“A community garden is any piece of land gardened by a group of people” American Community Gardening Association
“A community garden is any piece of land gardened by a group of people” American Community Gardening Association
Welcome!
Through community actions and this site, Community Gardens London celebrates the shared and community gardens of London and area, and the potential of urban agriculture. Our focus is to support and advocate for food producing gardens and their role in individual and urban food security, our good health and environmental health. We hope the site educates, helps in the exchange of information, and encourages us all to enjoy nature as it nurtures our bodies, minds and spirits.
Community Gardens London supporters are all volunteers, people with diverse and shared interests and experiences.
History ... Why we’re here ... and why we want to hear from You
People care passionately about community and shared gardens, about urban agriculture. Over the last years, people in London and area have talked about diverse aspects of community and shared gardens. They've been involved in projects personally, in neighbourhoods, through work, and at a political level. Some of us know each other; some just know about each other or have heard about each other’s gardens or work.
We are inspired by the stories, ideas and projects we’ve heard about during the last few years. We want this website to be a communications point. Please let us know about the people and projects that have to do with community and shared gardening in London and area. We look forward to helping connect up people and projects, and seeing new projects develop.
Please send us an e-mail at communitygardenslondon@execulink.com and tell us your interests.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Maureen Temme
Robyn Harvey
Christopher Downing
Please note: Community Gardens London does not manage London Ontario's community gardens program. As of mid-February 2017, the City of London has its own staff person managing the City's garden program. For inquiries about that or to reserve a plot, visit the City of London's website page here. Vanessa Kinsley is the person who can answer your questions. email communitygardens@london.ca or phone 519-661- 5336 (which is a number outside the City's overall 661-2500, but switchboard could get you through too)
Urban agriculture and community gardening are all about people and their stories. There are many organizations and websites that tell these stories. One of our favorites is the City Farmer website. Maintained by Michael Levenston since 1978 - an incredible achievement! - this site is updated almost daily with urban agriculture news from Canada and around the world. It is easy to use and searchable by keyword that you put in, or by suggested topics. It's a great place to start when you are researching a topic, and, because it draws on information from many countries, is a great educator ... it gets us out of our "this is the way it's done" mindset. www.cityfarmer.info
Janaie Donaldson of Peak Moments Television interviews Patrick Marcus of the Ashland Oregon Community Garden; it’s a 2008 interview available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydrALNfsm6o It's really worth listening to. Marcus is a wonderful spokesperson for community gardens generally, noting the many ways gardening is good for people and communities. One of his most important points has to do with the importance of a city plan having ‘infrastructure’ or policies in its overall development plan that allow for and commit to having community gardening spaces. He also makes the case for community gardens on city land being cost-effective for a city, in terms of it costing less for a city to give some financial support to a shared garden than to mow and spray and anything else it might do. The people in the Ashland community garden have done their political work and changes are being made to the city’s plan. He mentions that a survey of city-owned property was being done, to find locales that would be suitable for further community gardens. Just to mention, it may seem a bit odd if you are Canadian to hear the first speaker talk about patriotism in relation to community gardens. This is an American program, and they use that term more than we do. Also, keep in mind that community gardening does tie in with food security and even food sovereignty. So it's not so far off. Hope you enjoy this.