind the Chinook Hobby Shop)
 
 
Do you have gardening or plant-related questions or issues at your community garden?  Or could you just use a friendly forum to discuss successes and challenges at your garden?  If so, join us for an informal get-together to meet up with other community gardeners.  This evening will be facilitated by Jane Reksten, Botanical Education Coordinator at the Calgary Zoo, who will be prepared to (try!) to answer any technical questions you may have with respect to your gardens.  Bring a plate of cookies, and your questions!!
 
Please RSVP to 287-3469 ext 227 or communitygardens@calhort.org
 
This Community Garden Resource Network free workshop is made possible by support from the Calgary Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Calgary Horticultural Society, Evergreen and The Calgary Foundation.


Who's Involved in Community Gardens?

We tend to think of community gardening as a new trend, but shared garden plots have been a part of Canada's urban agriculture since the early 1900's.

 In modern Canada, large numbers of people live in apartments or condominiums with little or no space for growing their own garden. Others find their yard does not provide enough space for what they would like to grow. Many new Canadians have a history of agriculture in their homelands, and find that a tie to the land is one aspect of life missing in their new urban surroundings. Others want access to raised beds for gardening from wheelchairs, or a seated position, and many know that gardening is therapeutic for all. Community gardens offer people from diverse cultures and socio-economic groups to interact together, in the common goal of growing and cultivating vegetables, fruit, and flowers.

 What is a Community Garden?
Community gardens are places where people grow food and other crops. Generally the focus is on food, with a common area that may have ornamentals, a seating area, tool shed and compost bin. A community garden may have as few as six plots, each rented by individuals, families or groups for the season for a nominal fee. Members are involved in the initial spring and fall cleanup and have a responsibility to maintain their plot and share in the upkeep of the common areas.

 However, there is more growing in a communal garden - friendships and a sense of community sprout as quickly as radish seeds! Whatever the reasons for joining, many community gardeners find that they get to know neighbours and develop a feeling of belonging that they hadn't expected when they first rented their plot. Community gardens are also great places for educating others about the environment, learning growing techniques in our climate, and experiencing multiculturalism from a fellow gardener.

 How Do You Get Involved in Community Gardening in Calgary?
At present there are 15 community gardens in our city. There are several groups in the process of developing a garden for the next growing season. Many are associated with neighbourhood Community Associations and have been developed on city-owned land and private land with funding from a variety of grants.

 The Community Gardening Resource Group is a project of the Calgary Horticultural Society . To learn more specifics about starting a community garden in your neighbourhood, contact us at (403) 287-3469 or email: office@calhort.org

The Society has also produced a booklet "How to Start a Community Garden" that is available through the office.

 


Test Community Garden