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Nature and Community Experience in Community Gardening
Submitted by:
Mélisanne Loiselle-Gascon
To:
Leesa Fawcett
Date of Submission: September 3, 2013
Report of a Major Paper submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Studies in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental
Studies, York University Ontario, Canada
Supervisor’s Signature
_________________________________________________
Student’s Signature
___________________________________________________
i
Acknowledgements
I want to thank all gardeners at Earlscourt Community Gardens and
Maloca Community Garden during the summer of 2012. Your participation and
interest was crucial for my research. I also want to express my gratitude to the
garden coordinators, Mandy and Maria for their support throughout the process.
A special thank you to my supervisor Leesa Fawcett, I appreciated your
energy, enthusiasm, and guidance during this academic adventure. I will
remember our discussions during our summer walks and your constant
encouragement.
Mes études graduées à York n’aurait jamais été possible sans toi, Grant
Bellamy. Tu m’as inspiré, supporté et guidé durant ces deux années. Durant les
hauts et les bas, tu as été à mes côtés. Cette réussite je la partage avec toi.
Qui aurait cru que j’étudierais pendant 19 ans jusqu’à obtenir une maîtrise
en environnement? Maman et papa, vous avez toujours cru en moi, du début à la
fin. Une partie de vous, Josée Loiselle, Réjean Gascon et Roxan Loiselle-Gascon,
se trouve dans tous mes accomplissements. Merci de votre patience et soutien tout
au long de mes études.
You always understood why we were working so hard to get yet another
degree. You let us fly away to Toronto so we could get a better education. We
knew we could always come home and revitalize ourselves with our family at the
cottage. You, Keith Bellamy, Carol Ann Vinters, and Zarah Bellamy, were an
important pillar to my strength and my will to be as good as I could be.
ii
Être ami avec une étudiante qui passe des heures sur son ordinateur n’est
pas des plus facile. C’est encore plus dur quand celle-ci déménage dans une autre
province pour le faire. J’ai eut la chance de pouvoir compter sur mes amies pour
leur compréhension et d’ainsi terminer cette longue course intellectuelle avec
elles encore à mes côtés.
When you move to a new town, you can sometimes find yourself alone. I
was extremely lucky to find incredible friends in Toronto to make my time off
from school fun and securing. You helped me to feel more at home in this big
city.
With their financial aid, York University and l’Aide Financière du Québec
allowed me to focus strictly on my graduate studies and successfully achieve all
my academic goals. Thank you for your trust and support.
iii
Abstract
Living modern individualistic lifestyles in cities can decrease people’s
awareness of existing human interactions with nature and community. By
providing natural and social spaces in cities, community gardens can bring an
experience of nature and community, and therefore contribute to the decreasing of
people’s disconnection from nature and community life. The objective of the case
studies of two community gardens in Toronto (Canada), Earlscourt Community
Garden and Maloca Community Garden, was to get a better understanding of
gardeners’ experience of nature and community, and to reflect on the ways to
improve community gardens’ capacity to provide significant experience of nature
and community life for gardeners. The field study included participant
observations and semi-directed interviews, which provided an access to
gardeners’ ideas and reflections on their community-gardening experience. The
results of the field studies show that gardeners appreciate the physical contact
with nature as well as the opportunity to witness natural processes, for example,
plant growth. Because both community gardens have communal plots, gardeners
got a chance to interact with other gardeners and to cooperate during group work.
Even if the field studies illustrate that community gardeners experience nature and
community at some level, such experience is not always at the center of
gardeners’ attention during gardening activities. To bring about an awareness of
the importance of nature and community life in gardens, adult environmental
education programs could be designed specifically to achieve this goal in
community gardens. Theories and practice of place-based education focus on
iv
learners’ local environment, which would contribute to focus learners’ attention
on what surrounds them in their daily life. Gardeners’ perspective on learning and
environmental education in community gardens is also an important aspect to
understand their interests and expectations. Finally, the research on community
gardens and on adult environmental education informed the creation of a calendar
that include learning and gardening activities designed to guide garden
coordinators in the integration of environmental education in community gardens.
v
Foreword
My Major Paper is the final element of my Plan of Study since I explore in
depth two components of my area of concentration: environmental education and
community gardening. In effect, through my area of concentration I learned more
about environmental education and community gardening, more precisely how
they could benefit from each other in order to improve learning in a natural
setting. In my Major Paper, I look at the benefits of community gardening and
propose that an adult environmental education program would stimulate
gardeners’ experience of the benefits of natural and social space that are formed
by community gardens.
In my Plan of Study, for my component “Environmental Education,” I state
that my first learning objective is “to acquire pedagogical competencies relating
to environmental education in natural settings, such as the community garden.”
To accomplish this objective, I carried out a field study at Earlscourt Community
Garden and at Maloca Community Garden in which I focused my attention on
adult learning in these community gardens. I also conducted interviews to
question participants on their learning experience. In my Major Paper, with the
findings and analysis of my field studies, I was able to determine some of the
ways in which environmental education could take place in community gardens.
My second learning objective related to environmental education was to explore
the potential of popular education to reflect on nature. In my Major Paper, I
argued for the importance of participative adult education and of the creation of a
safe space to reflect on local socio-environmental issues. I also presented learning
vi
strategies from popular education that I adapted to learning activities in
community gardens.
My Major Paper also contributes to the learning objective for my
“Community Gardening” component set forth in my Plan of Study: to understand
and stimulate “the individual and social benefits of community gardening”. My
field study in community gardens, as well as my literature review, helped me to
understand how community gardening plays a role in gardeners’ wellbeing by
providing a space to spend time in nature and with other people. My exploration
of the place of nature and community in community gardens in my Major Paper
allowed me to gain a better understanding of the importance of contact with
nature and social interactions and how significant experience can be encouraged.
In my major Paper, I show how community gardening experience could be
improved by an environmental education program and therefore meet the
potential individual and social benefits described in academic literature.
vii
Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Abstract iii Foreword v
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Disconnection to Nature and Community, and Potential Solutions 5
2.1 Human Disconnection From Nature 5
Disconnection from Nature: a Conceptual Division 5
Disconnection from Nature: a Physical Division 6
Humans: Separated or Part of Nature? 7
The Importance of Nature in Human Lives 9
2.2 Disconnection from Community 10
Modern Societies and Individualist Lifestyles 10
The Importance of Community in Human Lives 11
2.3 Bringing People Closer to Nature and Community with Collective Food Production in Community Gardens 13
Socio-environmental Aspects of Food 13
Food Production in Community Garden: Limiting the Distance between People, Nature, and Community 15
2.4 Understanding the Place of Nature and Community in Community Gardens: A Case Study 18
Chapter 3: Case Study of Nature and Community in Community Gardens 19
3.1 Field Study: A Description 19
Objectives and Methods 19
Field Study: Limits and Potential Bias 21
Field Study: Data Analysis and Coding 23
3.2 Description of Studied Community Gardens 24
Earlscourt Community Garden 25
Maloca Community Garden 27
3.3 Experience of Nature in Community Gardens 28
Community Gardens and Nature in Literature 28
Experience of Nature in Field Study 30
Experiencing Nature in Community Gardens: A Summary 34
viii
3.4 Sense of Community and Community Building in Community Gardens 34
Sense of Community in the Literature 34
Sense of Community in Field Study 36
Community Building in Community Gardens in the Literature 41
Community Building in Field Study 43
Community in Community Gardens: A Summary 46
3.5 Improving Community Gardens’ Capacity to Provide Gardeners with a Conscious Experience of Nature and Community 48
Chapter 4: Environmental Education in Community Gardens 50
4.1 Environmental Education, Place-based Education, and Nature 51
Defining Environmental Education 51
Defining Place-based Education 55
4.2 Environmental Education and Place-based Education in Learning Gardens and Community Gardens 57
Learning Gardens: A Setting for Environmental Education 57
Learning in Community Gardens: Taking Cues from Learning Gardens58
Adult Environmental Education in Community Gardens 59
Applying Adult Place-Based Education in Community Gardens 61
4.3 Participative Adult Education and Learning Communities in Community Gardens to Stimulate Community 63
Participative Adult Education in Community Gardens 63
Learning Communities in Community Gardens 64
Learning Communities to Experience Community life in Community Gardens 65
4.4 Learning in Community Gardens 68
The State of Education in Community Gardens in the Literature 68
Gardeners’ Take on Learning and Environmental Education 69
Analysis of Gardeners’ Answers and Resulting Recommendations 76
Chapter 5: Conclusion 104
6. Work Cited 108
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
“We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. Or hear. Or sense.” (Louv, 2011, p.104)
By living urban individualistic lifestyles, people often go about their day
unconscious of the natural environment and of other people that surround them.
This results in a disconnection from nature and community, in a certain
indifference towards socio-environmental issues that take place around them, and
even in careless negative actions towards both nature and other people. Nature is a
concept that gathers all the living and non-living constituents of the world: it is
“the all-encompassing reality in which people and society are constituent parts”
(Lee, Freudenburg, and Howarth, 2013, p.19). For Louv (2011), an adequate
definition of nature must discern that “human beings exist in nature anywhere
they experience meaningful kinship with other species [, and, by] this description,
a natural environment may be found in wilderness or in a city” (p.52-53). Humans
live in nature and also in communities. Community is generally understood as
individuals who share a specific place or common ideas, values or goals
(Hutchinson, 2008). One potential solution to the aforementioned disconnections
is to provide opportunities for people to experience nature and community life in
order for them to develop an awareness of their surrounding environment and of
socio-environmental issues they are facing. Milton (2002) defines experience as
“the impact of the environment on the individual” (p.41). Experiencing nature
then involves the recognition of nature’s impact on us. In effect, Milton (2002)
2
indicates that by “focusing on experience, we direct our attention to the
relationship between the individual and their environment” (p.40). Giving people
opportunities to experience nature and community life is a valuable way to inspire
interest and to bring about the recognition of the importance of nature and
community in human life (Corsgriff, 2011; Firth, Maye, and Pearson, 2011). A
key element would then to find an adequate setting for people to autonomously,
collectively, and enjoyably experience nature and community life in urban areas. I
propose that community gardens are good settings for people to experience nature
and community because they are green spaces in cities and they are locations
where gardeners can interact and collaborate. More precisely, I put forward that
community gardens, where gardeners grow food as a collectivity, provide a more
significant experience since it is relies on direct collaboration with other people
and with nature.
To get a better understanding of community gardens’ potential to provide
significant experiences of nature and community, I undertook a case study of two
community gardens in Toronto (Ontario) that offer communal-plot gardening. My
objective was to identify the place of nature and community in gardeners’
experience of community gardening. To achieve this goal, I carried out
participant observations at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden during the 2012 growing season. I joined gardeners in their
weekly gardening activities in order to observe the general dynamics in each
garden. In the fall 2012, I invited gardeners from both gardens to answer a series
of question on their community gardening experience during semi-structured
3
interviews. My questions were focused on their experience of nature and
community in their community gardens. With the results of my participant
observations and my interviews as well as with a literature review, I analysed the
potential of communal-plot community gardens to contribute to gardeners’
experience of nature and community.
Communal-plot community gardens are natural and social spaces where
gardeners can experience nature and community, but I argue that, by associating
community gardening and adult environmental education, community gardens
could guide participants in the development of an awareness of the role of nature
and community life in their daily lives. Adult environmental education is
concerned with human relationships with nature and community and offers
activities that can guide learners towards the discovery of existing
interconnections. I also suggest that theories and practices of place-based
education are pertinent because they focus on learning experience, which are
directly linked to learners’ immediate surroundings. Place-based education in
community gardens would bring concrete and structured experience to gardeners’
learning in community gardens. My objective is to show that adult place-based
education in community gardens would stimulate gardeners’ interest in their
surrounding environment: their physical and social characteristics and the existing
interrelations.
Adult environmental education in community gardens is largely absent in
academic literature. This lack of information limits the inclusion of educational
programs for adults in community gardens. To change this situation, I designed
4
educational activities for adults in community garden settings. I adapted
environmental education resources from adult environmental education and from
students in school gardens to suit community gardening site. I also relied on
interviewed gardeners’ point of view of their learning experience in their
community gardens and on their interests in relation to potential environmental
education taking place in community gardens. I organized my environmental
education programs as a calendar. This resource will help garden coordinators to
plan both their gardening and learning activities on a yearly basis so gardeners
will both have the opportunity to experience gardening, nature, and community
life. I believe that by providing a calendar of educational activities to garden
coordinators, they will be able to guide gardeners in their experience of nature and
community through gardening and educational activities. Hopefully, gardeners
will become more aware of their surroundings and hopefully take actions to
improve socio-environmental issues.
5
Chapter 2: Disconnection to Nature and Community and Potential Solutions
In chapter two, I will describe the potential social and cultural causes for
some people’s disconnection from nature and community. I believe it is important
to address the disconnections because nature and community life play an
important role in human life and wellbeing (Jason, 1990; Clayton and Opotow,
2003). In order to bring about an awareness of nature and community in people’s
lives, I will propose food as an appropriate medium because of both its natural
and social aspects. More precisely, I argue that collective food production in
community gardens is a promising activity because it allows direct contacts with
nature and other people. By collectively growing plants in a community garden,
gardeners will witness the importance of nature for food production and the
importance of collaboration for successful harvests.
2.1 Human Disconnection From Nature
Disconnection from Nature: a Conceptual Division
The disconnection from nature in Western societies is embodied in the
plural meanings of the concept of “nature” itself. Two of the conceptions of
nature are: 1) “the essential character and quality of something” and 2) “the
material world” (Williams, 1983, p.219-223). One example that helps to clarify
the first conception of nature is the reference to “human nature” or “dog nature”
when speaking of inherent characteristics attributed to humans or dogs (and other
living beings). The second conception refers to what is external, what is
observable (including the laws of nature). Combining these two definitions yields
6
a conception of nature as the “unchanged world,” a world only modified by nature
itself through normal forces and events. What this means is that nature excludes,
not only human-produced things, but also humans themselves: the natural world is
“what man has not made” (Williams, 1983, p.219-223). This exclusion of humans
from the conceptions of nature indicates the depth of the misconceptions of the
world in which we live. Jason (1997) thus argues that “when we began to see
ourselves as separate from nature, we began losing our sense of interconnection
with the earth” (p.16). The general idea of nature as what is “out there,” outside of
human lifestyles, constitute a disconnection at the level of people’s conceptions of
nature. I believe that a more adequate conception of nature would recognize the
links between all elements of ecosystems including humans and their actions. This
recognition of the problematic conception of nature is essential for realizing the
importance of giving people opportunities to experience nature and become aware
of the natural world we live in.
Disconnection from Nature: a Physical Division
The disconnection is not only in the ways humans think about nature, but
also in the ways humans live with nature. Humans living in urban environments
experience a physical disconnection from nature (Pilgrim, Samson, and Pretty,
2010). Direct contact with a natural world can be limited in cities. This distance
from green spaces can intensify the feeling of nature’s otherness. Urban dwellers
have restricted opportunities to get to know nature outside of cities. This is the
reason why Dickens (2004) argues that people generally have a “decreasing
7
understanding of their relations with the environment” (p.103). Nature is
perceived as outside of societies. By realizing the sources of humans’ lack of
interaction with nature, which includes cities and other human-made structures, it
is then possible to work towards the reduction of people’s physical separation
from nature. I suggest that urban community gardens are spaces where people
have direct contact with the natural world.
Humans: Separated or Part of Nature?
In recent years, scholars have focused their attention on understanding
people’s connectedness to nature in order to determine if they consider
themselves as disconnected from or as part of nature. Vining et al. (2008) set up a
questionnaire sent out by mail asking participants to answer three questions:
1. Do you consider yourself as part of or separate from nature? Explain. 2. What words come to mind when you think of a natural environment? 3. What words come to mind when you think of an unnatural environment?
(p.3)
The objective of the questions is to clarify participants’ view of themselves in
relation to nature, but also their conceptions of the differences between natural
and unnatural environments. In light of participants’ answers, there are some
variations between their feelings of connection to nature and their image of
natural environments. Vining et al. (2008) explains that “it seems to be possible
for people to view themselves as a part of nature, but then define nature as the
non-human world.” (p.3). Even if participants consider themselves as part of
nature, their conception of a natural environment does not include humans.
Interviewees do not seem to consider themselves as disconnected from nature, but
8
to have conflicting visions of nature as both spaces including and excluding
humans. Humans and human-related elements are present in participants’
descriptions of unnatural environments. It is possible to conclude that there is an
opposition in people’s minds about the role of humans in nature since they are
both included in nature and excluded in the representation of a natural
environment.
