About community gardens

An evaluation by Russ Grayson + Fiona Campbell - April 2000

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IMPACT

Community gardening in Sydney appears to have had two main impacts:

• access to fresh, nutritious food using an organic gardening approach; this impact is limited by the productive capacity of the small areas available to gardeners and by the skills of gardeners
• conviviality – the the social aspect; this is the focus of the growing number of professional community workers interested in community gardening.

Further benefits mentioned less frequently by gardeners include:

• recreation -physical activity that contributes to the health of participants
• contact with nature - working in the open and learning about soils, plants and the seasons.

Limitations to food production

There are two models of community gardening practised in Australian cities: allotment gardens, in which individuals have rights to a defined area of land shared gardens - where gardening is carried out in common and produce is shared.

Both approaches are viable and which one is adopted appears to be based on:

• assumptions held about the two models by would-be gardeners
• assumptions and assessments by community workers or local government staff promoting community gardening
• the preference of gardeners determined by the way the garden is started; for instance:
  • the shared model is more frequently adopted by people who know each other,
  • perhaps through the effort of starting a community garden the allotment model may be chosen where the garden is stimulated by an external source such as a community worker and where the people are not well acquainted with each other and, therefore, where there has not been time to establish trust; it may be no coincidence that in situations where this approach has been used in state government housing estates (Waterloo Estate, Sydney; Collingwood and Fitzroy estates, Melbourne) the model adopted has been the allotment.

Many people prefer to have their own, prescribed area to garden. Many allotment gardens such as Collingwood ChildrenÕs Farm in Melbourne and the Randwick Organic Community Garden before it was closed, however, have areas for shared gardening.

Randwick Organic Community Garden and Collingwood Children's Farm provide a comparison in size of allotments and the amount of food they can produce:

• at Collingwood, the large, fenced allotments are perhaps three of four times the size of those at Randwick; they provid a realistic amount of space for the production of a diversity of vegetable and herb crops for a family
• Randwick Organic Community Garden allotments, at around eight square metres in area, were...
  • large enough for a single person or a couple with a child with limited time for gardening
  • too small for the gardener seriously planning to produce the majority of their vegetable supply in the community garden.

Impact on local government

Community gardening has made a slowly increasing impact on the thinking of local government and some community workers. Evidence for this has been the steady increase in the number of enquiries to the Australian Community Gardens Network from local government and other professionals.

Interest from local government comes mainly from community services departments, parks and gardens departments (to a limited extent) and waste services departments (whose interest focuses on the potential of the community gardens role in waste minimisation education).

Community garden interaction with local government has, on the whole, been positive. In some cases, local government has provided land for gardens and has provided financial and in-kind assistance. For councils, assisting community gardens offers the opportunity to build cordial relationships with the community.

Developing the potential for constructive links between community gardens and local government presents the possibility of a win-win relationship. So would including community gardens as an allowable landuse in local government planning documents.

Reducing waste

Thanks to funding by NSW government waste boards and local government, community gardens have had some impact on the reduction of household waste through community waste education.

Recycling and reuse form part of community garden culture because:

• financial resources are lacking, encouraging the use of recycled materials
• many gardeners have a predisposition towards recycling and reuse
• some gardens in NSW have been used as training venues for the Environmental Protection Authority's 'EarthWorks' community waste education program.

Organic waste conversion

Composting, the worm-farming of organic wastes and the reuse of discarded building materials for garden construction are demonstrated in most community gardens.

The most appropriate composting methods for use in community gardens are the simplest because:

• there is no guarantee that compost will be turned regularly to encourage a fast composting process
• many gardeners have limited knowledge of the composting process and have difficulty in diagnosing and remedying faulty composts.

The best compost the simplest

The ADAM composting method popularised through the NSW EarthWorks program is probably the best known among community gardeners. It has the advantage of presenting composting as a simply process and has proven an effective and fast method when turned regularly.

Other methods haave been used, such as the rotating compost tumbler devised for Cook Community Garden in Sydney's Waterloo Estate. Compost tumblers have a reputation as a reliable, fast method when properly maintained, however anecdotal evidence suggest the Cook Garden tumblers are too heavy to conveniently turn when full.

Worm farms ineffective

Worm farms of the commercial variety are sometimes found in community gardens. , They are used to produce vermicompost, a concentrated fertiliser formed by worm castings.

While a large worm farm could theoretically be built to produce a large supply of fertiliser, the common, small commercial models:

• produce too little vermicompost to become a major source of garden fertiliser
• require a knowledge base to operate effectively and to troubleshoot
• are too costly for community gardens of limited financial means

The funding of instructional signs in some community gardens by Sydney Waste Boards - which show how to make compost - indicates a positive attitude by institutions in the value of gardens as waste minimisation demonstration centres.

Limited capability for waste education

The capacity of community gardens to educate the public in waste reduction is influenced by:

• the limited interest of many community gardeners in community education; many gardeners want to do nothing more than garden
• the limited time community gardeners have to allocate to non-gardening activities
• the limited space available in many community gardens
• the fact that waste education relies on enthusiastic gardeners with a wider concept of the role of the gardens;

Waste reduction education is certainly a worthwhile pursuit for community gardeners and government, especially the use of community gardens as waste education and demonstration venues, but must be only one focus in a broader strategy of government waste education.

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PAGE UPDATED... Monday, 14 January 2002