Community gardens nurture more than crop growth
Many gardeners enjoy the quiet solitude of spending time alone among their chlorophyll of choice. Yet other gardeners find gardening to be a team sport, best played with neighbors, friends and family involved. Luckily for these gregarious gardeners, there are hundreds of community gardens throughout central Ohio that offer opportunities to grow both vegetables and communities at the same time. I like to say that community gardens are 10% garden and 90% community!
Many different types of community gardens exist in central Ohio, from traditional plot gardens where each gardener or family tends their own individual bed or garden plot, to communal gardens where a group of individuals all tend one big garden and share the bounty produced.
Some community gardens exist to produce vegetables, fruits and herbs to address food insecurity in specific neighborhoods while others offer educational experiences for youth or job and life skills for adults.
Many central Ohio organizations sponsor or operate community gardens. Scores of area churches operate community gardens or provide funding or church land for them. Many cities and suburban communities operate or provide financial support for gardens because
community gardens improve both the environment as well as the quality of life of the neighborhoods in which they are located.
Education a focus
Education of both adults and youth is the focus of many community gardens operated by schools and organizations. Each year, the Highland Youth Garden located on the Hilltop educates thousands of neighborhood youth about gardening, biology, nutrition and life, while filling their bellies with nutritious food.
Recently, many school districts have developed school and community gardens to provide classroom enrichment opportunities and teach life skills. Columbus City Schools operate a robust network of innovative school gardens designed to allow students to grow fall and winter gardens at more than 50 school buildings in the district.
Opportunities for New Americans
When they arrive in central Ohio, refugees from other countries bring farming and gardening experience from around the world to their new home. Many of these families live in apartments or homes with limited space to garden. For these families, the International Harvest Garden in southwest Columbus offers a chance to work with other New American families to grow the foods native to their homeland.
The International Harvest Garden is sponsored by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and is the largest community garden in central Ohio with nearly 6 acres under cultivation, and groups of New Americans from several different countries tending crops native to their culture.
Important source of food
Community gardens are a vital part of the local food system, providing tons of vegetables, fruits, herbs and plants for thousands of families each year. In addition to gardeners producing food for their own families, many community gardens produce food for neighborhood food pantries, churches and families experiencing food insecurity.
So if you get lonely gardening by yourself, consider joining a community garden in your neighborhood. To find a community garden in your area, contact the Franklin County Office of OSU Extension at 614-866.6900.
Mike Hogan is an associate professor at Ohio State University and extension educator at the OSU Extension.
hogan.1@osu.edu