Vining et al. (2008) signal the potential dissonance, some sort of cognitive
contradictions, in people’s representation of nature. Nature is both something
humans are part of and something excluded from human activities. The authors
propose that “a lack of contact with natural environments and an increase in
contact with (human) built environments may lead people to feel more separate
from nature even though they believe that humans are inherently a part of nature.”
(Vining, et al., 2008, p.8). Participants’ words to describe natural environments
show a certain idealism of nature and a conflict created by human lifestyles:
living away from the “ideal” nature creates a feeling of separation from nature. In
order for participants to feel as a part of nature, they would need to have direct
contacts with nature in their life.
For Vining, et al. (2008), the answer to the dissonance in people’s
representation of nature is the possibility that “the human-nature relationship may
not be conceptualized as a dichotomous one. Instead of viewing humans as either
part of or separate from nature, participants may be viewing humans as
simultaneously part of and separate from nature” (2008, p.9). The authors state
that connections with nature are fluctuant and are probably dependant on people’s
9
experience of nature. In effect, they state that “a lack of contact with natural
environments and an increase in contact with (human) built environments may
lead people to feel more separate from nature even though they believe that
humans are inherently a part of nature” (Vining, et al., 2008, p.8). In conclusion,
the authors indicate the importance of direct experience of nature for people to
witness and appreciate their interactions with nature and to be reminded that they
are part of it.
The Importance of Nature in Human Lives
Contact with nature, through outdoor experiences for example, has the
potential to build up an understanding of the complexities of the natural world.
For Clayton and Opotow (2003), it is important for people to “redefine
themselves in a way that includes the natural world” to allow the development of
an “ecological identity” (p.7). The definition of ecological identity is “that part of
the self that allows individuals to anticipate the reactions of the environment to
their behavior” (Zavestoski, 2003, p.299). The development of an ecological
identity, in other words, demands on the fact that people need to know the natural
environment. Relationships with nature contribute to people’s understanding of
themselves, to the definition of who they are (Clayton and Opotow, 2003).
Ecological identities inform people’s capacity to understand themselves and
nature as well as their knowledge of nature’s responses to human interactions. A
better understanding of the ways in which these interconnections operate will
inform individual ecological identity. However, a first important step is that
10
people recognize that there are interactions between humans and the natural
environment. Without such recognition, ecological identities are limited or non-
existent. According to ecological psychologists, the recognition of human’s ties to
the natural world in ecological identities are necessary for wellbeing and “full
mental health” (Clayton and Opotow, 2003; Roszak, 1992; Thomashow, 1998;
Winter, 1996). Humans need to have relationships with nature to understand
themselves and the natural world and feel that they belong in nature.
2.2 Disconnection from Community
Modern Societies and Individualist Lifestyles
Humans can be disconnected not only from nature, but also from
community1. Living in community is historically an important aspect of human
lifestyle. In effect, Jason (1997) indicates that communal lifestyles were part of
most of previous generations’ ways of living. The author specifies that “people
helped one another out – not as charity, but because it was part of the natural
course of human life.” (Jason, 1997, p.19). He identifies the loss of communities
as an “underlying root of many modern problems,” which includes socio-
environmental issues (Jason, 1997, p.xvi). In recent history, there has been a
“decline of community life,” a separation from other people that is the result of
“new kinds of industrialization and the developments of new kinds of labour
1 The academic literature that addresses the concept of community shows different tendencies in their representations over the years. I found that recent publications (Firth et al., 2011, for example) use a more utilitarian view of community. Definitions and conceptions of community from the 1990s correspond more to my own idea of community (see Jason, 1997).
11
process” (Dickens, 2004, p.103). In effect, rather than focusing on the needs of a
collectivity, work tasks are individualized and people are career-orientated.
Materialistic and self-oriented values spread out and become the prevalent
ideology in modern societies (Jason, 1997, p.20). From that moment on, social
identification is accomplished through “the purchase and display of the goods
[people] consume” (Dickens, 2004, p.124). Common consumption styles such as
clothing and electronic accessories are important aspects of social interactions.
Dickens (2004) explains that the “consumption patterns are ways in which social
classes . . . are able to form themselves as identifiable communities” (p.123).
Consumerism gives individuals a false sense of belonging in a society where
human interactions are restricted and lifestyles have limited roots to ground
people in the natural world. Bringing community in people’s lives might help to
ground people in non-consumerist values and to stimulate the development of
collaboration and common goals within communities. Community has the
potential to focus people’s lifestyle towards collective well-being and social
change.
The Importance of Community in Human Lives
An initiation to social interactions with others who live close-by or who
share common objectives can bring the recognition that people can collaborate
together and develop a mutual sense of purpose. According to Baumiester and
Leary (1995), community life springs from the “basic human need to belong,
which includes the need for frequent personal contacts and for bonds with others
12
marked by stability and emotional concern” (cited in Jason, 1997, p.72). A sense
of community works against isolation and constitute one of the solutions to
detrimental self-centered lifestyles. Community life centered on locality allows
neighbors to develop relationships and “through this interaction, neighbors
provide each other with emotional/personal, instrumental, and informational
support” (Chavis and Wandersman, 1990, p.58).
Furthermore, community fostering of common purpose and mutual
responsibility can contribute to the “perception of empowerment” that can lead
individuals to participate in collective actions, locally and on a larger scale
(Chavis and Wandersman, 1990, p.75, emphasis removed). For Zimmerman and
Rappaport (1988) empowerment is "a process by which individuals gains mastery
or control over their own lives and democratic participation in the life of their
community" (cited in Chavis and Wandersman, 1990, p.59). Developing
cooperation in communities has the potential to bring about social change insofar
as people take control over their lives and of decision-making (including thinking
and caring for others). A strong sense community plays a positive role in the
development of people’s sustainable values and lifestyles (Clayton and Opotow,
2003; Pol, 2002; Van Vugt, 2001). Community gardens are a good example since
gardeners get to interact and build relationships with others, which can lead to the
creation of strong functional communities. Community gardens are spaces where
people can get involved, work together, and develop a sense of community.
13
2.3 Bringing People Closer to Nature and Community with Collective
Food Production in Community Gardens
Socio-environmental Aspects of Food
When facing socio-environmental issues related to people’s disconnection
from nature and community, I see the important task of trying to envision a way
to solve these core problems. I believe food is one promising topic that addresses
both the limited relationships with nature and with communities. Food
consumption is one of the most basic needs, but it also has a meaningful role in
the environmental and social aspects of human life. Taking in consideration the
environmental aspects of food consumption is one of the ways consumers can
have a role in the protection or the degradation of the natural environment. For
example, by choosing to buy organic produce consumers contribute to the
reduction of pesticides use and support organic methods. By choosing
conventional produce, consumers accept pesticides use in agriculture. Each
decision on the part of consumers is loaded with political implications. However,
not all consumers know the impacts of their food choices. Beyond environmental
food choices, food plays an integral role in the definition of social identity and in
the shaping of social structure (Pilgrim, Samson, and Pretty, 2010). Food
production and consumption is central in societal organization and, as Pilgrim,
Samson, and Pretty (2010) indicate, is a “major defining characteristic” of social
groups and culture (p.238). People eat and share dishes from their culture, which
reiterate social bonds.
14
The notion that food is a product of nature as well as an important aspect of
community is not always an important part of human lives because of the distance
between producer and consumer imposed by capitalism (Dowler et. al., 2010).
Producers are no longer the consumers of their own produce. Producers will
mostly sell their produce to consumers through intermediaries such as retailers.
Consumers have limited access to knowledge such as produce origin, history, and
values. Food has only a market value: money tells what food is worth. I advocate
that it is important to bring together food, nature, and community into one
activity: collective food production. Some countries such as Cuba have urban
collective food production that can inspire others to start their own initiatives.
By getting people involved in food production, they may realize that in
order to fulfill their food needs they ought to work in partnership with the natural
environment. Growing fruits and vegetables requires elements from nature such
as soil, water, sun, and plants. Dickens (2004) presents living beings’ reliance on
nature for their survival as an indicator of people’s obligation “to produce and
consume the resources offered by the natural world” (p.94; emphasis added). If
humans (as well as all other living-beings) want to acquire the energy they need to
live, they must use “the raw materials of nature” to fuel their bodies (Dickens,
2004, p.94). Humans are dependent on nature, and the act of producing food can
reveal this fact to anybody who gets introduced to the realities of food production.
15
Food Production in Community Gardens: Limiting the Distance between People,
Nature, and Community
Community gardens are spaces where people, as individuals or as groups,
can grow plants to produce food as well as flowers. By being involved in the
growth of plants in a community garden, people can feel comprehensively
integrated into a small-scale ecosystem. In doing so, gardeners may mimic natural
processes by adding nutrient inputs with compost, by augmenting precipitation
with water irrigation, and by fostering decomposition with composting. Turner
(2011) presents gardeners as “bodies [that] are engaged with nature, and, in
particular, the soil and water, as active partners in the growing process” (p.520).
Gardeners learn to work in accordance with nature and to become a part of nature.
Also, community gardens give people the opportunity to work collectively.
Social interaction between community gardeners has the potential to create a
certain form of community life that includes group support and mutual aid. Being
involved in food production as a collectivity is a way to introduce people to
different aspects of community. This is the reason why I believe community
gardens, especially in the case of “communal-plot” community gardens, can foster
a sense of community. Community gardens can be designed as several individual-
plots rented by individual gardeners or designed as communal-plots planned and
maintained by groups of gardeners. “Communal-plot” community gardens usually
have larger plots of land that allow larger harvests for gardeners to share.
Consequently, the amount of work is divided up into more manageable tasks by
gardeners who alone might not have had the time or resources to tend such large
16
plots. Group work can be a way for gardeners to witness the need for cooperation
in order to produce large quantities of food. In their research, Dowler et. al.
(2010) found that gardens provide a space for people to spend time as a
collectivity, and this way, “community and shared knowledge were built by
becoming involved in growing food or otherwise helping out, hearing and seeing
how things were done, discussing problems and talking to someone about their
food (p.216-217). Interactions and cooperation are important aspects of
community gardens, especially “communal-plot” community gardens. Collective
food production in “communal-plot” community gardens can lead to the
realization of the benefits of community efforts oriented towards common goals.
Collective food production in community gardens gives gardeners the
opportunity to observe the complex aspects of food such as production,
consumption, and subsistence. Currently, food is largely produced by a complex
and global food system that steer consumers’ food choices and farmers’ growing
methods. Neither growers nor eaters are fully aware of what situations others are
facing. But, by being both growers and eaters at the same time, in a community
garden for example, gardeners have an opportunity to build a meaningful
relationship with food, from inception to consumption. Some consumers do not
think of the origin of their food and the people who do think about food issues say
that they are unsatisfied by their “deskilled, disconnected, purchasing roles” in the
food system, that they want to get a “chance to re-establish relationships with
others in the food system” (Dowler et. al., 2010, p.204). An interest in all aspects
of food can be one starting point in order for people to reconnect with all the
17
hidden processes. Such a reconnection gives a chance for people to get involved
and even contribute to the creation of “alternative food practices” that would be
embedded in their own lives (Dowler et. al., 2010, p.205). Community gardens
are an alternative to the current food system insofar as food is produced and
consumed by the same people, who understand that food is central to our way of
living, to our society.
Growing your own food is considered as a part of sustainable living
because, when well designed and managed, gardening can limit the negative
impact of food production on the environment. Productivity is usually the reason
why farmers choose growing methods that have the potential to disturb
ecosystems. Large scale productions are necessary for the production of massive
amounts of crops destined to consumers all around the world. This means that
large portions of forest are transformed into farm lands. Biodiversity is then
reduced and the soil is exposed to erosion over time. To manage the land and
harvests, farmers need infrastructures, of which are tractors and trucks
contributing to air pollution and climate change. In order to increase their yields,
some farmers also use chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides that accumulate
in water systems and the food chain. On the contrary, small-scale food production
for individual and collective sustenance requires less land and can be more easily
managed with only human labor. Well-designed gardens and farms can even work
to reintroduce biodiversity and also limit the amount of chemical inputs. Growing
food for individual and collective sustenance allows the production of food that
reduces the damages to the local environment. Community gardens provide space
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for people to grow food for their local consumption and therefore contribute to
sustainable living.
2.4 Understanding the Place of Nature and Community in Community
Gardens: A Case Study
In order to get a better understanding of the role of nature and community in
gardeners’ experience of community gardens, I undertook a field study in two
community gardens in Toronto during the summer of 2012. In the next chapter, I
will present the result of participant observations and semi-directed interviews
with community gardeners from Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden. My case study of both community gardens aims to explore
the actual potential of community gardens to provide people significant
experience nature and community life.
19
Chapter 3: Case Study of Nature and Community in Community Gardens
For my case study, in order to get a better understanding of community
gardens’ potential to provide significant experience of nature and of community
life, I reviewed academic literature and studied two community gardens during
the 2012 growing season. Several books and articles praise community gardens
because they are natural settings in which people can experience nature and
because of their capacity to encourage interactions between gardeners. Based on
academic descriptions of community gardens, I wanted to witness the processes
that lead to the actualization of identified benefits such as attachment to nature
and social inclusion. With my field study, I intended to get a better understanding
of community gardens’ actual contribution to the development of an awareness of
nature and gardening communities. In order to have an inside perspective of
community gardens, I undertook participant observations and semi-structured
interviews at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden.
3.1 Field Study: A Description
Objectives and Methods
The objective of my field study in community gardens was to observe and
analyse garden activities, group dynamics, and gardeners’ discourses in order to
get a better understanding of gardeners’ experience of community gardens, more
precisely their experience with nature and community. From June to August 2012,
I studied Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden through
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weekly participant observations. Participant observation is an ethnographic
research method with which researchers “take[] part in the daily activities, rituals,
interactions, and events of a group” (DeWalt and DeWalt, 2011, p.1). I joined
community gardeners in their gardening and social activities.
Towards the end of the growing season (October and November 2012), I
interviewed community gardeners from both Earlscourt Community Garden and
Maloca Community Garden. I carried out semi-structured interviews during
which I questioned gardeners about their community gardening experience. In
total, ten gardeners gave answers to my interview. Table one shows details of
interviewed gardeners:
Table 1: Number, Sex, and Age Range of Interviewees at Earlscourt and Maloca Community Gardens
Community Garden
Total # of interviewees
Number of Females
Number of Males Age Range
Earlscourt 6 2 4 Adult 21-50 Maloca 4 2 2 Adult 21-30 Total 10 4 6 -
By asking them open-ended questions, I wanted to be able to gain insight
into their personal experience of community gardening and to lightly guide
gardeners so they could express themselves on given topics without feeling
restricted with regards to the content of their answers. The six interview questions
are the following:
1. How important is community gardening in your life? 2. How do you feel about nature when you are gardening in the community
garden? 3. What did you learn at the community garden and what would you like to
learn? 4. What kind of Environmental Education would you like to have in the
community garden?
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5. How do you understand the word “community” in community gardening? 6. Do you think that the gardeners at the community garden form a community?
Why?
3.1.2 Field Study: Limits and Potential Bias
A) Participant Observations
During my participant observations, gardeners knew I was a student
involved in their garden to learn, but the exact subject of my learning was not
revealed to participants. To keep participants from the potential pressure of being
observed, I did not take field notes during gardening activities. I wrote down my
observations after I left the gardens. Participant observations allowed me to
witness gardeners’ actions without imposing the presence of a “researcher” that
could have modified their behaviour and relationships with me and others. It was
important for me to be one gardener within the group and not a graduate student
doing a field study in their community garden. With participant observations, I
was able to get involved in activities with other gardeners and observe what was
happening.
However, participant observation is not carried out without any bias. Even if
I tried to avoid potential bias on the side of gardeners, as a researcher, I was also a
source of bias since my academic perspective influenced my personal gardening
experience. As suggested by Berry (2011), the methodological process becomes
part of every researchers’ experience. Instead of only living the gardening
experience, I was usually analysing behaviours and events taking place in
22
community gardens. My perspective resulting from my participant observations
are probably more structured and serious than other gardeners. This is the major
drawback from participant observation since it prevents the researcher from
engaging in activities in the same way as other participants.
