Community Gardens
So I’ve been posting all summer about my community garden - telling everyone where it is and how I use it and why I love it but I never mentioned
WHAT IT IS!
I had a friend reply to one of my stories very politely asking “wtf is a community garden exactly?” and I realized I never started at the beginning and explained what they are.
History
Anyone who’s a history buff (like me) knows when you start to discuss the origins of anything in human society you inevitably end up at the big bang - so I’m cutting it short when I say our story starts about 13,000 years ago….
In order to understand the rise of community gardening, we need to go back, like waaaay back, to the start of the agricultural revolution.
Almost all humans before this time got their food from hunting and gathering - they lived largely nomadic lifestyles following the migration patterns of their prey or moving through areas where fruits or vegetables were in season. But this is a very simplistic view that’s often repeated - in reality, those societies did practice rudimentary agriculture…
Imagine you’re in a band of hunter-gatherers and you come across a patch of wild potatoes - you can either pull them all up and eat them right away or, as experience and your elders have taught you, you can put a few of those potatoes back into the soil and then next year, when your band returns to this valley, there will be a new harvest of potatoes waiting for you.
These early humans had the same brains and bodies that we do, and knew how to plan for the years ahead by managing their food supplies. This management is what will eventually lead to agriculture.
So now you’re back with your tribe, sitting around the fire and Urg says, “Hey guys, so each year we plant potatoes and then sometimes the animals eat them, or the soil gets dry and they die. What if we hung around a bit after we planted them? We could scare off animals or bring water from the lake.”
And Hurfg replies “K, but then we’d miss the bison migration….”
Urg thinks about this and says “Well, what if we stole a baby bison and raised it up here...like near where the potatoes are….”
Et voila you have agriculture!
More people staying in one place and intentionally growing their plants there over time and by about 13,000 years ago the Agricultural Revolution is in full swing. If you live near your crops you can keep an eye on them, defend them from predators and other people and you begin to be able to predict what’s going to happen next year.
If you predict what will happen in the future regarding your food then you can start to build stable societies.
So we stopped following the animals and plants and brought them to us. We lived this way for thirteen thousand years….THIRTEEN THOUSAND YEARS! That is a long-ass time...
Then, probably no more than 200 years ago, our ancestors put down their tools and began to move into cities and suburbs…
200,000 years ago modern humans first arrived
13,000 years ago humans started farming
200 years ago humans begin urbanization
50 years ago humans started sitting and staring at screens en masse
I swear I didn’t forget this is about community gardens - the point I want you to see is its in your motherfucking bones.
I could go into environmental movements of the 70s or the victory gardens of the world wars but I know in my gut the story I told you is the real reason community gardens have developed.
Very simply, a community garden is a piece of land where you’ve been allowed to grow plants but what they really are is the opportunity to be a real human. A human with their hands in the soil, the wind in their face and their mind planning and looking towards next years harvest - to do what humans have done for 200,000 years (minus about 200 years give or take)
So many of us live and work in concrete towers but we were built on grasslands and in forests, on mountainsides and in lush valleys - and then we wonder why we feel sad and just off.
Community gardens open up the opportunity to grow your own food, just like all of your ancestors did, without having to buy land or move away from an urban centre. Some have fees associated but mine is totally free and run by the city of Brampton. Some gardens are run by churches and schools, some allow you to plant perennials and some like mine, are annuals only.
Regardless of these small differences, each community garden gives you a chance to go back to your roots, back to your humanness.
I started my business because I believe so deeply in my soul that everyone should be gardening, even if it’s a few pots on a window sill, because it’s part of being truly alive. No matter the space you have I can help you reconnect with our Earth, eat healthier meals and protect our only home from climate change - send me a message if you’re interested.
Below is a list of the gardens located in Southern Ontario to get you started.
Community Garden List
Brampton
INFO: https://www.brampton.ca/EN/residents/parks/Pages/Community-Gardens.aspx
Creditview Park Community Garden
McMurchy Community Garden
Norton Park Community Garden (that’s me!)
Crawley Emmanuel Community Garden
Sesquicentennial Park Community Garden
Mississauga
INFO: https://ecosource.ca/community-gardens/
Churchill Meadows Community Garden
Hillside Community Garden
Iceland Urban Agriculture Teaching Garden
Parkway Green Generation Garden
Garden of the Valley
Hancock Community Garden
Forest Glen Community Garden
Malton Community Garden
Small Arms Community Garden
Toronto
INFO: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-gardens-beaches/gardens-and-horticulture/urban-agriculture/
Bishop
Cornell Campbell House
Daventry
Four Winds
Givendale
High Park
Jonesville
Leslie Street
Marie Baldwin Park
Silverthorn
Stoffel Drive
West Deane