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Community Gardening Toolkit A resource for planning, Community enhancing and sustaining your community gardening project Gardening Toolkit University of Missouri Extension MP906 Community Gardening toolkit About this guide This guide is intended to be a resource for gardeners, garden organizers, Extension staff and other agency professionals who want to start a new community garden, enhance an existing garden or help community members start and manage their own community garden. For additional resources on this and other topics, visit your local University of Missouri Extension center or MU Extension online at extension.missouri.edu. Bill McKelvey MU Extension Associate Healthy Lifestyle Initiative (contents) What is a community garden? .....................................................4 Introduction. .4 Characteristics of neighborhood gardens. .4 Other types of community gardens, including rural community gardens . .5 The history of community gardening. 6 Challenges. .7 The benefits of community gardening. .8 Starting a community garden . 9 Five core beliefs of working in groups. .9 From idea to action — Ten steps to success Step 1: Talk with friends and neighbors . .10 Step 2: Hold a meeting . .10 Step 3: Find and evaluate garden sites. .11 Step 4: Identify local resources. .12 Step 5: Hold a second meeting. .12 Step 6: Draft a lease agreement. .12 Step 7: Develop a site plan. .13 Step 8: Establish gardener guidelines and gardener application. .14 Gardeners’ Welcome Packet . .15 Step 9: Prepare and develop the site . 15 Step 10: Celebrate your success . 15 Additional information for local agencies interested in starting a community garden, or groups interested in involving an outside organization ....................16 Additional things to consider while getting started ................................. 17 Appendix Sample community garden budget. .20 Sample gardener application . 21 Sample gardener guidelines. .22 Sample lease. .23 Stories from experience Building community: Benton-Stephens neighborhood, Columbia, Mo. .4 Giving back: Temple Israel, Rogersville, Mo. .8 School gardening: Maplewood Richmond Heights School District, St. Louis. 13 Intergenerational gardening: Schuyler County, Mo. .16 Community Gardening toolkit What is a community garden? Introduction A community garden means many things to many experience: BUILDING COMMUNITY people. For some, a community garden is a place BENTON -STEPHEN S NEIGH B ORHOOD GARDEN , to grow food, flowers and herbs in the company of COLUM B IA , MO. friends and neighbors. For others, it’s a place to re- connect with nature or get physical exercise. Some Neighborhood leader Kip Kendrick explains that use community gardens because they lack adequate starting a community garden in the Benton-Stephens space at their house or apartment to have a garden. neighborhood laid the foundation for building commu- Others take part in community gardening to build or nity and empowering neighbors to work together. As a revitalize a sense of community among neighbors. newcomer to the neighborhood, Kendrick noticed that Community gardens also take many shapes and the community was very active when confronted with a forms. From a 50-by-50-foot church garden that sup- pressing issue. However, there didn’t seem to be ongo- plies a local food pantry with fresh produce to a vacant ing conversations about the state of the neighborhood. city lot divided into plots and gardened by neighbors, Nor was there much effort to mobilize action around community gardens reflect the needs and the desires less immediate issues such as distressed properties or of people directly involved in their management and inadequate sidewalks. upkeep. As such, there are many, many ways to orga- By starting a community garden on a vacant piece nize and manage a community garden. of land and by involving as many people as possible, Regardless of why people choose to take part in a Kendrick and other neighbors launched a number of community garden or how a garden is organized, the successful efforts to improve the entire community. activity of gardening with others can be both reward- The group now hosts a monthly “coffee shop” where ing and challenging. Our hope is that this guide will neighbors get together to meet, talk about issues and help you manage the challenges that come your way dream about their neighborhood; a partnership is and experience the rewards of community gardening. forming with the local elementary school to build raised This guide is intended to be a resource for gardeners, gardening beds on the school’s property; a neighbor- garden organizers, extension staff and other agency hood-wide campaign was started to build a sidewalk to professionals who want to start a new community connect the neighborhood to an adjacent park; and the garden, enhance an existing garden or assist commu- city has expanded its Neighborhood Response Team’s nity members with starting and managing their own territory to work with neighbors whose properties community garden. violate city codes. The neighborhood’s efforts have even caught the Characteristics of neighborhood attention of city hall. With Kendrick’s help, the city is community gardens offering a neighborhood leadership training course to cultivate more grassroots efforts to build community in This guide provides a framework for organizing other neighborhoods. and managing different types of community gardens with a primary focus on neighborhood community gardens, which typically share the following charac- ten share tools, water and compost, along with seeds teristics. and plants. First, neighborhood community gardens are typi- Second, neighborhood community gardens are of- cally located on land that is divided into different ten organized and managed by the gardeners them- plots for individual and family use. The land may selves, have one or more identified leaders respon- be borrowed, rented or owned by the gardeners, and sible for managing the day-to-day activities of the gardeners generally prepare, plant, maintain and har- garden and have some type of a garden committee to vest from their own plots. Gardeners and their fam- share in the work. Because community gardens come ily, friends and neighbors usually consume produce with a host of responsibilities that range from mak- from the gardens rather than selling it. Gardeners of- ing plot assignments and keeping the grass mowed to resolving conflicts and enforcing the rules, things Community Gardening Toolkit 4 introduction/history tend to run more smoothly when one or more people of community gardens that are distinguished in part are in charge and gardeners themselves take an active by their purpose and participants. role keeping the garden in shape. Other gardens are distinguished more by their lo- Finally, in addition to occupying vacant neigh- cation and less by their purpose. These gardens may borhood lots, neighborhood community gardens are combine elements of a neighborhood community gar- sometimes found at churches, social service agencies den with other community garden models. Examples and other nonprofit organizations, including food include, but are not limited to: public agency gardens, pantries and food banks. These gardens may involve community center gardens, senior gardens, church both neighbors from the surrounding area and the gardens, apartment complex/public housing gardens members or clients of a particular agency or institu- and prison gardens. tion. They sometimes incorporate educational, job- Rural community gardens training and entrepreneurial programming. Although community gardens are often associ- Other types of community gardens ated with urban areas, they exist in many rural areas as well. However, because of the unique characteris- In addition to the typical neighborhood commu- tics of rural places, they often take on different forms nity garden where plots are subdivided and cared for and serve different functions. Research conducted by by individuals or families, community gardens exist Ashley F. Sullivan (1999) from the Center on Hunger in a variety of other forms to serve a number of func- and Poverty at Tufts University identified a number of tions. The examples below represent different types Types of community gardens • Youth/school gardens expose young people to garden- pantry, food bank or other location. Produce is grown by ing and nature, give them the opportunity to do some volunteers, food pantry clients, or both and donated to of their own gardening and/or educate them in a variety the food pantry. of subject areas. These gardens are typically associated • Therapy gardens provide horticultural therapy to hos- with a formal or semi-formal program that incorporates pital patients and others. A trained horticulture therapist classroom lessons with hands-on gardening activities. often leads programs and classes. Gardens may be located Gardens may be located on school grounds, at a commu- at hospitals, senior centers, prisons or other places. nity center, in neighborhoods or on other parcels of land. • Demonstration gardens show different types of garden- • Entrepreneurial/job training market gardens are ing methods, plant varieties, composting techniques and typically established by nonprofit organizations or other more. Demonstration gardens located at working com- agencies to teach business or job skills to youth or other munity gardens are often open to the general public for groups. They grow and sell the produce they raise. Pro- display and classes. They may be managed and main- ceeds from the
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