B) Semi-directed Interviews
My interview questions are organized in three topics: nature, community,
and learning. With the first two questions, I wanted to learn more about the place
community gardening took in gardeners’ lives; the reasons why they were
involved; and what they liked about community gardening. Because community
gardening includes contact with plants, I was also interested in gardeners’
perception of their interaction with nature in community gardens. Potential bias
related to the concept of nature in the second question could be the difficulty to
define nature and therefore bring vagueness in the interpretation of the question.
Gardeners might be unsettled by the word nature and not be sure of what to
answer. The same phenomenon could happen with the use of the concept of
Environmental Education in the fourth question. Defining Environmental
Education is hard, especially for people who did not study in that field. Since
Environmental Education is composed of two words, environment and education,
gardeners might be able to consider that the fourth question included learning
related to the environment. However, bias in gardeners’ answers can be expected
by the use of the complex concept that is Environmental Education. Even so, it
was important for me to focus gardeners’ attention on the natural environment and
23
on the potential of community gardens to provide a space for them to learn more
about the environment that surrounds us.
The objective of my interrogations on learning in community gardens in
the third question was related to gardeners’ interests in what they had learned and
to what they considered pertinent knowledge for them. I also wanted to know
what subjects gardeners would like to learn about in the garden in the future. In
addition to the learning component of community gardening, the community
component is also a very important source of reflection for me because of
potential variations in gardeners’ perspectives on the concept of community.
There is a wide range of thoughts on what is considered a community and what is
not, which is why I wanted to ask gardeners what their take on it was. Their view
of the general concept of community has an impact on their perception of the
community formed by gardeners. However, gardeners might feel uncomfortable
to talk about their sense of community in their community garden and decide not
to share their point of view. This final question asked gardeners to judge their
gardening community and to be critical, which is not something everybody likes
to do.
Field Study: Data Analysis and Coding
My field notes from my participant observations and my semi-directed
interviews at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden
were the primal source of data for my analysis and coding. The data from my
participant observation was analyzed in relation with my topics of interest: nature,
24
community, and learning. From my field notes, I was able to find patterns in
gardeners’ actions towards plants, in group dynamics, and in knowledge
transmission. In the discussion in the next section, I will discuss the relationships
between observed patterns and community gardens’ organization and structure.
During the semi-directed interviews, I took notes of gardeners’ answers. At
the end of each series of interviews, I transcribed my hand-written notes in
computer format. In poring over the data from my interviews, I looked for
recurring expressions and ideas that pointed to significant patterns of thought in
gardeners’ answers.
I used a colour-coded system to group ideas: the same color for similar ideas and
different colors for each distinct set of ideas. According to their color, I worked to
find their common denominator, what in the social sciences is called their code
(some examples of my codes are: being in nature, psychological benefits,
interactions with others, duration in time, etc.). Once I identified the codes, I was
able to organize interviewed gardeners’ perspectives into groups of quotes, which
I will discuss later in this section.
3.2 Description of Studied Community Gardens
For my field study, it was important to select community gardens that
proposed communal gardening activities. I researched community gardens in the
city of Toronto through the Toronto Community Garden Network website2 and
focused on community gardens with communal plots. Maloca Community Garden
2 Toronto Community Garden Network. (2012). Welcome to the TCGN Website. http://tcgn.ca/wiki/wiki.php
25
was rapidly identified as a good fit because it offers both individual-plot
gardening and communal-plot gardening and it is situated on York University
Campus. Plus, I had already planned to rent an individual plot for the summer
2012. With my research for other communal-plot community gardens, I found
Earlscourt Community Garden. I contacted the garden coordinator to present my
project and ask for the permission to undertake my field study at Earlscourt
Community Garden. I got the authorization and joined the group of gardeners for
the season.
Earlscourt Community Garden
Earlscourt Community Garden is owned by The Stop Community Food
Center, a non-profit organisation that works towards making healthy food
available to all, especially people in precarious socio-economic situations. This
community garden of 8,000 square feet is situated in Earlscourt Park (The Stop
Community Food Center, 2013). The first plants were put in the ground in 1998
(The Stop Community Food Center, 2011). At Earlscourt Community Garden,
people can come to drop-in gardening sessions that take place almost every day of
the week. Over the course of my field study, an estimated twenty to thirty
participants were involved with gardening activities, with an average of seven to
twelve members present per drop-in session. The garden is open two to three
hours most days of the week for people to come and join the gardening staff in
their daily maintenance of the communal plots. Usual tasks carried out by
participants are watering, weeding, planting, transplanting, staking, harvesting,
packing and cleaning. Participants contribute to garden tasks, and, in return, fifty
26
percent of the harvest is divided between the participants present. The other fifty
percent goes to The Stop Community Food Center food bank. For participants to
have access to a part of the fifty percent of the harvest, they must become
members of Earlscourt Community Garden. Members must participate in a
minimum of one drop-in gardening session per week. The role of the drop-in
gardening sessions is to give people the opportunity to grow and eat healthy food.
Participants are the beneficiary of a food procurement service and they need to
work in the garden to have access to the food produced. The program is focused
on access to food and less on participants’ gardening experience. Not every
participant chose to take food home, but most participants come to the garden
regularly. In order for the program to represent participants’ best interests,
gardeners would benefit in having a role in decision-making so they do not only
function as gardening labour.
Earlscourt Community Garden is managed by a garden coordinator who
supervises the four members of the gardening staff. When the coordinator is not
present in the garden, the gardening staff decides and direct member gardeners in
their daily tasks. When in doubt, gardening staff refer to the garden coordinator. If
gardening participants want to voice their opinions, they have the opportunity to
write them down into the “suggestion box” situated in the garden. Another way
members can express themselves in relation to the garden is during evaluations
that take place before, during, and at the end of the growing season. Evaluations
will contribute to changes and improvements for the next growing season.
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Maloca Community Garden
Maloca Community Garden is situated on the Keele Campus of York
University. This community garden was created by faculty and students in the
Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) in 1999 and still has strong associations
with this Faculty (Maloca’s Blog, 2012). In effect, over the years FES graduate
students were mostly in charge of the garden and its wellbeing. Maloca
Community Garden is not only a garden for students, but also for the surrounding
community. This garden of approximately 2,000 square feet is divided into
individual and communal plots (Maloca’s Blog, 2012). People can rent one of the
twenty individual plots (approximately thirty-five square feet) for their own
gardening activities or can become communal members and benefit from
gardening activities on 700 square feet of communal plots. Individual-plot
gardeners care for their own small piece of land according to their own ideas,
values, knowledge and pace. Communal-plot gardeners tend larger tracts of land;
this allows for more important food production, but gardeners must follow
Maloca Community Garden’s philosophy, budget, and schedule. By providing
space for both individual and communal plots, Maloca Community Garden adapts
gardening to people’s capacity and availability. Individual and communal
members at Maloca Community Garden are mostly students, alumni and staff
from York University. Some members are also from the surrounding
neighborhood. In 2012, Maloca counted thirty-three members, but an average of
five members would participate during workdays throughout the summer.
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Maloca Community Garden is registered as a student club at York
University, which means it must have an elected student committee to steer the
community gardening activities and the development of the organization.
Positions such as garden coordinator, treasurer, community and student
engagement officer, university relations representative, and secretary are filled
mostly by students to allow good management of the different aspects of the
community garden. The steering committee gets elected by the gardening
community, which gives them a chance to be involved in some decision-making.
In addition to the steering committee, there are also graduate assistants who work
at Maloca Community Garden. Together, graduate assistants and the steering
comity work to supervise and improve Maloca Community Garden. Most
important decisions are taken by the elected steering committee, which leaves
limited opportunities for the gardening community to make choices after
elections.
3.3 Experience of Nature in Community Gardens
Community Gardens and Nature in Literature
Community gardens are natural settings where plants grow and in which
gardeners have the opportunity to be involved in natural processes such as water
cycles (watering), plant growth (nutrient input), reproduction (pollination),
consumption (harvests), and decomposition (compost). For Naimark (1982), such
involvement with these natural processes helps people to reconnect with nature
29
and also leads to an increased awareness of their surroundings (the garden and
beyond). Gardens hold the potential for gardeners to experience nature, know
nature. According to Hale et al. (2011), gardeners can “directly experience nearby
nature by ‘getting their hands dirty’ [,] growing food [,] enjoy[ing] the way
vegetables taste[,] and [they can] form emotional connections with the garden.”
(p.1853). Experiencing and understanding nature in food gardens can induce the
development of a deep appreciation of gardens and their produce. Food produced
in gardens can not only stimulate an appreciation of natural processes, but also
bring the recognition of “both the visible and invisible connection, and
interdependence, between humans and the earth” (Gaylie, 2009, p. 38).
Apparently, gardeners’ realization of their dependence on nature for food and
wellbeing is an important aspect of the development of a sense of connection to
nature.
Chevrette (2011) studied community gardens, including their role in
gardeners’ connection to nature. The author found that a contact to nature was
perceived by gardeners to be a benefit of their involvement in community
gardens. During her participant observation of the Food Security Research
Network Campus Community Garden located on Lakehead University Campus in
Thunder Bay Ontario, Chevrette (2011) noted that “gardeners often expressed
positive feelings relating to being outside and their appreciation for the beauty of
the garden as the season progressed, their enjoyment of the naturalistic location of
the garden” (p.103). The opportunity of being outside and in a beautiful natural
setting seems significant for studied community gardeners. According to
30
questionnaire results, these gardeners mostly already felt connected to nature at
the beginning and end of the growing season. Such previous sense of connection
might indicate that community gardeners are generally people who are already
feeling a connection to nature, even before their involvement in community
gardens. In that case, community gardens provide a space for them to experience
their connection on a day-to-day basis during growing seasons. Furthermore,
gardeners would have opportunities to actualize their connection to nature through
concrete actions towards nature and activism (e.g. wild life conservation, rain
water collection, petition for green spaces expansion). It is not easy to find
evidence that specific actions are the consequence of a connection to nature, but
being involved in a community garden can itself be considered as activism, which
means that people’s connection to nature can lead to concrete actions. For Turner
et al. (2011), community gardening is “about creating and supporting people’s
efforts to establish a sense of connection and about grounding people in place and
creating and supporting efforts to find a sense of purpose and belonging” (p.490).
Even if gardeners already have a sense of connection to nature, community
gardening can support their connection and help develop significant relationships
with nature and a sense of purpose in their garden community and in nature itself.
Experience of Nature in Field Study
A) Participant Observation
31
Gardeners’ experience of nature is difficult to study as an external observer.
During my participant observations at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden, I was able to notice some clues that gardeners cared for
plants and their garden. Community gardeners, especially those with less
gardening experience, were often worried about damaging the plants when doing
certain tasks such as staking, removing suckers, and harvesting vegetables.
Gardeners would often want to confirm with the garden coordinators that they
were doing things right. When some plants seemed unhealthy, it was common for
gardeners to question the garden coordinators and staff as to what could be done
to help the plant. This was more noticeable at Earlscourt Community Garden
because gardeners had the habit of touring the garden at the beginning of each
drop-in session. Gardeners would easily spot changes in the garden and inquire
about what were the causes and possible solutions. At Maloca Community
Garden, most gardeners did care for their individual plots. One gardener in
particular would care for all the individual plots and water all those which seemed
dried. She got the nickname “garden fairy” because of her devotion to the garden.
As for the communal plots, the lack of continuity in communal gardeners’
involvement made it harder for gardeners to become attached to plants and the
garden. With my participant observations, I was not able to witness a definite
sense of connection to nature among gardeners. In order to try to access
gardeners’ perspective of their own feelings towards nature, this topic was
included in my semi-structured interviews.
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B) Semi-Structured Interview
Community gardeners at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden value their contact with nature in their community garden.
The importance of nature for gardeners is noticeable since it is mentioned in most
peoples’ answers to most of the interview questions. Gardeners appreciate the
time spent in the garden because it’s a natural space:
“Community gardening is a good option for daily encounter with the environment” (Maloca 1, 2012).
“I like being in a natural environment- a green space” (Earlscourt 5, 2012). “I enjoyed being in nature” (Earlscourt 6, 2012).
This general idea of gardening as a way of being in nature is shared by most
interviewed gardeners from both Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden. Some gardeners explain that what they like about their
experience of nature in the garden is the opportunity to observe plant growth and
cycles:
“Putting seeds in ground, seeing the growing feels great . . . seeing new life and renewal” (Earlscourt 6, 2012). “I like the cycle of growing, eating the produce, and composting to put compost back in the earth” (Earlscourt 5, 2012).
Witnessing life and even contributing to the growth of living being plays a special
role in gardeners’ experience of nature. Gardeners feel included in natural
processes because their work in the garden contributes to plants’ wellbeing. When
focusing on their feelings about nature when gardening, gardeners indicated the
precise aspects of nature they valued. For most gardeners, soil was essential to
their experience of nature:
“When I am in the garden, I am personally involved with the soil” (Earlscourt 4, 2012).
33
“I like to touch the dirt” (Earlscourt 2, 2012). “You get to have your hands in the soil” (Maloca 2, 2012). “I loved to get my hands in the dirt when I was young, I felt
connected and I have the same feelings in Maloca” (Maloca 4, 2012).
The sensation of soil on gardeners’ hands seems to symbolize a direct contact
with nature. Gardeners appreciate being in nature, which they describe as a source
of wellbeing. Gardening helps some interviewed gardeners to feel better
psychologically:
“It is really therapeutic and healing” (Earlscourt 4, 2012). “When you are gardening, you are not thinking about you problems. It relaxes my nerves” (Earlscourt, 2, 2012). “It is also a stress reliever” (Maloca 2, 2012). “It’s therapeutic” (Maloca 4, 2012).
Whether it is because they are in contact with nature or because they focus their
attention solely on the tasks at hands, gardeners do feel they draw wellbeing from
nature and community gardening. For some, the feeling of being outside in the
fresh air is one important aspect of community gardening:
“It’s the fresh air, just nature” (Earlscourt 1, 2012). “I like being outdoors, the fresh air” (Maloca 3, 2012).
Only two student gardeners from Maloca Community Garden verbalized the
notion of connection to nature. Nature in community gardens allows these
gardeners to feel a connection:
“When in nature, you feel more connected” (Maloca 2, 2012). “My relation to nature, to the non-human world, changed in Toronto.
When I was in BC, it was more about wild nature, but not in Toronto. Maloca helps to give more interactions with nature” (Maloca 4, 2012).
Gardeners feel they interact with nature in their community garden: they
have physical contact with soil; they see plants grow; they are outside; and
34
they feel better. Gardeners benefit from their experience with nature in
community gardens.
Experiencing Nature in Community Gardens: A Summary
By being involved in a community garden, people interact with a natural
space and natural processes. Some authors such as Chevrette (2011), Gaylie
(2009), and Turner (2011) advocate for the benefits community gardens provide
in terms of the development of relationships with nature. Being in direct contact
with nature in community gardens and eating the food cultivated with nature can
contribute positive experience of nature. My field study is in line with the
literature since my results indicate that gardeners do think that nature is an
important aspect of their experience in their community garden. Gardeners
appreciate being outdoors, taking care of plants, and getting their hands in the
soil. With the results of my literature review and my field study, I can conclude
that community gardens provide an adequate space for gardeners to experience
nature, to appreciate it, and have benefits from their interactions with their garden.
3.4 Sense of Community and Community Building in Community Gardens
Sense of Community in the Literature
In most research on community gardens, the act of sharing a space to grow
plants is presented as the basis for interactions between community gardeners and
the trigger for the formation of communities (Firth et al., 2011; Ohmer et al.,
35
2009; Okvat and Zautra, 2011). A community is generally considered as a group
of people who share a common constituent such as a place, an ethnicity, an
ideology, and a project. However, being part of a community does not necessarily
mean people feel they belong. “Sense of community” is a concept that describes
the bond between members of a community and the social structure in place
(Chavis and Wandersman, 1990, p.56). According to Chavis and Wandersman
(1990), this concept is often used to characterize communities that do have
relationships between members, but can also be used when communities are
“lacking” a sense of community (p.56). Strong communities, on the other hand,
are the result of members who are “engaged, participate and feel capable of
working through problems, supported by strong social networks” (Firth et al.,
2011, p.558). Sharing a sense of community is an important asset since members
relate to one another and care for their wellbeing. In the case of community
gardens, a sense of community is viewed as an important aspect in order to have
an adequate maintenance of gardens and their actual sustainability in time;
without gardeners’ involvement there is no community garden. Research on the
sense of community formed in community gardens tends to indicate that
gardeners generally feel connected to other gardeners as a result of their
interaction in gardens (Firth et at, 2011; Glover et al., 2005). This position
described in academic literature made me want to understand how community
gardens foster a sense of community in gardeners and this is why I focused my
attention on potential indicators of feelings of connectedness during my
36
participant observation and why I questioned gardeners about it during my
interviews.
