May / June 2000

Community Gardens A Place for Roses Selecting a Soil Mix News of Note Gardeners on the Go Native Texas Plants Herb - Basil Veggie - Cantaloupe Pests! Product Profile Books Home Cooking Great Garden Junk Resources Close to Home   Gleanings from the Editor Beck on Nature Notes from the Brazos   (greyed articles available in printed version - subscribe now!)

COMMUNITY GARDENS: WHAT, WHY AND HOW By Laurel Smith, Ph.D., Bob Randall, Ph.D., staff and volunteers of Urban Harvest What is a community garden?    Community gardens are gardens designed to improve a community. For anyone interested in planting the seeds of change in his or her neighborhood, and who enjoys gardening, the concept of community gardening may fit like a glove—a well-soiled glove.    The concept of community gardens developed long before the Victory Gardens of World War II, but today’s gardens encompass much more. They include not only modern victory gardens where people grow food together for their own consumption, but also donation gardens combating hunger, educational gardens teaching adults or school children, market gardens supplementing incomes, and gardens providing mental or physical therapy.    Such gardens flourish only if they have adequate support. If a tomato seed sprouts in a lawn, chances are that its potential will not be realized. But most people have not had the opportunity to learn to use the land to grow the plants they want, so without help, their gardening efforts often fail. Learning to practice horticulture productively and sustainably is like learning to read. It takes time and instruction. Nearly anyone can master it, and the result is often significant personal and societal gain. An educational system is needed to teach gardening and trained teachers are crucial.    Urban Harvest, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Houston, Texas, and other community gardening programs throughout the state are making an effort to provide such an educational system. They train local residents to teach gardening skills specific to their area, so that more of the surrounding neighborhoods can help strengthen their communities, make them more self-sufficient, and beautify them.    Much of what we know about community gardens is specific to our own experience, so this article discusses what community gardens do in the Houston area. There are, however, parallel efforts in San Antonio, Waco, Austin, Dallas, and Galveston and probably other Texas cities. Why are community gardens valuable? Building Communities    A community garden, if put in the right place and sufficiently supported, provides a public demonstration that residents can build something beautiful together. If residents can work together to create a productive green space, they can use those same skills to address critical problems like crime, homelessness, and blight plaguing their communities. In parks and other highly public places, the regular presence of responsible adults can reduce crime and promote productive activities. Improving Nutrition and Reducing Hunger    Poor nutrition is widespread. Most Houston area residents and many Americans eat few fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables and their health suffers. Community gardens teach people how to grow the best tasting varieties of fresh, pesticide-free produce, making delicious, nutritious produce more available and appreciated. This increases the chance people will eat the targeted five to nine servings of produce that cancer and heart authorities recommend.    For the less fortunate, gardens can reduce hunger. Hunger is a chronic problem in Texas; more than half a million people are estimated to go without food for part of the month. If all were lined up, the line would reach 140 miles. Half would be children, and most of the other half would be elderly or disabled. With regular work, community vegetable gardens typically produce about 500 servings per year in a 40 ft. by 5 ft. raised bed. The best gardens have produced more than twice this amount. Fresh produce from community gardens supplements the canned supplies that stock the shelves of food pantries and homeless shelters.    Helping the Environment    In addition to providing the community with nutritious food, today’s organic community gardens teach and inspire sustainable land use. As our population continues to move from rural areas to urban centers, most of our agrarian heritage has been left behind or forgotten. Now we have no system in place for teaching or experiencing ways to manage and use wisely the land that we have around us.    Most people do not know how to control pests, irrigate the land or improve the soil in an environmentally friendly way. American cities could have a better ecological balance. In most Texas cities pests are too many; water bills are too high; and beneficial creatures are too few. The soils are poor, yet, regrettably, organic wastes go to landfills. Community Gardens can teach sound land management and make ventures into food production successful. School gardens that complement and enhance classroom curricula can also serve as valuable demonstration gardens for the surrounding community. Providing Income    Despite Houston’s 12 month growing season for nearly all vegetables and fruits, it may be the only very large city in the nation without a significant fresh produce industry. Houston and other Texas cities have large numbers of unemployed people, vast amounts of unused land, yet few truck farmers. Community gardens can help deal with these problems. They can help gardeners learn how to grow food organically with a minimum of effort, and how to sell their crops to neighbors, local restaurants, and caterers who are desperately searching for sources of locally grown, good tasting produce. Subscription gardening (ongoing contract sales to a group of people) and Green Markets (small scale, periodic markets with sales of produce by grower) are other marketing options for gardeners who have smaller quantities of produce to sell. Getting Physical Exercise, Increasing Health and Pride    Health and physical exercise or therapy are other possible aims of community gardens. Taking care of plants, watching birds and butterflies, enjoying the outdoors, and getting exercise are all good for body and spirit. Community gardens can help people suffering from stress and many forms of mental and physical illness. TEXAS COMMUNITY GARDENING PROGRAMS TO THE RESCUE    Urban Harvest and other community gardening programs are dedicated to strengthening communities through gardening. Other goals are to ease urban hunger, revitalize neighborhoods, provide environmental education for the young and old, help supplement low-income residents’ income, and furnish better food for everyone.    Urban Harvest is probably typical of other Texas community gardening programs. It works with more than 85 community garden projects in seven counties; however, more than 80% are within Houston city limits.    A Board of Directors, many volunteers and seven full- and part-time staff support the program. Current funding comes predominantly from private foundations, community organizations, memberships, and private individuals.    The gardens are located at schools, parks, housing projects, religious institutions, in vacant lots, utility easements, institutional grounds, and on private properties. While they all serve as catalysts for bringing people together, some of them focus on growing food for donation, some on education, some on nutrition and exercise, still others on selling produce for income. Many simply provide a venue for sharing the love of gardening.