Welcome to the Community Gardens London website
Welcome
Through community actions and this site, Community Gardens London celebrates the shared and community gardens of London and area. 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 celebrate and educate about these while enjoying the beauties and varieties of all plants as they nurture 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,
Christopher Downing
Robyn Harvey
Maureen Temme
London's Community Gardens Program Review
London's Community Gardens Program Review was accepted unanimously by City Council, Monday, April 4, 2011. The review is attached to the Community and Neighbourhood's Committee report of its Tues. March 29/11 meeting, found at: http://council.london.ca/meetings/CNC%20Agendas/2011-03-29%20Agenda/Item%209.pdf
The London's Community Gardens Program Review states that the Municipality of London wants to support community gardens in London and it makes 14 recommendations toward the practical development of a "Potential Vision" for London's Community Gardens Program. This vision is stated as: "To create a city-wide sustainable community gardens program that nurtures neighbourhoods and the people of London."
If you want to ask a question or make a comment, get in touch with Ross Fair, executive director of Community Services for London (519 661-2500-5430, email: rfair@london.ca). Or, get in touch with Community Gardens London (communitygardenslondon@execulink.com). We are neither City Hall, nor involved with management of community gardens in London, but we do care about community gardening and will help answer or direct your questions/comments as we can.
Council and Committee agendas are found at page: http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Meetings/Default/meetingpackages.htm
If you require information about City Hall procedures, there is a useful Guide to City Hall available on the Urban League of London's website: http://www.ul.london.on.ca/urbanweb/News/News2011/Guide%20Feb%2028.pdf
Scroll down the Home Page a bit until you come to the triple column or articles. The Guide is listed at the top of the left column.
Food Charter for the City of London
The Food Charter for the City of London was accepted by City Council on April 4. The report is found at: http://council.london.ca/meetings/CNC%20Agendas/2011-03-29%20Agenda/Item%2020.pdf
Global Bee Colony Disorders and other Threats to Insect Pollinators
Report of the United Nations Environment Program - March 10, 2011
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.Print.asp?DocumentID=664&ArticleID=6923&l=en&WT.rss_f=pr&WT.rss_a=664-6923
"More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe. Scientists are warning that without profound changes to the way human-beings manage the planet, declines in pollinators needed to feed a growing global population are likely to continue. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: 'The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century... Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature's services in a world of close to seven billion people.'"
The full report can be downloaded at: http://www.unep.org/dewa/Portals/67/pdf/Global_Bee_Colony_Disorder_and_Threats_insect_pollinators.pdf
Those of us who garden in private gardens and in shared and community gardens have an important role to play in encouraging beneficial insects of all sorts by providing habitat, food and reproduction sites. Far more insects are our friends - beneficials - than are harmful. During the lasts years, threats to the world's pollinating insects have been increasing. Colony Collapse Disorder of honeybee populations has been in the news a lot, not just in Canada. Concerns have reached international levels and to the United Nations Environment Program. Your good gardening practices are essential for pollinators, including bees of all sorts. Organic, agro-ecological, or SANER [sustainable, all natural, environmentally responsible] - call it what you will - healthy gardening based in the 4 L's of Looking around, Learning, Labour and Love will contribute.
Community Gardening 101 - a resource from Kingston!
The Kingston Community Gardens Network has done a wonderful service! It has produced a document titled Community Gardening 101, and it can be found through the Kingston website, via the How to Start a Garden menu title at: http://www.kingstoncommunitygardens.ca/
This 'how to' takes you through finding others who want to garden, establishing good relationships with your neighbourhood and the city, getting permissions, setting guidelines for gardeners and property owners, planning the garden, and more. It's easy to read and gives much to think about.
The Kingston Community Gardens Network is a partnership of Loving Spoonful (Kingston's Food Justice organization), the City of Kingston, Urban Agriculture Kingston, Oak St. Gardens, and OPIRG Kingston. The KCGN is administered through Loving Spoonful.
Contact information: Kingston Community Gardens Network,
Coordinator: Susan Belyea, gardens@lovingspoonful.org
(613) 546-4291 ext 1871
A Really Positive Interview About the Community Gardening Experience
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. Great stuff.