Sense of Community in Field Study
A) Participant Observations
My observations of a sense of community in community gardens was
relatively difficult because I could only rely on subjective indications such as
gardeners’ levels of commitment, levels of interaction, and the verbal expression
of their feelings towards their community during gardening activities. My
observations were also restricted by my own attendance to gardening sessions.
My general perception of a sense of community at Earlscourt Community Garden
and Maloca Community Garden is that it was relatively weak since participation,
interaction, and verbal expression were not extensive. At Earlscourt Community
Garden, levels of commitments were relatively high: participants regularly took
part in drop-in gardening sessions and social events. Over the summer, I noted
that the same group of people came to garden every week on the same day. At
Maloca Community Garden, levels of commitment were relatively high in
relation to individual plots, but involvement in communal plots was limited. Not a
lot of people came to garden during weekly scheduled workdays. Both at
Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden, gardeners did
interact during collective gardening sessions, but mostly during breaks. When
gardeners were working, interactions were limited. By having more conversations
37
while gardening, gardeners might have developed stronger relationships with each
other because they would have had more time to talk. Conversations might have
been limited by language barriers since English was a second language for most
of participants (including myself). For example, Spanish speaking gardeners
tended to stay together and speak Spanish. Conversations were not flowing when
gardeners were not fluent in English.
Generally, gardeners worked alone in silence at Earlscourt Community
Garden whereas at Maloca Community Garden, the garden coordinator usually
maintained conversations with other gardeners. I found the levels of interactions
were moderate because I did not witness any continuous interactions between
gardeners over the growing season, only casual and punctual interactions. When
gardeners talked to each other, they mostly chatted about the weather, the growing
garden, and exchanged recipes. As for verbal expressions of a sense of
community, I did not hear mentions or references to some sort of sense of
community in the gardens. However, gardeners did highlight the benefits of
working collectively for efficiency and the enjoyment of group realizations. In
conclusion, my participant observations did not allow me to infer that community
gardeners did have a sense of community at Earlscourt Community Garden and
Maloca Community Garden. This is the reason why I designed my interview
questions to specifically have an insight into gardeners’ perception of the concept
of community itself and their sense of community in their community garden.
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B) Semi-structured Interviews
During my interviews, by asking gardeners about the concept of
“community” in community gardening, I wanted to obtain their point of view on
the definition of “community” and on the state of the community formed at
Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden. Gardeners’
answers revealed that the opportunity to interact and share with other gardeners is
at the basis of their conceptions of community:
“People are getting together, working on a common goal” (Earlscourt 5, 2012).
“It is important to develop the garden through good communication and proactivity of members. Communication is a big part of community” (Maloca 2, 2012).
“the garden is a community where you can meet people, say good morning, share and know your neighbour” (Earlscourt 6, 2012).
“A community is working together, learning from each other, sharing knowledge and food” (Maloca 2, 2012).
“We were not directly interacting but still care for other people’s
plot (plots got watered when they were dry)” (Maloca 1, 2012). “I didn’t see other gardeners because people work a different time.
We were not directly interacting” (Maloca 2, 2012).
Interaction was identified as one of the main factor that indicated if gardeners
formed a community or not. In effect, if gardeners did have a chance to interact
with others, they were more likely to feel that there was a community in the
garden, but if gardeners did not interact, they did not feel they formed a
community. In addition to interactions between gardeners, the notion of time
seemed central to the development of a community:
“Garden as a community has longevity because it is a place for stability and long-lasting relationships as well as a safe place” (Earlscourt 5, 2012).
“to spend time in the community, to spend time in your surroundings” (Maloca 1, 2012).
39
“We met more frequently, got to see each other” (Maloca 1, 2012). “I can’t make it to every event” (Maloca 3, 2012). “I’ve only been to a few events; it’s hard for me to say. It’s hard for
me to get to know the people because they are not there on weekends. It was hard for me to be part of the community” (Maloca 3, 2012).
“We had some moments of community like during potlucks, but there is place for more. Because we are not always working together, not always seeing other people, it was not consistent. I do not know how to make the moments of community last” (Maloca 4, 2012).
“We need more people (students) that will come year after year. It is hard to coordinate schedule, there is not enough time to build community” (Maloca 4, 2012).
Gardeners recognized that, in order to have a community in a garden, there must
be interactions over time. Being able to commit and participate in most gardening
and social events is important in order for gardeners to get to know each other and
develop relationships. The word “relationship” was implied in most gardeners’
answers, but only one student garden mentioned it precisely: “From my personal
point of view, it’s the relationships you develop . . . A community garden is not
simply a garden: it’s a garden with relationships. . . Relationships transform into
community and include non-human participants” (Maloca 4, 2012). This student
gardener specified that her answers were highly influenced by her program in
Environmental Studies.
By trying to define community and characterize their feeling of community
at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden, most
interviewed gardeners described how interactions and time were an important part
of “community” in community gardens. My own interpretation of gardeners’
answers is that gardeners have an idealized conception of “community” as a group
of people who work together, interact and share with each other over important
40
lengths of time. For example, one gardener described community in community
gardens as: “People [who] are getting together, working on a common goal and
going to feed people within the community” (Earlscourt 5, 2012). Some gardeners
seem to consider that their community did not correspond directly to their ideal
conception of community: “the community was not as strong as it could have
been, but I still felt that there was a community” (Maloca 2, 2012). A gardener
emphasized that their experiences were not exactly what it should have been: “We
had some moments of community like during potlucks but there is place for
more” (Maloca 4, 2012). In some way, gardeners were critical of the overall
interactions and time spent in community gardens. They were prone to suggest
aspects that it could have been better and recognized the need to build
community, to work towards the actualization of their ideal conception of
community garden: “We need more people (students) that will come year after
year. It is hard to coordinate schedule, there is not enough time to build
community” (Maloca 4, 2012). Community building holds the potential to
strengthen people’s feeling of a sense of community. Some authors study and
suggest some ways in which people can work together in the creation of strong
communities that can achieve their own goals. At Earlscourt Community Garden
and Maloca Community Garden, my participant observations allowed me to see
that garden coordinators are aware of the importance of community building in
community gardens and did attempt to improve their situation during the 2012
growing season.
41
Community Building in Community Gardens in the Literature
Community building is a popular concept in academic literature on
community gardens (Weil, 1996; Firth et al., 2011; Chavis and Wandersman,
1990). In effect, “building” a sense of community will contribute to stimulate the
“healthy development” of a community and its members (Chavis and
Wandersman, 1990, p.56). For Chavis and Wandersman (1990), an effective way
to develop a community is to encourage “individuals' participation in voluntary
organizations which produce collective and individual goods” (p.56). Chavis and
Wandersman’s view of community building through voluntary organizations can
easily include community gardens because they do lead to the production of
collective and individual goods such as social inclusion and better food security.
Beyond the results of community building, Wiel (1996) indicates that it includes
the processes themselves such as “activities, practices, and policies that support
and foster positive connections among individuals, groups, organizations,
neighborhoods, and geographic and functional communities” (p.482). Community
building is the development of interactions in a group of people through organized
activities and guiding principles. Building a community does require social
interactions, which can be in opposition to the actual individualistic culture. This
is the reason why even if community gardens do bring together people who want
to grow plants, the development of relationships between gardeners does not
always happen on its own, without incitation and structured activities. Glover et
al. (2005) argues that participating in a community garden can contribute to
42
“overcome individualism and self-interest” because communal projects help
gardeners to develop their capacities through the exposition to the existing
“connection between their private interests and the public interest” (p.80). The
potential of community gardens to build community can be actualized through
collective food production and, in the next section, I will discuss the state of
community building at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community
Garden as well as gardeners’ and my point of view on potential improvements.
43
Community Building in Field Study
A) Participant Observations
During my participant observations at Earlscourt Community Garden and
Maloca Community Garden, I was looking for indications that community
building was an important aspect in both community gardens. At Earlscourt
Community Garden, there did not seem to be an emphasis on community building
on a day-to-day basis since no gardening activities involved group work. There
were very limited occasions when gardeners would gather together, and, when it
happened interactions were not stimulated. Two social events took place at
Earlscourt Community Garden during my participant observations: July and
August’s Open Houses. The objective of these events was to invite people from
the surrounding neighbourhood in the garden and hopefully get them involved in
the future. Guests had the opportunity to have something to eat, to paint wood
signs for the garden beds, and to participate in a storytelling activity and a
scavenger hunt. Gardening members were also invited to Open Houses to present
the garden to others and appreciate the event. Most members participated in these
social events and seemed proud of their garden. These two events stimulated the
gardening community. During following drop-in gardening sessions, gardeners
looked happy and group dynamics were more energetic. At Earlscourt
Community Garden, social events did contribute to community building, but the
lack of interactions during drop-in sessions restrained community building.
44
The garden coordinator at Maloca Community Garden during the 2012
growing season also organised social events, more precisely monthly potluck
dinners. These events were specifically organized in order to work towards the
creation of a gardening community, but participation was low most of the time.
This situation indicates that before community building can happen, there must
minimally some active participants. Additionally, community building also rely
on the history and the sense of belonging of a community garden as well as a
certain excitement and popularity in the society and the media. A lot of elements
influence people’s involvement in social groups as community gardens, which is
why it can be hard to understand success and failure in community building.
At Maloca Community Garden, individual plot gardeners were the main
users of the garden. Gardeners came mainly to water and harvest, which do not
take a lot of time, but must be done often during the growing season. Some
gardeners did visit their plot every day, whereas others just a couple times a week
or even once a week. Since Maloca Community Garden is accessible all day long,
gardeners could come at the time that was best suited for them. This had the effect
of reducing gardeners’ chances to meet one another in the garden. Because there
were limited interactions between individual-plot gardeners, it was difficult to
organise social events for people that did not know each other. As for communal-
plot gardeners, they mostly consisted in individual-plot gardeners who also helped
with communal beds’ maintenance. Workdays did not have a high attendance
either, which also limited interactions between communal gardeners at Maloca
Community Garden. Community building was central for the garden coordinator
45
at Maloca Community Garden, but the limited level of participation was a major
obstacle to the processes initiated by the garden coordinator.
B) Semi-structured Interviews
When asked to talk about their community in their own community gardens
during the interviews, some notions of community building were mentioned, but
the concept itself was almost never named. Gardeners mostly suggested that the
community they were part of was not as strong as it could have been for reasons
presented earlier, but that there still needs to be work done in order to reach their
ideal level of community. One gardener mentioned the importance of
communication and proactivity in the creation of community: “It is important to
develop the garden through good communication and proactivity of members.
Communication is a big part of community; it can inspire the drive in people”
(Maloca 2, 2012). This gardener seemed to insinuate that a lack of communication
and proactivity were the reasons why there was issues in community building in
the community garden. For another gardener, the difficulties in the development
of community are related to people’s attitude toward other gardeners. This
gardener mentioned that a community is “the relationships you develop” and that
in order to have relationships with others in a community gardens, it has to be a
“friendly place” (Maloca 1, 2012). She also indicated that “it is important when
people arrive that we greet them, acknowledge that they are there with us”
(Maloca 1, 2012). For her, having a friendly attitude in a community garden
seems to be the key for the development of relationships and of a community.
46
The one gardener who mentioned community building indicates that the
need to renew the garden community every year causes damages: “there is not
enough time to build community. Grad students are only there for a season”
(Maloca 4, 2012). Continuity over the years and social events such as potluck
dinners are important aspects of community building for that community
gardener: “We had some moments of community like during potlucks, but there is
place for more. Because we are not always working together, not always seeing
other people, it was not consistent. I do not know how to make the moments of
community last” (Maloca 4, 2012). Community building is a process that takes
time and that is not easy to sustain and expand. As gardeners suggested,
community building is dependent on community members’ will, attitude,
participation, and commitment. Even if garden coordinators want to build a strong
community, gardeners are the only ones who can build their own community.
Community in Community Gardens: A Summary
My participant observations and my interviews allowed me to find some
indications that community gardens do contribute to the development of a sense
of community and do support community building. In that way, gardeners do have
the opportunity to experience community life at different levels, depending on
their own participation in activities in community gardens. Even if the literature
shows that interactions in community gardens induce a sense of community in
gardeners, my field study led me to doubt the comprehensiveness of this claim.
Gardeners may feel they form a group in a garden, but their sense of community
47
is not always strong and do not always meet gardeners’ expectations. They seem
to consider that the development of a community in a community garden needs
repeated quality interactions between gardeners over time. Community building
can contribute to the achievement of strong communities through collective work,
social activities, and the elaboration of common principles. Community building
is a process with which gardeners take part, and gardeners did realize that it was
up to people to participate with the right attitude and commitment over time.
However, even if garden coordinators and some gardeners did want to build a
strong community at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community
Garden during the 2012 growing season, it did not always happen and did not
always meet some gardeners’ expectations. I must also take into consideration
that I based my analysis on ten interviews, which means it can hardly represent all
gardeners’ perspectives. However, generally speaking, being a member of a
strong community could be desirable, which is why community building should
reflect members’ view of what they consider a community. When thinking about
the ways in which members could actively contribute to the development of a
sense of community, I envision a more open discussion about what everybody
expects of community. The creation of a shared idea of community might help to
direct people towards a realistic view of community and towards possible ways in
which their common view can become a reality.
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3.4 Improving Community Gardens’ Capacity to provide Gardeners with a
Conscious Experience of Nature and Community
According to some authors I reviewed, gardeners seem to be able to
connect with nature by the simple fact of being involved in a community garden.
In light of my field study at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden, conscious contact with nature was not straightforwardly
observable during my participant observations, but was indicated by gardeners in
my semi-structured interviews. I was able to identify some indications of a
potential awareness of nature in community gardens in gardeners’ discourses.
However, I do not feel that my research provided me with the information
necessary to assert that gardeners at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden did consciously experience nature while gardening.
Because community gardening involves some levels of interactions between
gardeners who share a common space, the academic literature focusing on the
social aspects of community gardening agrees on the social benefits for gardeners
and the larger community. Once again, my field study did not reveal results as
strong as those present in academic literature. Community gardeners did interact
with each other, but the communities formed by gardeners were not strong and
did not correspond to gardeners’ own conceptions of community. My participant
observations exposed a restraint involvement in gardening activities and social
events, more so in Maloca Community Garden than Earlscourt Communtiy
Garden. Community building did happen in both community gardens, but there is
place for improvement according to interviewed gardeners. Most interviewed
49
gardeners agreed that they formed a community, but they also indicate that
gardeners’ involvement and attitudes were not adequate to create a better sense of
community. I believe that communities in community gardens do exist and, in
order to properly develop the sense of community, both gardeners and garden
coordinators need to put more attention on community building.
In the next chapter, I will present environmental education as a potential
solution to highlight the place of nature and community in community gardens. I
will rely on theories of environmental education and on interviewed gardeners’
ideas of learning in community gardens to develop ideas of educational structures
adapted to community gardening in order to improve gardeners’ experience of
nature and community life. I will then propose an environmental education
calendar containing activities that can take place in community gardens to
facilitate gardeners benefitting from their experience; that they may learn from
nature and from their community.
50
Chapter 4: Environmental Education in Community Gardens
In Chapter four, I will argue that an actualization of community gardens’
potential to provide experience of nature and community would need a specific
garden structure that would support gardeners’ development of relationships to
food, their local environment, and their fellow gardeners. I will show that
environmental education has the adequate principles and methods to stimulate
gardeners’ discoveries and reflections on nature and community life. I will
suggest that an environmental education program for community gardens can
refer to theories and practices of place-based education in order to ground
learning in gardeners’ local natural environment and community. To contribute to
community building in community gardens, I will propose that the creation of
learning communities is an environmental education strategy that can contribute
to gardeners’ experience of community life and collective actions. In order to
design an adequate environmental education program, I will not only rely on
education theories, but also on community gardeners’ point of view of learning in
community gardens. During my interviews with gardeners from Earlscourt
Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden, I questioned participants on
their learning experience and their interests in relation to environmental
education. Based on gardeners’ answers, I will make recommendations for a
potential education program in community gardens that will reflect some
gardeners’ interests. Finally, I will propose an environmental education program
inspired by both educational theories and gardeners’ interests that will take the
form of a gardening calendar.
