Growing communities one garden at a time

The Calgary Horticultural Society’s Community Garden Resource Network (CGRN) is all about connecting people with gardening, nature and each other.

“It’s really extraordinary what can happen when people are meeting and collaborating around the premise of the satisfaction of growing plants,” says CGRN coordinator Gael Blackhall. “People grow, as well as the plants. People are growing and developing friendships, knowledge and outdoor experiences. It’s all about the enjoyment of the natural world, and connecting to that when you are in a city.”

A project of the Calgary Horticultural Society, the CGRN wants to develop a community of gardeners throughout Calgary, working with citizens in all neighborhoods who are interested in going forward with a group gardening project.

The CGRN assists community gardeners at all stages in their gardening journey: from the busy excitement of the first year of planning, constructing and launching a community garden to facilitating gardener-to-gardener conversations as part of regular small group discussions on a set topic.

“It’s all about sharing information so that community gardens can become more sustainable, both in their gardening practices and also with their people and organization,” Blackhall says. “The Calgary Horticultural Society and CGRN are there to connect you with learning in all kinds of ways.”

For example, the Calgary Horticultural Society has been running a How-to series of workshops for community gardeners on a variety of topics, ranging from how to start a community garden to how to get the most out of your community gardening experience, and how to extend the gardening season.

This year, the CGRN has developed a community garden database and photo galleries for Calgarians planning to launch a community garden.

“This means that people looking at starting a community garden in their neighborhood can learn from other garden teams year-round,” Blackhall says.

“They can see where gardens are located, read a profile of the garden’s specifications and look at photo galleries.”

This is a valuable year-round tool for new groups of citizens starting group gardening projects. When they see something they’d like to learn more about, they can contact that community garden’s organizers, since the website profile also lists contact information for each garden. Visit calhort.org/community-gardens for more information.