The Edson Leader
Thursday, November 7th, 2013
Edson and area residents heard from the guru of community gardens Ron Berezan last Tuesday evening about the benefits of community gardens.
Around 25 residents attended the Galloway Station Museum session on Nov. 5 hosted by Berezan. He said before a community garden is considered there are six components that have to be considered:
• A membership structure.
• Membership agreement/policies.
• Dues [considered].
• Decision making/leadership.
• Common/private spaces.
• Maintenance of common areas.
A community garden is made up of a physical layout and a social design. Families accepted into the community garden would get a plot to plant vegetables and/or flowers or herbs.
Members of the Edson and District Recycling Society are trying to spearhead efforts to start a community garden in Edson. The society brought in Berezan, a master gardener and an expert in the design of community gardens. He currently operates the Urban Farmer, an organic, gardening, edible landscaping and permaculture design service throughout Western Canada.
People are really into community gardens, Berezan said.
“Why all the interest now? The grocery stores are full of food,” Berezan said.
Berezan said the community garden concept is not new, it is a hybrid of the Second World War Victory Gardens. Victory Gardens was a way for families to feed themselves during the extreme rationing that took place during the war.
Community gardens can be designed in many different ways, Berezan said.
“Some community gardens even have bee hives in there.”
Community gardens can pop up anywhere. For example, railway lands on Vancouver’s downtown east side, was turned into a community garden. Residents turned the land, formerly a haven for drug dealing and prostitution, into an impressive community garden, which included a vegetable garden, herb garden and various fruit trees including apple and pear trees.
Mini-wildlife sanctuaries can even be incorporated into community gardens, Berezan said.
One community garden in Milwaukee, WI was designed to benefit at-risk youth and their families by former pro basketball player Will Allen. Growing Power Incorporated allows at-risk youth to grow food and sell it benefitting the youth and the community.
Berezan said community gardens could include a variety of components. He told of one community garden that included a compost pile where children could play in.
In Powell River, B.C., where Berezan lives, one school built a community garden on school grounds.
“It’s an outdoor learning space.”
Berezan prefers mulched pathways to the grass kind.
“It [mulch] eventually goes into the [garden] beds along with leaves. Plus, weeds are easier to pull out of the mulch rather than gravel.”
Some designers prefer raised beds in a community garden, while others side with ground level beds. However, with raised beds, it’s easier for gardeners to bend down to reach the plants and, another advantage, beds warm up better in the spring when elevated.
Berezan doesn’t limit himself to Western Canada. He’s also assisted projects in Cuba and in Dawson City, Yukon Territories.
“They were building a root cellar while I was there.”
The root cellar allows users of the Dawson City community garden to store their vegetables in the winter.
As far as vandalism is concerned, Berezan said that problem will never be solved but he said the key is to get as many people involved in a community garden as possible, and, through constant use, the threat of vandalism will not be as great.
The liability topic was also touched on during the session. Berezan said if the community garden is on city or town land, liability is likely covered by the municipality’s insurance policy.
It takes a core group to start a community garden.
“You need at least four or five core people to get it started. It can’t be one person doing it I don’t think,” Berezan said.
Society spokesperson Anne Auriat said the number one task now is to sign up people for the project. She said the group is currently looking at possible community garden sites in town.
People who want to put their name on the community garden list should call the Edson Recycling Depot at 780-723-4002 or at the Town of Edson Civic Centre.