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4.1 Environmental Education, Place-based Education, and Nature
Defining Environmental Education
I define environmental education as a learning process that aims to guide
towards the recognition of the living and non-living world that surrounds humans;
to bring an individual and collective awareness of being alive with others. I
believe this appreciation of the world constitutes the basis for the exploration of
nature through environmental education, which can happen autonomously by
individuals, collectively by social groups, and can be guided by facilitators. I see
environmental education as a transformative process. However, some definitions
available in literature are often utilitarian and even limiting. Such conceptions of
environmental education confine its scope to a matter of transmission of
knowledge related to the environment so that learners get a better understanding
of environmental issues. Freire (2000) refer to this kind of education as “banking”
education with knowledge transfers, which he opposes to more participative and
transformative education that is centred on learners’ lives (p.91). One definition
of environmental education taking into account a “transformative” process is the
one provided by Clover, Follen, and Hall (2000): adult environmental education is
“a practice and philosophy that understands human/nature interconnections and
stimulates the learner intellectually and emotionally, encouraging the use of all
senses in relating to the rest of nature” (p.9). In effect, environmental education,
as a discipline, is concerned with the development of a connection to nature, more
precisely of the recognition that humans are part of nature (Sauvé and Orellana,
52
2004). Environmental education can contribute to this transformation by guiding
people through to the re-establishment of “the ties that bind people to each other,
to the nonhuman world, and from a more global perspective, to our shared ‘home
of life.’” (Sauvé and Orellana, 2004, p.99). Environmental education provides a
learning experience that focus on the development of a sense of connection to
nature, which involves that learners interact intellectually, emotionally, and
sensually with their surroundings. Such explorations of the environment can allow
people to recognize existing relationships between humans and nature as well as
between all humans interacting in the world that surrounds them.
Environmental education supports theories and practices that contribute to
bringing a sense of connection to nature through sensory and intellectual
explorations, whether it is in an indoor or outdoor setting. However, outdoor
education, according to Lugg (2007), “offers a more holistic mode of learning
through direct, sensory, affective and cognitive engagement with ecological
systems and processes, such that the consequences of individual and collective
actions may have immediate and real outcomes for the learner” (p.106). Getting
to know more about nature through direct contact contributes to learners’ capacity
to understand the effects of their action on the surrounding environment.
Furthermore, being outdoor helps to make education directly linked to the
environment; to make it more concrete and accessible for learners. For Bélanger
(2003), the consideration of the surrounding environment in environmental
education is significant since learning “through” and “within” the environment
plays an integral role (p.85). The environment in itself can teach people about its
53
existing components and interconnections. The author argues that in order for
environmental knowledge to be relevant for learners, they must be “able to relate
newly acquired knowledge to his or her own experience with his or her
environment” (Bélanger, 2003, p.85). When learning is directly tied to learners’
lives, knowledge becomes more significant and useful. Orr (1994) points out that
the acquisition of knowledge must always include an understanding of the
“effects of this knowledge on real people and their communities” (p.13).
Environment knowledge does not only have repercussions on the environment,
but also on the people who live within the environment. Environmental education
is grounded in place and in people, and environmental experience and knowledge
must be meaningful and directly associated with their actual impact and potential
solution.
Environmental education can also refer to experiential education when it
comes to the notion of learning from lived experience. By providing learning
strategies centered on learners’ experience, knowledge and skills are directly
integrated into bodies and minds. “Learning by doing” is a technique greatly
valued in environmental education. However Roberts (2012) argues that
experiential education is not strictly a series of learning methods, but rather a
“broader process,” a process of “both individuation and socialization [that] is
rooted in longstanding philosophical queries as to the nature of self and society”
(p.4; original emphasis). For this author, experiential education has deeper
meanings and objectives that need to guide learners through the exploration of
individual, social, philosophical, political, economic, and democratic aspects of
54
their everyday experience. Since all learning comes from experience, it is
important that learners become conscious of their own experience and of what
potentially mediate them. Experiential education must then have two components:
a focus on experience, but also on the analysis of experience.
For some proponents of experiential education, the focus is more so on the
use of the body to learn. Experiential education can be “active-learning” with
“kinesthetic, hands-on/minds-on way of attaining knowledge” and reflection and
introspection (Smith and Knapp, 2010, p.3). For Louv (2005), experiential
education is a way of teaching “through the senses in the natural world” (p.201).
For Louv, the senses are the main way learners’ have access to the world that
surrounds them. Louv (2011) presents the notion of “nature-deficit disorder” to
explain how some people have “an atrophied awareness, a diminished ability to
find meaning in the life that surrounds us, whatever form it takes” (p.11).
Learning to use all their senses is the key to learners’ complete consciousness of
nature and “optimum state of learning” (Louv, 2011, p.25). This is the reason why
Louv (2005) believes that experiential education plays a central role in the
creation and maintenance of an effective environmental movement. He argues
that “there was a time when developing a spiritual, psychological, physical
attachment to place came naturally [, but] today, awareness of our surroundings
and our role in this larger life must be developed purposely” (p.120). Educators
must take experience into consideration if learners of all ages are to become
aware of their surrounding environment and their role within nature.
55
Defining Place-based Education
Place-based education is a form of environmental education that focuses on
learners’ experience of their “local space”; where they live (Gruenewald, 2003,
p.3). “Place” in place-based education designates a specific portion of space that
represents living environments. Place-based education promotes the development
of relationships with place; the cultivation of “a connectedness with one’s
surrounding” (Hensley, 2011, p.142). For Gruenewald (2003), place-based
education is needed so people can “have some direct bearing on the wellbeing of
the social and ecological places people actually inhabit” (p.3). By focusing on
“place”, place-based education does not focus on the global environment; place is
limited by mental and physical boundaries of learners’ living environment (Evans,
2012). In other words, place is determined by people’s conception of their own
living environments as well as physical limits, which makes “place” a known
reference to people who live in it. According to Orr (1994), it is possible to “love
the places we can see, touch, smell, and experience” and such love connects
humans to nature (p.147). Learning about place allows people to encounter the
space in which they evolve every day and to get “to know its cultural, ecological,
and historical nuances” (Hensley, 2011, p.136). Humans and social features are
included in place as much as the natural environment, which is why they are
highlighted in place-based education. Place-based education contributes to
learners’ exploration of the surrounding natural and social world.
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Focusing on local issues can lead to the exclusion of global issues that
influence everybody’s lives. Even if global socio-environmental issues are not the
focus of place-based education, it does not mean that it is not implicitly present in
learning processes. There are numerous ways that local connects to global. For
example, Plumwood (2007) address the role of both local communities and
dominant ideologies in ecological conservation situations. In her article,
Plumwood (2007) tells a story showing the impact of the misconceptions in the
idea of local communities as “caring” and of the role of “dominant ideologies and
customs” in relation to the protection of endangered species in a cemetery (p.69).
She highlights the role of the dominant ideology of” tidy” landscapes as strict
ground maintenance in local community members’ conceptions and actions. Even
if rural communities could sometimes seem disconnected from mainstream
conceptions, the example of the cemetery shows that local communities are
influenced by global ideologies since they want to control the cemetery’s
appearance. By imposing strict cemetery landscape care (grass mowing and
pesticide use), the local community actualized the dominant conception of well-
maintained land. In a way, Plumwood illustrates that even if communities seem to
be dealing only with local issues, they are not dissociating themselves from the
dominant cultures. Local and global are connected and it is important to keep in
mind and to highlight this fact in place-based education activities.
57
4.2 Environmental Education and Place-based Education in Learning
Gardens and Community Gardens
Learning Gardens: A Setting for Environmental Education
Environmental education and place-based education are often associated
with “learning gardens”. Learning gardens are usually gardens in school settings
that are centered on education: they are a learning tool for students. For Parker
(2012), learning gardens are perfect settings for students to learn about food,
agriculture, and the environment. Students who are involved in learning gardens
are constantly engaging “with the act of planting, harvesting and preparing the
food” which can result in a “comprehensive awareness that the food they are
eating was made possible from the bounty of nature and the nurturing of
agricultural processes” (Parker, 2012, p.42). Students not only witness the growth
of food but also participate in, and support, the natural processes involved in food
production. Beyond the development of an awareness of food production, learning
gardens help students to “recognize both the visible and invisible connection, and
interdependence, between humans and the earth” (Gaylie, 2009, p. 38). Students
get to understand the ways in which they rely on natural processes for their food
and other needs as well as the ways in which they can contribute by helping
natural processes in food gardens.
Because gardens consist in specific places where students can directly
interact with their surroundings, most authors indicate the benefits of using place-
58
based education in learning gardens (Parker, 2012; Gaylie, 2009; Green, 2007).
For Green (2007), the connection between gardens and place-based education is
promising because gardens are an “educational portal” for the exploration of the
natural environment (p.1). Learning in a garden and getting to know the plants
help students to develop an attachment to place, and this might result in a
commitment to the local environment (Williams and Brown, 2012). In effect,
Williams and Brown (2012) indicate that “school gardens can provide a site for
students to come to view their action as inextricably linked with an elaborate web
of life” to which everything, including them, is connected (p.61). For example, if
a student is being too rough with a plant, this might lead to serious damages and
even to the plant’s death. In a garden, students will see the results of their action
and hopefully come to understand the importance of respecting nature.
Learning in Community Gardens: Taking Cues from Learning Gardens
Learning gardens are considered as good settings for environmental
education, but most academic literature on environmental education in gardens
focuses on school settings and on young learners. Applying environmental
education in community gardens similarly to learning gardens would require an
adaptation for adult learners. Academic resources on adult education in
community gardens are not available (Walter, 2012). Walter (2012) indicates that
the literature does not offer specific knowledge related to “adults and informal
learning in non-school-based settings for community gardens” (p.4). However,
education in community gardens could be considered as an adult version of
59
learning gardens. In the same way as with learning gardens in school settings,
community gardens provide a space where people can experience their
surroundings, which holds the potential to create “personal relationships and
emotional attachment to place” that could be facilitated through environmental
education (Williams and Brown, 2012, p.66). Also similar to learning gardens is
community gardens’ capacity to fill people’s “desire to develop a sense of place,”
which is a “human need for attachment with the natural and cultural
environments” (Barriga, 2004, p.21). This is why I believe that community
gardens would provide a good setting for adult environmental education and adult
place-based education in a similar way as learning gardens are good settings for
students.
Adult Environmental Education in Community Gardens
Community gardens, by literally being rooted in place, are settings that can
easily incorporate environmental education objectives relating to experience,
place, and nature through informal learning programs for adults. “Adult
education” is a term used to describe “the collection of persons and institutions
locally, nationally, regionally or globally that provide educational opportunities
for adults” (Clover, 1999, p.87). Education for adults can take place in different
spaces and about diverse subjects that are part of adult lives. Adult environmental
education plays an important role in adult education since it promotes “an
ecological framework” that contributes “to the creation of just and healthy
societies” that work towards sustainable lifestyles (Clover, Follen, and Hall, 2000,
60
p.9). Adults are considered the active members of society and they have the
capacity to learn, act, and make changes in the world. The challenge for adult
environmental education is, according to Clover (1999), to find ways in which “to
simultaneously promote awareness, enjoyment, and sensitivity to the rest of
nature while pointing out al1 of the ominous threats to global ecosystems, local
habitats, and human well being” (p.212). A focus on both adult experience of
nature and socio-environmental issues adults are living with will allow learners to
have relevant learning experiences.
Community gardens are locations where people can learn about “different
ways of understanding the world” (Barriga, 2004, p.16). Walter (2012)
conceptualizes adult education in community gardens as “a form of public
pedagogy and social movement learning” (p.4). By giving gardeners, who are
members of their community, an access to adult environmental education
programs, learning becomes the starting point of a movement towards greater
knowledge about the environment in which people live. Such learning aims to
develop learners’ “willingness to consider all tentative ways of knowing and of
living and being with the rest of nature” (Clover, 1999, p. 311). In order to put
emphasis on the role of place in community gardens, place-based education can
guide gardeners in the recognition of the local space formed by community
gardens and of the benefits of knowing their own living space. Place-based
education in community gardens have the potential to center learners on their own
place and give them a starting point for the discovery of the existing relationships
in which they evolve.
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Applying Adult Place-Based Education in Community Gardens
Relying on adult place-based education in community gardens would help
to focus an educational program on local knowledge and issues. An important
step is to identify what “place” adult learners in community gardens consider as
their own. In other words, learners need to decide the scale of the locality they
want to learn about. It can be limited to the community garden’s boundaries, the
neighbourhood, the city, the bioregion, the province, or the country. By focusing
on their “place”, learners will be able to search for educational goals they want to
reach based on the socio-environmental issues of their locality that they would
like to improve. Place-based education entails that learners have the opportunity
to get involved in the identification of problems and solutions as well as in the
actions that would lead to the amelioration of the chosen situation. During this
process, adult learners are brought to experience socio-environmental issues and
reflect on the implications and impacts on people and nature. Such firsthand
experience of local issues gives learners concrete insights and the determination
to get involved in the resolution of issues at stake. In adult place-based education,
the role of the educator is to facilitate the exploration, learning, and realization
processes with support, resources, and guiding educational activities.
An example of educational activities following a place-based philosophy
that can be relevant to adapt for a community garden setting because it allows the
exploration of food issues is the educational guide named “De la rive à
l’épicerie.” This guide proposes a place-based education program that aims for
62
the exploration of place with an “environmental route” designed to discover
places related to food production and consumption in a designated region
(Godmaire, Lacourse, Sauvé, and Beaudin-Lecours, 2006). This educational guide
leads participants into an experience of the different aspects of their local
environment, and to learn about the socio-environmental issues surrounding them.
The guide suggests specific sites to visit in relation to different part of the local
food system, from food production to food consumption. For each site visit, adult
learners are invited to reflect on their experience and their relation to the specific
aspects of food production in their locality. The guide “De la rive à l’épicerie” is
a great example of adult place-based education that can be adapted for community
gardeners to reflect their own localities and help them to discover food production
in their region.
The challenge of adult place-based education would be to provide enough
flexibility in the learning experience so that learners can be involved in the
selection of topics, the organization, the research, the information presentation,
and the design of a plan of action. Educators usually have their own ideas of what
an adequate and complete learning experience should look like. Using more
participatory education means that learners and educators must work together to
establish a learning process that can suit both learners’ interests and educators’
guidelines. Even though flexibility is important, content and structure are also.
Both learners and educators must meet this challenge by finding a reasonable
meeting point. A potential way of insuring that a certain level of structure is
respected in an adult place-based education program in a community garden could
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be for educators to suggest important topics that learners can choose from and
build upon. That way, educators are guides and learners stay free to imagine their
learning experience.
4.3 Participative Adult Education and Learning Communities in
Community Gardens to Stimulate Community
Participative Adult Education in Community Gardens
Community gardens combined with adult environmental education can help
gardeners to learn more about the environment they live in and to develop a sense
of connection to nature. Environmental education, as well as any other type of
education, can easily involve top-down approaches in which educators strictly
transmit knowledge to learners. This type of knowledge transmission by educators
institutes a dynamic in which learners depend on educators for knowledge.
Ideally, adult education should encourage more participatory learning dynamics
(Clover, 1999; Stein and Imel, 2002; Faris, 2001). To get adults to participate in
their own learning process, adult education invites learners to contribute by
sharing their own experience and knowledge. Experience and knowledge
exchanges allow for more bottom-up approaches and bring a more egalitarian
dynamic into adult education. In effect, Bosworth and Hamilton (1994) posit that
if people work together as
…a community of knowledgeable peers, then the group can construct knowledge. The teacher is no longer a repository of the ‘right’ answers. Although the instructor may well know what answers a given disciple deems to be ‘acceptable,’ the students themselves can generate a repertoire of answers that the community .
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. . accepts. Using collaborative learning processes, they can rely on their own expertise, their own interactions, and their own prior understandings to create knowledge. (p.20)
Participatory adult education programs promote the social aspects of learning by
using collaborative methods. The social aspects of learning are significant for
learners since they get to exchange and contribute to their community’s common
knowledge. Bosworth and Hamilton (1994) indicate that people learn from
“sharing [their] ideas, beliefs, and writing through [their] interactions with others”
(p.8). Furthermore, group learning promotes “social inclusion and cohesion” as
well as “civic and social participation,” and both contribute to community
building (Faris, 2001, p.1). Learning is social and, by recognizing the importance
of collaboration, adult education can make learning rewarding and fulfilling.
Learning Communities in Community Gardens
Learning communities are one learning strategy centered on group learning
because they involve the creation of a network of people, who get together to
learn about selected topics. One of the major advantages of learning communities
is that they provide a space where different views and ideas are shared and allow
the production of knowledge and solutions specific to the community (Stein and
Imel, 2002). For Stein and Imel (2002), learning communities are usually formed
“when ordinary people desire to control everyday life events and come to know
these events through a learning process . . . in a space . . . where a diversity of
views and ideas can be shared and honored and sustainable relationships formed”
(p.93). Any everyday life events that affect people can be a subject for learning
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communities. Members of a learning community will voluntarily form a group to
exchange and create knowledge about their common situation and to plan
collective actions (Stein and Imel, 2002). Local socio-environmental issues are a
good example of events that could lead to the formation of learning communities
since they concern everyone and they are complex, which means community
members can win to team up to gain knowledge and develop potential solutions.
Learning communities and environmental education are allies in order to
address socio-environmental issues since groups of people can join their efforts to
understand issues at stake while becoming more autonomous in their learning. As
Orellana (2002) argues the environment has inherent social aspects, and, by
developing learning communities as a learning strategy in environmental
education, people will not only develop knowledge, but their sense of community
as well. By providing a context for people to interact and discuss local socio-
environmental issues, community gardening can be a space where people can
share ideas and then lead to the creation of learning communities. Learning
communities in community gardens would also contribute to community building
by creating a space where gardeners can learn together and develop their
collective capacity. Both environmental education and learning communities can
play a role in the development of as sense of community in community gardens.
Learning Communities to Experience Community Life in Gardens
In addition to becoming active members of their own autonomous learning,
learning communities are also groups with which their members can experience
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community life. By sharing their experience and knowledge, reflecting on socio-
environmental issues collectively, taking decisions together, and engaging
themselves in concrete projects, members of learning communities can create a
small-scale society. A learning community becomes a group that supports its
members as well as the whole group. Learning as a community in a community
garden also has the potential to change the system of reference from an individual
point of view to a collective point of view (Legault, 2010-2011). Instead of using
only their personal set of values and ideas to take a decision, members of a
collectivity can adhere to the collective values and ideas. Members start to
consider other people’s way of thinking instead of only their own. For Walter
(2012), by participating in community garden initiatives, many members will
refer to their community for their “cultural code of collective identity,” which
provide guidance and support (p.15). Learning communities can create their own
identity, set of values and rules that influence individual members. Living as a
community involves new perspectives to which members are confronted and with
which they must deal and work. People cannot stay focus only on their
individualist lifestyle when engaged in a learning community: they have to be
open to community life with its challenges and benefits.
An engagement in a learning community can provide several social
benefits, but it is also a great commitment in terms of time and energy.
Commitment is critical because members’ participation in a learning community
is decisive for its creation, functioning and sustainability. Wals and Noorduyn
(2010) indicate that “the motivation to participate in a social learning process is
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not always naturally present [and] much depends on the collective goals and
common visions shared by those engaged in the process” (p.74). If people share
common goals and visions, there is more chance that they will decide to
collaborate and that will motivate participation. Setting up a learning community
in a community garden, for example, is challenging since it involves recruiting
people who are willing to engage themselves in group to learn together. Learning
communities can be created as a result of the realization that “not all information
is available in one’s own community and context, and that alternative ways of
knowing, acting and valuing” can provide local solutions that were previously
missing (Wals and Noorduyn, 2010, p.75). Developing learning communities
might not be easy but the process and the results can be gratifying and encourage
people to participate.
Starting a learning community in a community garden where there is an
environmental education program could be one of the educational activities
instigated by an educator. Instead of having the educator presenting a workshop
on a socio-environmental issue the garden community is facing, community
gardeners could be asked to take the lead on researching, presenting, and
discussing the issue. For example, a learning community could be formed around
an issue such as air pollution in the city. Members of the learning community
would brainstorm on the current knowledge people have, try to identify what
information is missing and find resources they could consult to get more
information. The group could separate the tasks and do individual research.
Afterwards, they would reconvene and share the results of their research. They
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might find out that the air they are breathing is polluted and find actions they
could take as members of a community garden to reduce the air pollution.
Gardeners could decide to grow plants that efficiently purify the air and send a
letter to the city to let them know that they could volunteer to plant some more of
these plants in parks for example. Learning communities in community gardens
could be formed as response to punctual situations or as an extension of an
existing gardening group (especially in the case communal-plot members for
example). By working together in their garden and in their learning process,
community gardeners will increase their opportunity to share and create
knowledge.
4.4 Learning in Community Gardens
The State of Education in Community Gardens in the Literature
Education is an important aspect of community gardening, either through
experiential learning when tending a plot or through informal exchanges between
gardeners (Barriga, 2004). In his study of community gardens in Montreal,
Wegmuller (2010) found that almost every community gardener he interviewed
mentioned that educational aspects were important in their community gardening
experience, more precisely because there are many opportunities for them to learn
as well as opportunities for them to transmit knowledge. Such informal education
is frequent in community gardens, but some gardens also have more structured
learning with educational activities such as “informal agricultural extension
education [...] with demonstration plots, master farmers, apprenticeship,
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experimentation, educational workshops, readings, community lectures and
organised site visits to other gardens” (Walter, 2012, p.11). Educational activities
in community gardens are usually centered on topics related to food production
such as growing techniques. Other subjects rarely seem to be incorporated in
educational activities in community gardens.
Education does take place in community gardens, but environmental
education is not widely included. According to a study by Boulianne, Olivier-
d’Avignon, and Galarneau (2010), the majority of studied community gardens in
Montreal did not include the environment. In effect, garden coordinators did not
mention environmental notions in their description of their community garden.
Even for those who do include environmental issues in their gardening objectives,
it is not considered as one of their priority. Community gardens under study did
not work towards the development of awareness of environmental issues, but for
the presence of composting systems and the prohibition of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides (Boulianne, Olivier-d’Avignon, and Galarneau, 2010, p.10). The result
of this study shows the importance of incorporating environmental education in
community gardens in order to bring the environment to the center of the
community gardening experience.
Gardeners’ Take on Learning and Environmental Education
Since, according to the literature, environmental education is not usually
included in community gardening’s learning experience, I was curious to know
more about community gardeners’ point of view on their own learning experience
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and potential interest in environmental education in community gardens. In my
interviews with gardeners from Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca
Community Garden, I asked them the following questions: 1) What did you learn
in the community garden and what would you like to learn? and 2) What kind of
Environmental Education would you like to have in the community garden? The
objective of those two questions was to hear gardeners’ opinions on the actual
state of their learning experience and on the educational potentials in community
gardens as well as on their interests in relation to environmental education. With
gardeners’ answers, I have a better understanding of what knowledge and learning
experience are meaningful to them. I am planning to use that understanding in my
design of educational activities.
Gardeners’ answers in relation to learning and environmental education in
community gardens made me realize that gaining more knowledge about
gardening is really important. The primary subject of learning at Earlscourt
Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden during the 2012 growing
season gardens was gardening, more precisely how to grow plants and produce
vegetables:
“I learned how to grow vegetables” (Earlscourt 1, 2012) “I learned that I can garden” (Earlscourt 2, 2012) “I’ve learned . . . about different vegetables” (Earlscourt 4, 2012) “I feel I learnt how to create a comfortable environment for plants to
grow” (Maloca 2, 2012) “It was an experiment, to try to grow new plants” (Maloca 3, 2012) “I am learning how to have a green thumb, how to care for plants,
how to grow a relationship with plants (in a more reciprocal way) . . . I am learning the plant language, how to pay attention to plants, when they need water, when they are thriving, when they are happy.” (Maloca 4, 2012)
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Gaining knowledge about how to grow plants was central to gardeners’ learning
experience in their community gardens. Mostly presented by some gardeners as a
general concept to be learned, gardening knowledge also implied the acquisition
of specific information related to the execution of tasks:
“I’ve learned about tilling the soil, planting tomatoes . . . staking tomato plants, putting straw down to protect soil . . . how much to water depending on the type of plants . . . when to harvest. . . I’ve learn about compost, how to aerate the compost. How to get the garden ready for winter.” (Earlscourt 2, 2012)
“There are a lot of other skills I would like to learn like how to harvest seeds.” (Maloca 3, 2012)
“I would like to learn how to grow herbs, the time to harvest . . . pest management. . . permaculture methods.” (Maloca 1, 2012)
“I would like to learn more scientific notions of interrelations between organisms such as insects and plants and their environment.” (Maloca 2, 2012)
Interviewed gardeners expressed an interest in gaining a better understanding of
specific gardening skills, growing methods, and their scientific descriptions.
Specificity in gardeners’ answers reveals that it is important for them to be able to
learn from their experiences and events within their garden. At both Earlscourt
Community Garden and Maloca Garden, there were plants that did not grow well
in comparison to others. Some gardeners signified their desire to have access to
specific learning based on what is happening in their garden such as growth
failures in the garden:
“I would like to learn why some plants do good and some not. Like the eggplant, why didn’t they grow big? And the pumpkin, why did it get flabby?” (Earlscourt 3, 2012)
“I would like to have more workshops with specific information like conditions for plants to grow well. This year, our brassicas didn’t produce and it would be great to have a workshop on how to grow brassicas so we can understand why they didn’t grow, how to grow healthy plants.” (Maloca 4, 2012)
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Gardeners seem to attribute importance to the adaptation of learning to
what is happening in their garden, to what they experienced. They already
learned from their experience by themselves, but they recognize not
having all the knowledge necessary.
One important thing that gardeners did learn from their own
experience was that they could effectively work as a group in their
community garden:
“I learned that we can work well together” “I’ve learned how to share chores” “I would also like to learn how to work on a project with a large
number of people and a same plot.” Community gardening usually asks from gardeners to work
collaboratively, but for some this is not always an obvious task. Some
learned how to work as a team and some would like to learn how to
improve the process. Sharing tasks is part of “communal-plot” community
gardening skills that can be learned by gardeners. Working together also
enable gardeners to interact and learn from each other. Knowledge
exchange was mentioned as a main component of learning in community
gardens and beyond:
“There is always someone who knows more so you can learn” (Earlscourt 5, 2012)
“I also learnt from other gardeners that showed me different varieties of vegetables and methods of caring for the plants.” (Maloca 1, 2012)
“Now that I know more, I am sharing with my family and my roommates” (Maloca 1, 2012)
“I would like to know how to engage other people in the garden and engage them with their process of learning; how we can learn from others and them from me” (Maloca 2, 2012)
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Informal learning between gardeners is desirable for community gardeners since it
is an opportunity for everybody to continually learn.
The objective of the interview question focusing on environmental
education taking place in community gardens was to guide gardeners to think of
learning about the environment and how that could be significant in community
gardens. Generally, community gardens are perceived by interviewed gardeners
as positive for the environment since gardeners indicated that there should be an
expansion of community gardens:
“I wonder if we could expand the garden” (Earlscourt 1, 2012) “I would like to have resources available for people to know how to
start a community garden.” (Maloca 2, 2012)
In the same vein, gardeners recognized the potential of community gardens as a
space for people to learn about the environment. For interviewed gardeners, more
people should get involved in community gardens in order to benefit from
environmental education:
“Also educate more widely so more people know, more people into gardening, more gardens in the city.” (Earlscourt 1, 2012)
“We need more people to come” (Maloca 1, 2012) “Using Maloca is a great way to get people to learn about the
environment.” (Maloca 4, 2012)
Gardeners consider community gardens as environmentally friendly
spaces that should be expanded and frequented by more people in order for
them to learn about the environment. However, gardeners do not share the
same ideas of how environmental education could take place. For some
gardeners, environmental education should be focused on individuals to
respect individuality:
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“One can engage in [environmental education] by themselves” (Maloca 4, 2012).
“People could bring personal objects (from their home) to put it in the garden so there would be no divide, people would feel good in the garden. This would bring personal presence” (Maloca 1, 2012).
For other gardeners, environmental education should be done as a collectivity,
which could learn together and from each other:
“I would like to see workshops where everybody can do something: some can get their hands dirty, some can do artistic activities” (Maloca 1, 2012).
“I would like to learn from experienced gardeners with skills. Learning by myself is good, but I want to learn from people and be with people” (Maloca 4, 2012).
Within the garden community, there are proponents for individual environmental
education and for collective environmental education. Another divide exits in
relation to the structure environmental education should have. Some gardeners
suggested structured workshops:
“But there could be small workshops about different subjects such as energy and water conservation, pests and beneficial, symbiotic relationships. Just talking about this is environmental education” (Maloca 2, 2012).
“How to take care of a plot, the basics.” (Maloca 3, 2012).
But unstructured environmental education was also mentioned: “Just gardening is
environmental education; it doesn’t have to be framed as environmental
education” (Maloca 4, 2012). If gardeners envisioned different ways of doing
environmental education, there is mostly a consensus on the conceptions of the
importance of discussing environmental issues and on the content of potential
environmental education activities. Gardeners put the emphasis on pollution,
other garden-related problems and the necessity to explore solutions:
“I would like to learn ecological interactions, sciences, identifying pests, how to control and repeal them. I would like to have
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permaculture and companion planting workshops; more resources and support for new gardeners (with their new plot)” (Maloca 2, 2012).
“Conventional farming and chemicals pollute water supplies, but our garden helps to keep the water clean. Bees have an important role for pollination, but the pesticides kill bees. We need to plant more flowers in the garden to feed the bees” (Earlscourt 1, 2012).
Following the problem/solution theme, some gardeners indicate their desire to
learn more about farming on a larger scale:
“I would like to learn about hydroponic planting, types of farming (even though it is not really realistic for a small community garden).” (Maloca 2, 2012)
“If I would live on a farm, I would have the knowledge to take care of it.” (Maloca 3, 2012)
For gardeners, environmental education seems to be focusing on the positive
alternatives brought by “adequate” food production practices in community
gardening and farming. In general, gardeners had different representations of
environmental education in community gardens, but there were some recurrent
ideas such as gardening as an environmental act and environmental education as
an adaptable way of learning about garden-related topics.
Overall, interviewed gardeners predominantly expressed their interest and
desire to learn more about gardening. Almost no other learning subject was
mentioned by interviewed gardeners, not even subjects related to food
(preparation and conservation). This restriction to gardening in most answers
might indicate that gardening is the dominant topic of learning in community
gardens and that it should stay the same. Another reason for the limitation to
gardening topics might be explained by the design of the interview questions
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which might not have left enough freedom for gardeners’ to think and answer
more broadly. In any case, gardening is an important learning subject in
community gardens and should be integrated as the central topic in the planning
of educational activities for community gardeners.
Analysis of Gardeners’ Answers and Resulting Recommendations
In light of gardeners’ answers, it is possible to conclude that environmental
education should be connected to gardening activities and food production.
Gardeners’ ideas of environmental education in community gardens are mostly
linked to technical and scientific knowledge necessary to efficiently grow food:
such as growing methods, pest control, water use, and pollination. This restriction
to a more “technical” vision of environmental education might be related to the
current trend in marketing and other mass media that strongly promote efficiency
and technological solutions to common environmental issues. Changing light
bulbs and buying fuel efficient cars are marketed as desirable ecological solutions,
and this logic can easily be transposed into other dimensions of human activities
such as gardening. Learning to be more environmentally friendly is presented as a
way to gain more control and be more efficient. Interviewed community
gardeners’ view of environmental education reflects this tendency. In order to
broaden people’s understanding of environmental education, I propose that it
might help to use more diverse learning activities to broaden the vision of
environmental issues and their solutions.
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In light of my analysis of gardeners’ answers, I am now able to suggest
some recommendations for learning and environmental education taking place in
community gardens. Firstly, learning environmentally should focus on gardening
so gardeners will be able to understand what they need to do in order to have a
successful garden and help protect the local environment. Secondly, learning
should also be adaptable to both individual learning and to collective learning. In
a way, interviewed gardeners expressed their need to have educational activities
that require both to work as individuals and as a group. Thirdly, education in
community gardens should also use structured and unstructured activities to allow
more autonomous learning as well as learning that is guided by educators.
Fourthly, in order to be pertinent, education should focus on solving problems that
gardeners and food producers in general are facing. I will use these four elements
indicated by interviewed gardens in the creation of a calendar of adult
environmental activities in community garden settings. I will also rely on
educational theories and other recommendations in academic literature to insure
that I provide a full and adequate environmental education program to community
gardeners.
4.5 One Year in a Community Garden: Growing Learners, Gardeners, and
Plants
Gardening is a year-round activity that requires time for planning,
reflection, learning, physical work, and appreciation. In the previous pages, I
argued that in order to address the general disconnection from nature and
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community life, people need to develop relationships with nature and community.
To do so, the key is that people have to experience nature and community life for
themselves. I proposed that collective food production in community gardens with
communal-plots is a promising setting for people to experience nature and witness
the connections between humans and humans and nature. With my participant
observations and interviews, I was able to confirm the potential of community
gardens to provide meaningful experiences of nature and community life, but
gardeners’ realisation of the importance of such experience did not seem
systematic for all. This is the reason why I suggested an association between
environmental education and community gardening to stimulate gardeners’
interest in their own relationships with nature and their community. More
precisely, I explained how place-based education activities might help gardeners
to develop significant relationships with the natural environment and the local
community they live in. I also took into consideration interviewed gardeners’
point of view of learning and environmental education in community gardens in
order to include learners’ expectations and interests. To provide a solid example
of how environmental education could take place in community gardens, while
taking into account the results of both my theoretical and field research, I now
present a calendar of activities for community gardens. This calendar will be a
tool for garden coordinators who want to incorporate environmental education
into their collective gardening activities. Every month of the calendar will offer
learning objectives related to gardening and food production while every week is
appointed with a theme that can be explored with learning activities. The
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objective is to link gardening and learning over the course of a year in a
community garden. The calendar can serve as a reference for garden coordinators
who can choose to use it as it is or to modify it to their own context. Gardening
and learning activities are flexible: they only serve as indications to guide garden
coordinators in their effort to include environmental education in community
gardens. I believe that this calendar is an adaptable resource that includes most
tasks that need to be done in a garden and the related learning opportunities for
everyone involved in a community garden.
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Learning objectives in January • Gardeners will discover the background of community gardens and learn about the hidden aspects of food production. • Gardeners will have a better understanding of how plants function, from initial seeds to fruits. • Gardeners will know how to start the process of seed selection.
Mapping Mapping is a group exercise with which learners can visually organize previously brainstormed ideas in order to get a better understanding of the relationships between the elements. Relationships are represented by arrows that connect different elements.
© The Stop Community Food Center
Earth Calendar The creation of an “Earth Calendar” is a way for people to explore their understanding of what nature provides them every month of the year. Making an “Earth Calendar” involves artistic expression and is an effective a way to highlight the flux of harvesting seasons. Students from Popular Education for Social Change (ENVS6151- Winter 2007). Paper Spiders. York University. Toronto.
Game of ‘If’ The Game of ‘If,’ stimulates individual reflection on potential actions that could be undertaken to help resolve social problems. Participants must try to name barriers that prevent them from actually making the changes they identified as worthwhile, and by doing so, may decide to overcome their own obstacles. Mah-Sen, Lily and Anne Bishop. (1988). Basics and Tools: A Collection of Popular Education Resources and Activities. Ottawa: CUSO Education Department.
Timeline Through the creation of a visual timeline, learners get to reflect on the evolution of certain issues in history. The objective of such activity is to put events in order on the visual representation of time (farming for example). Learners can try to identify the causality hidden in historical events and can observe the trends. Groundbreaking Learning, Youth Food Curriculum and Gardening Resources. York Univerty. Toronto
1900 1950 2000
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January 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 Holidays
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Week 1: Community Gardens History, benefits, and challenges of community gardens/
Mapping Sustainable food production and self-sufficiency/ Earth Calendar
Tour of the community garden 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Week 2: Food
Evolution of food supplying in human history/ Timeline Nutrition/ Game of ‘If’
Visit of a local grocery store 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Week 3: Plants Diversity, physiology, ecology, and social aspects of plants/
Presentations Artificial selections of food plants/Timeline
Nature walk Inventory of available seeds from previous years 27 28 29 30 31
Week 4: Seeds Role of seeds in reproduction; genetics/ Presentations Seed Saving/ Earth Calendar Presentation by seed saver (Seeds of Diversity) Start browsing seed catalogs
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions =Gardening tasks
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Group presentation Learners form groups in order to research a specific topic they are responsible to present to others. Presentations can take different forms and should be creative. Presenters can have visual support and propose learning activities. Presenters will become the specialists of their topic.
Storytelling Willing participants can share a story with others. Experience, knowledge and emotions are communicated in relation to specific topics or issues. Stories can be personal or can come from an external source. Storytelling requires a safe and respectful space for people to feel comfortable to share with the group.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
Brainstorming As a group, participants must propose as many ideas on a given subject as possible to stimulate creativity. The goal is to produce a large quantity of ideas and building on each other’s ideas is welcome. During the process, censure and evaluation are forbidden. Every idea must be recorded. Catalist Center. (2013). Tools and Techniques - Brainstorming. Online. http://www.catalystcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/brainstorming.pdf
Learning objectives in February • Gardeners will start to imagine, plan, and create their community garden. • Gardeners will learn about the different types of production and the different plant needs to consider when gardening. • Gardeners will critically explore the ecological impact of outdoor and indoor food production.
Mapping | Timeline See January for description
Debate Learners form groups according to positions taken on a controversial subject. Members of each group must research arguments for their position. During a debate, each group states their arguments and asks questions to other groups. A moderator should ensure a fluid and respectful debate.
Groundbreaking Learning, Youth Food Curriculum and Gardening Resources. York Univerty. Toronto
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February 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 Week 4 (see January)
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Week 5 : Garden Planning Monoculture, polyculture, companion planting,
permaculture/ Group presentations Native habitats versus cultivation/ Mapping and debate
Sun mapping and topography of community garden Draw bed dimensions and orientations on plans 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Week 6 : Seed Selection
Plant spacing, lighting needs, and garden design/ Mapping Seed varieties, heirloom, hybrids, and organic and
conventional seeds/ Group Presentations and storytelling Visit seed company Order seeds
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Week 7 : Fruit Trees Fruit trees cultivation : origins, breading, training/ Timeline Organic fruit production and scale of production/ Debate
Visit of an orchard Tree pruning and training 24 25 26 27 28
Week 8 : Growing indoors
Greenhouse, energy, maintenance, emissions/ Mapping Seed germination and plant needs: water, light, soil, air/
Brainstorming Visit a greenhouse Start seedlings: Celery, eggplant, leeks, onion, parsley, peppers
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in March • Gardeners will learn the different pest that could harm the seedlings that grow indoors as well as the ways to prevent and
control them. • Gardeners will gain better knowledge of the basic elements plants need, water, soil, air and light as well as their related socio-
environmental issues. • Gardeners will be able to provide the optimum growing conditions for the growing plants.
Group presentation | Debate | Storytelling See February for description
Mural Collectively, participants create a visual representation of an issue and its existing connections. This is an artistic activity that gets people to express themselves through drawing and painting. It is more manageable to divide the mural in sections and different teams are in charge of sections. The group will generate a collective vision. Catalist Center. Tools and Techniques – Collective Murals. Online. http://www.catalystcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/collective-murals.pdf
Touching the soil This activity invites people to use their senses to explore different types of soil, especially to touch and feel the qualities of soils. With different samples of soils, participants can experience textures, colours, and smells. Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
Mapping See January for description
Role-playing Game In role-playing games, participants personify various agents involved in a given issue. Each participant receives a sheet explaining the role they play, what they do in their day-to-day lives, and how they are affected by the issue at stake. After they get acquainted with their character, participants receive another sheet explaining different actions they need to perform during the game. The game allows participants to get a feel of the decision-making process dealt with by the agents they represent. At the end of the game, participants are asked to share what they experienced during the game.
Simoncelli-Bourque, Éloise . (2006). Le Monde à table… J’y mets mon grain de sel! Online. http://www.unites.uqam.ca/ERE-UQAM/lemondeatable/
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March 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 Week 8 (see February)
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Week 9: Indoor Pests Damping off, fungus gnats, aphids, fungus/ Presentations Indoor ecosystems and biological pest control/ Mural
Visit a greenhouse with organic pest management Water seedlings every day, watch for pests (provide air flow) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Week 10: Water Water quality, consumption management, irrigation systems/
Mapping Issues of drinking water access and of water pollution/ Role-
playing game Visit a wastewater treatment plant Inventory of garden supplies available
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Week 11: Soil Types of soil, soil contaminants, amendments/ Touching the
soil Arable land, desertification, urbanization/ Debate
Evaluation of soil quality in the neighborhood Source supplies and buy what’s missing (tools, compost, mulch) 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Week 12: Air Air pollution, photosynthesis, wind/Mapping Air quality: city versus country farming / Debate
Visit a meteorological station Transplant seedlings if needed 31
Week 13: Light Sun radiations, plant needs, photosynthesis/ Presentations UV Rays and gardeners/ Storytelling
Visit planetarium Start seedlings: basil, lettuce, okra, tomatoes Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in April • Gardeners will start to work outside and know how to prepare the garden for the growing season. • Gardeners will know how to properly take care of compost and understand its importance. • Gardeners will learn about different growing spaces and how to grow food in early spring (and its socio-environmental
impact). • Gardeners will explore the place of nature in cities (the place of plants and animals).
Mural See March for description
Hands-on Hands-on activities are opportunities for learners to experience for themselves aspects of theoretical learning. Learners get to be actively engaged in activities by touching, seeing, trying, experimenting, exploring. Clark, D. (2008). Learning to Make Choices for the Future. Online. http://www.promiseofplace.org/assets/files/PBE Manual 2012.pdf
Maloca Community Garden
Group presentation | Debate | Brainstorming See February for description
Connecting Issues This activity highlights the interconnections between the different constituents of a problem. Sitting in a circle, each participant represents one element of the issue (identified on a tag). The game starts with one participant identifying another issue, explaining how they connect and throwing a ball of wool to the other participant, but still holding his or her end of the thread. The process continues and thus a web is created between the elements of the issue.
Students from Popular Education for Social Change (ENVS6151- Winter 2007). Paper Spiders. Toronto.
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April 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 Week 13 (See March)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Week 14: Season extension (Spring)
Row covers, tunnels, cold frames/ Group presentations Sustainability of early planting (benefits, costs and resources)/ Debate
Develop a season extension system adapted to the garden Clean garden from debris and evaluate the state of the garden 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Week 15: Compost (Spring)
Compost do’s and don’ts/ Brainstorming Composting and reduction of wastes in landfill/ Hands-on Visit a landfill or composting facility Collect compost and turn piles
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Week 16: Growing spaces Raised beds, unframed beds, vertical and container
gardening/ Group presentations Greening the city: eatable landscape and green roofs/ Mural
Visit a farm (to compare growing spaces with ones in gardens) Turn soil, add compost, build and repair raised beds if needed 28 29 30
Week 17: Outdoor pests (animals) Physical barriers against deer, groundhogs, and raccoons/
Hands-on Ecological impact of animal populations in cities and suburbs/
Connecting issues
Evaluate possible protections for the garden Direct sow greens, carrots, beets, spinach, peas, beans, radishes Start seedlings: squashes, cucumbers, pumpkins
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in May • Gardeners will expand their knowledge of plants, from gardens, to native habitats, and invading species. • Gardeners will be able to effectively transplant seedlings. • Gardeners will learn how to detect harmful insects and how to prevent and control damages.
Group presentation | Debate | Brainstorming See February for description
Mural See March for description
Gallery Tour To present visual content such as pictures or participants’ art work, create an exposition for people to explore as a gallery tour. Participants move around the exposition and take time to take in the visual content of each piece. After the tour, participants reconvene to discuss and share their impression and learning.
Demonstration Demonstrations give learners visual examples of the tasks they are going to perform on their own afterwards. Demonstrations can be executed by educators or experienced participants. Learners can ask questions and try to carry out the task under the supervision of demonstrators
Mapping See January for description
© The Stop Community Food Center Maloca Community Garden
Shape and Landscape The role of this activity is to provide learners with the opportunity to explore the cultural understanding of different elements of nature. In small groups, participants try to identify the cultural traditions they are familiar with and how these impact people’s views of nature. Learners will be able to realize how nature is portrayed by culture and how it influence people’s values and relationships with nature.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
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May 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 Week 17 (see April)
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Week 18: Weeds Definition, role of weeds, and weed competition/ Shape and
Landscape The impact of cultivation and invading species on plant
populations/ Debate Identification of weeds in the garden (look for edible weeds) Finish to build the necessary structures for the garden and weed
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Week 19: Native plants Discovery of native plants of Ontario/ Gallery tour Destruction and protection of native habitats/ Mapping
Nature walk (look for flowering tree in Rosaceae family) Place seedlings outdoor during the day to harden them off
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Week 20: Transplanting seedlings
How to safely transplant seedlings/ Demonstration Seedlings needs when transplanted/ Brainstorming Visit a plant nursery Weeding; transplant seedlings in soil; sow corn; turn compost
26 27 28 29 30 31 Week 21: Outdoor pests (insects)
Identify harmful insects for each crops/ Group presentations Predator- prey dynamics in gardens and other pest management techniques/ Mural
Visit an insectarium Start seedlings for fall planting; weeding; thin carrots and beets Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Objectives in June • Gardeners will explore the notion of food security and self-sufficiency, especially in terms of local and seasonal production
and consumption (fresh and preserved food). • Gardeners will become aware of the natural aspects of their surrounding environments (in the garden and the city). • Gardeners will be able to identify and manage the microorganisms responsible for plant damages in the garden.
Group presentation | Brainstorming See February for description
Learning through nature and the senses Breaking into pairs, one person will guide the other in a space. The guide insures that the other uses all her/his senses to study the different aspects of their surrounding environment. Participants will be able to describe the space in terms of smells, textures, colours and shapes, sounds, and tastes (when appropriate).
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
Web Chart This is a “naming activity” in which participants are asked to identify the causes and consequences of a given social problem. As a group, learners are encouraged to highlight important aspects and think about actions that would help to solve the problem. The activity would permit a visual representation of participants’ social perceptions of the network of causes and consequences related to the food system.
Students from Popular Education for Social Change (ENVS6151- Winter 2007). Paper Spiders. Toronto.
Evaluation In small groups, participants evaluate the pros and cons of a given subject in order to determine if it is favorable or unfavorable according to different criteria. Small group evaluations are shared with the whole group and discussions may arise. The objective of the large group is to find a consensus on the overall situation of the subject at stake.
Demonstration See May for description
Photovoice Participants are invited to take pictures of issues that touch them. Through photography, participants can make their interests, point of views, and significant issues visual and contribute to participants’ expression. Photographs are the starting point of dialogues in small and large groups.
Parker, R. (2012). Lessons of the land: Best practices and suggested experiential activities for teaching about food, agriculture and the environment. Masters’ Thesis. York University. Toronto.
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June 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 Week 21 (see May)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Week 22: Seasonal eating
Local production and food security/ Evaluation Local and seasonal consumption versus international food importations/ Web Chart
Visit a pick-your-own asparagus farm Harvest spinach, greens, radishes, garlic scapes and herbs 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Week 23: Succession planting Succession planting and self-sufficiency/ Evaluation Healthy soils and succession planting/ Brainstorming
Visit a SPIN farm Resow spinach and greens; harvest peas and beans; weeding 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Week 24: Natural environments Plants and green spaces in urban environments/ Learning
through nature and the senses The place of nature in gardens: tamed and wild environments/
Photovoice Nature walk (look for edible plants: wild leeks, dandelions, mint) Put mulch on beds to reduce water evaporation; turn compost
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Week 25: Food preservation (Jam and Jelly) Sugar as a preservative, how to make jam/ Demonstration Food security, self-sufficiency and preserves/ Brainstorming
Visit a pick-your-own strawberry farm (or forage) Harvest swiss chard and kale leaves; stake tomato plants 30
Week 26: Outdoor pests (microorganisms) Identify harmful microorganisms, prevention and
management/ Group presentations Means of transmission and biological control/ Demonstration
Tour and evaluation of the presence of pests in the garden Harvest carrots, spinach, greens, broccoli and rhubarb Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in July • Gardeners will discover how wild nature can provide food and how they can forage edible plants at different time of the year. • Gardeners will be able to preserve summer’s bounty by pickling the harvests. • Gardeners will learn more about extending the growing season in the fall. • Gardeners will have the opportunity to become aware of their own relationships with nature.
Group presentation| Debate | Brainstorming See February for description
Nature as Foe: Memory and Behaviour This activity focuses on participants’ negative memories of the rest of nature and on negative social construction (mediation) about nature. By sharing negative memories and the potential contributions of outside mediations, participants realise the impact of past experiences on their current relationships with nature. Through discussions, participants identify the links between memory and human/nature relationships.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
Living with Nature Through visualization and small group discussions, participants focus their attention on their own day-to- day relationship with nature (feelings, attitudes, behaviours). The objective is to bring an awareness of nature in daily lives and to be conscious of their personal relationships with nature.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto
Evaluation See June for description
Demonstration See May for description
Timeline See January for description
© The Stop Community Food Center
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July 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 Week 26: See June
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Week 27: Foraging Definition, principles, and challenges of foraging/ Group
presentations Ecological impacts of foraging/ Debate
Visit a pick-your-own- raspberry or blackberry farm (or forage) Harvest onions, zucchinis, beets and cucumbers; turn compost 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Week 28: Food preservation (Pickling) Acids as preservatives: pickling vegetables/ Demonstration Pro’s and con’s of preserves/ Evaluation
Nature walk Harvest garlic and herbs; prepare soil for fall planting 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Week 29: Fall planting Cold resistant crops/ timeline Benefits and drawbacks of fall cultivation/ Brainstorming
Visit a pick-your-own cherry or plum farm (or forage) Transplant fall-planting seedlings; sow beets, greens, beans, peas 28 29 30 31
Week 30: Representation of nature Individual representation of nature/ Living with Nature Negative representation of nature/Nature as Foe: Memory and
Behaviour Nature walk (forage fruit trees: serviceberry, currants, elderberry) Bread onions and garlic; tie growing plants to their stakes
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in August • Gardeners will be able to preserve summer’s bounty by canning and freezing the harvests. • Gardeners will try to define and understand the concept of sustainable community and how to include nature. • Gardeners will have the opportunity to save seeds and learn the importance of seed saving.
Group presentation| Brainstorming See February for description
Building a more Healthy Community Network: the Sun at the Center
The participants are invited to visually represent what changes could lead to healthier sustainable communities that include nature and marginalized groups. On a large piece of paper, participants draw a sun with its rays (colored in green, blue, orange and red). Participants are divided in two groups: one will identify the aspects of nature that are missing in society (on green rays) and the ways in which they can be included (on blue rays); the other will identify the marginalized groups in society (on orange rays) and potential ways of including them (on red rays). As a large group, participants discuss the aspects of society that are excluded and how to include them to form healthier sustainable communities.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
The Hidden Price Tags in Our Food System This activity involves figuring out the entire process required to create a food product. Participants are asked to recreate the system implicit in specific products and create a newsprint page, which is exposed in a group gallery. Gallery walk and group discussion enable participants to share what has been learned
Grassroots International. (2010). Food for Thought and Action: A Food Sovereignty Curriculum. Online. http://www.grassrootsonline.org/ publications/educational-resources/download-food-thought-action- a-food-sovereignty-curriculum
Demonstration See May for description
Political News Report As a group, participants share their knowledge and experience about selected issues and events. On a large piece of paper, write the selected issue or event in the middle. Identify sections of a diagram (political, environment, culture, economics, and technology). Participants can fill the levels of the diagram with information they possess on a local, national, and global scale.
The Catalyst Center. (1999). Not Just a Bag of Tricks. Toronto.
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August 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 Week 30: See July
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Week 31: Food preservation (pressure canning) Techniques and safety measures for pressure canners/
Demonstrations Home preserves versus commercial preserves/ The Hidden
Price Tags in Our Food System Visit a pick-your-own peach farm Harvest tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, eggplants, and herbs
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Week 32: Sustainable Communities Defining the concept of sustainable community/
Brainstorming Healthy sustainable societies/ Building a more Healthy
Community Network: The Sun at the Center Nature walk (look for nut trees) Harvest greens; turn compost
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Week 33: Seed saving How to save seeds according to plant families/ Group
presentations The importance of saving seeds/ Political Weather Report
Visit a seed library Save tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds; sow greens 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Week 34: Food preservation (freezing) Pro’s and con’s of freezing/ Brainstorming How to freeze fruits and vegetables/ Demonstration
Visit a pick-your-own grape farm (or forage wild grapes) Remove all plants that are done producing; add compost to soil Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Objectives in September • Gardeners will learn the benefits of planting winter cover crops to improve the soil. • Gardeners will able to preserve summer’s bounty by fermenting and drying the harvests. • Gardeners will expand their knowledge of composting and prepare the compost piles for winter. • Gardeners will have the opportunity to explore the place of nature in urban lifestyles and a potential inclusion in day-to-day lives
Group presentation| Debate | Brainstorming See February for description
The Learning Tree The activity consists in drawing a large apple tree, which serves as a template for identifying the multiple components of a given problem. The image of the tree must include roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and apples. Participants need to find institutions that are related a problem. Institutions are associated with the roots of the tree, and participants must therefore write down names of institutions in the place of the roots. The trunk represents values and beliefs responsible for the problem. As for the branches, they symbolize the symptoms of the problem. The leaves that grow on them represent the solutions. Apples are the ideal situations: for example, what the resolution of the problem would bring about for the community. The apple tree helps participants to understand the “complete picture” of a problem
Anderson, Jennifer, Jennifer Michol, and Joshua Silverberg. (1994). Ready for Action: A Popular Theatre/ Popular Education Manual. Waterloo: Waterloo Public Interest Research Group.
Evaluation See June for description
Demonstration See May for description
Timeline | Mapping | Game of If See January for description
Hands-on See April for description
© The Stop Community Food Center
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September 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Week 35 : Food preserves (fermentation) Fermentation principles and fermenting microbes/ Hands-on History, reliability and sustainability of fermented food/
Timeline and Mapping Visit a vinery Harvest corn, herbs, and summer squash
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Week 36 : Winter cover crops Soil fertility, soil texture, and winter erosion/ Evaluation Benefits of cover crops and setting aside land/ Brainstorming
Visit an organic farm (with cover crops) Harvest greens; sow winter cover crops on empty beds 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Week 37 : Compost (Fall) Different composting methods, outdoors and indoors/ Group
presentations How to prepare compost piles for winter/ Demonstration
Visit a pick-your-own orchard (forage crabapples and haws) Turn compost and add greens and browns 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Week 38 : Food preservation (drying) What and how to dry/ Brainstorming Drying equipments (deshydrator, solar oven)/ Demonstration
Visit dehydration facilities Harvest beets, kale, swiss chard 29 30
Week 39 : Nature and lifestyles The place of nature in urban lifestyles/ Learning Tree Incorporating nature in lifestyles/ Game of If
Nature walk (look for edible mushrooms) Collect available seeds Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in October • Gardeners will be able to extend the growing season into the fall with adequate material and cold-resistant crops • Gardeners will explore their understanding of relationships between environmental and social issues as well as the potential
ways of getting involved in the improvement of socio-environmental issues. • Gardeners will learn about root cellars and evaluate the feasibly and sustainability of building one to preserve harvests • Gardeners will reflect on the privatization of nature, more precisely on controversies such as GMOs and the patenting of life
and the privatization of land for better management
Group presentation| Debate | Brainstorming See February for description
Personal Environmental Historical Stream The goal of this activity is to give learners the occasion to examine their personal involvement with environmental issues, more precisely their recognition of relations between environmental issues and other social problems, the values and knowledge that are responsible for the current socio-environmental situation they live in. By discussing in small groups, they can try to identify the moment they became conscious of environmental issues and the relationships between these issues and other issues and to understand the impact of that recognition had on their life. As a larger group, participants can brainstorm how to bring about the realization of the connections between environmental and social issues in other people and organizations.
Clover, Follen, Hall, B. (2000). The nature of transformation: Environmental adult education. Toronto: OISE/University of Toronto.
Evaluation | Photovoice See June for description
Game of If See January for description
© The Stop Community Food Center
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October 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 Week 39 : See September
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Week 40 : Season extension (fall) How to protect crops from frost/ Group presentations Overwintering crops/ Brainstorming
Evaluate the need for frost protections in the garden
Install row covers, cold frames, tunnels 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Week 41 : Environmental involvement
Analyse environmental attitudes and actions/ Personal Environmental Historical Stream
Exploring the potential improvement of environmental involvement/ Game of If
Visit a pick-your-own pumpkin farm (forage tree nuts) Harvest winter squash and greens 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Week 42 : Food preservation (root cellar) Root cellars’ principles and models/ Group presentation Feasibility and sustainability of root cellars/ Evaluation
Visit a cellar Harvest leeks 27 28 29 30 31
Week 43 : Privatisation of Nature GMOs and life patenting/ Debate Land ownership and protection of habitats/ Photovoice
Visit food terminal Plant garlic
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in November • Gardeners will explore alternatives to the industrial food system: farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture, and
grow-your-own food. • Gardeners will focus their attention of seasonal changes in nature and how it affects them. • Gardeners will learn more about food security in the winter and the feasibility consuming only local food throughout winter. • Gardeners will discover how to grow food indoors during winter and the necessary equipment to do it.
Group presentation | Storytelling See February for description
Evaluation See June for description
Mapping | Earth Calendar See January for description
Gallery tour | Demonstration See May for description
© The Stop Community Food Center
Maloca Community Garden
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November 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 Week 43 : See October
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Week 44 :Alternative Food System CSA, farmers market, grow your own/ Mapping What eating was like before the food system/Storytelling
Visit a farmers’ market Last fall harvest; close-down unused beds (mulch)
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Week 45 : Nature throughout the season The importance of seasons in our life/ Gallery tour Signs of nature throughout the seasons/ Earth Calendar
Nature walk Clean tools and store for winter 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Week 46: Food security in winter
Local food production to meet local needs year-around/ Evaluation
Globalization and industrialized food production/ Mapping
Visit farm cold storages Last fall harvest; food preserves inventory 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Week 47 : Growing food indoors Sprouting and microgreen production/ Demonstration Indoor growing equipments/ Group presentations
Last tour of the garden Cleaning up the garden (excluding overwintering crops) Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Learning objectives in December • Gardeners will have the opportunity to reflect on their gardening experience in terms of the high and low points and the overall
process. • Gardeners will return their attention on their learning experience in the garden by identifying the pros and cons of learning
activities. • Gardeners will evaluate their experience of collective work in the garden and share their impressions with the group.
Lifeline This evaluation activity invites participants to individually represent in drawing (on large sheets of paper) their experience in the garden in order to show their personal progress throughout the year. They need to focus their attention on the high and low points, the progress, their feelings throughout the year, and what they expect of the future. Afterwards, each participant can explain his/her lifeline and can try to draw a collective lifeline.
Anderson, Jennifer, Jennifer Michol, and Joshua Silverberg. (1994). Ready for Action: A Popular Theatre/ Popular Education Manual. Waterloo: Waterloo Public Interest Research Group.
Questionnaire Ask participants to individually fill out an evaluation questionnaire. This will allow participants to express themselves privately. As a group, participants can share their answers, but only if they feel like it. The discussion should be non-judgemental and respectful.
Pros and Cons Firstly, ask participants to write down on individual piece of paper what their expectations were at the beginning of the gardening program. They can share those expectations with the group and mark down on a black board their common expectations. Secondly, the group brainstorms what activities they have gone through throughout the growing season and mark them on the black board on a chronological order. As a group, participants try to identify the pros and cons of the activities as well as for the overall learning experience. Individually, participants can add their personal pros and cons by writing them on sticky notes and putting them on the board. When everybody i done, participants can take time to observe the results of their evaluation and then share their impressions with the group.
The Catalyst Center. (1999). Not Just a Bag of Tricks. Toronto.
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December 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Week 48 : Garden evaluation Evaluation of growing methods, plants, garden design, and overall growing experience/ Lifeline
Write down recommendations for next growing season 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Week 49 : Learning evaluation Appreciation of learning themes and activities/ Pros and Cons
Visit an agricultural learning institution Make suggestion to improve the learning activities 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Week 50 : Collaborative work evaluation Identification of positive and negative elements that influences group work/ Questionnaire
Group celebration Propose modifications to improve group work dynamics 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Holidays
29 30 31 Holidays
Legend = Weekly themes =Field excursions = Gardening tasks
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Chapter 5: Conclusion
My objective with this paper has been to explore the place of nature and
community in community gardens through the analysis of my field studies and
literature review. The result from my participant observations and semi-structured
interviews did not completely correspond to the findings in the academic
literature. During gardening sessions, gardeners did not seem to be particularly
interested in nature and community, but interviewed gardeners mentioned the
importance of nature and community in their gardening experience. Yet, other
academic research showed that community gardens are natural and social spaces
where gardeners connect with nature and their community (Gaylie, 2009;
Chevrette, 2011; Firth et al., 2011; Chavis and Wandersman, 1990). I proposed
that the alliance of environmental education and community gardening can give
gardeners the opportunity to gain an awareness of the importance of their
interactions with nature and other members of their community.
Environmental education, more precisely place-based education, offers
people structured and unstructured activities in which they focus their attention on
their local environment. Getting to know the place in which they live allows
learners to recognize their existing relationships and to build new ones. Literature
that focuses on adult environmental education in community gardens is limited,
but there are a lot of resources in terms of environmental education for students in
learning gardens on school grounds. Some authors praise the benefits of
environmental education in learning gardens, which makes me think it’s possible
to transfer the positive effects of environmental education to adult learners in
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community gardens (Parker, 2012; Green 2007). Furthermore, I argued that adult
environmental education in community gardens should be participative to allow
learners to be active in their own learning. Because adults already possess varied
knowledge, a more participative education program would allow learners to share
their experience and knowledge. To stimulate group learning, I envisioned the
potential benefits of setting up learning communities in community gardens. By
building a network of gardeners who can learn together, gardeners could develop
strong communities that share knowledge adapted to their needs and interests as
well as a collective set of values.
To make sure my portrait of adult environmental education would not only
rely on my theoretical understanding, I decided to capture gardeners’ points of
view of their learning experience and their interest in relation to environmental
education during my semi-structured interviews. Based on gardeners’ responses, I
now appreciate the importance of gaining knowledge mainly about gardening,
more precisely learning about different growing methods and gardening tasks.
Gardeners also mentioned the importance of individual and collective learning as
well as the importance of structured and unstructured learning activities. In
summary, according to interviewed gardeners, learning in community gardens
should be flexible and closely related to the gardening tasks that gardeners need to
perform in order for their garden to thrive. I took gardeners’ points of view in
consideration in the creation of a gardening calendar, which includes weekly
learning themes and activities as well as local field excursions and gardening
tasks. I created this calendar in order to provide garden coordinators with a
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resource featuring specific activities. In this calendar, I gathered both my
theoretical and my practical knowledge of community gardening and
environmental education. The calendar is the tangible result of my reflections as
well as a tool I intend to use in the future.
My research allowed me to get a better understanding of community
gardens, more precisely of their contribution to gardeners’ experience of nature
and community and of the ways in which environmental education could take
place in community gardens. However, even if I designed a calendar of learning
and gardening activities, I did not have the opportunity to experiment with my
educational ideas in a community gardens. I would have liked to continue my
research at Earlscourt Community Garden and Maloca Community Garden during
the 2013 growing season in order to test my educational activities and get some
feedback from gardeners and garden coordinators. I did not have this opportunity
during my Masters degree, but I plan to continue to work in community gardens
in the future, to use my calendar, and to constantly improve it. I hope that my
professional career will be inspired by my academic project, but one thing I am
sure is that I will continue to learn throughout the growing seasons.
In a way, my major paper is the starting point for the inclusion of
environmental education in community gardens so that gardeners have significant
experience of nature and community life. More academic research on adult
environmental education in community garden settings could allow for the
development of stronger resources. In order to do so, an important first step would
be to further promote the alliance of environmental education and community
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gardening. Community gardening is an environmental act and community
gardeners should be able to understand the important contribution they are
making. Furthermore, environmental education could stimulate gardeners’ interest
in socio-environmental issues and lead to the expansion of the environmental
movement. Community gardens could become incubators for socio-
environmentally aware citizens. Taking actions by integrating environmental
education in community gardens is not only a way for gardeners to get a better
understanding of the importance of nature and community, but also a way to
develop knowledge on how to facilitate participative environmental education in
community gardens. Community gardens would then also be incubators for
effective adult environmental education programs from which academics and
community members could learn. By sharing their learning experience, academics
and non-academics would be able to understand the impact of environmental
education programs on gardeners and their local community. I believe that my
major paper could contribute to this understanding and hopefully improve
community gardening experiences.
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