Saturday 5 November 2011

Time to think about gardens!

It was not too long ago that our garden wrapped up for the year (just yesterday!), but already there are a lot of people talking about next year's garden projects. Living in a very cold climate challenges our gardening techniques and allows us time to learn and rejuvenate during a long winter.

While standing outside in a new dusting of snow, getting colder by the minute, a keen group of parents and interested community members stood in a potential new garden space. Due to the foresight of these members, permaculture was at the centre of our discussions. As a friend reminded me yesterday, there are 100 hours of planning for every hour of implementation in permaculture. Since "work is a failure in design" we want to make sure that our systems, be they water, paths, beds, or structures, will provide maximum output for minimal work input.

Through my experiences helping out getting a community garden established at Mount Royal University, gaging interest in my community in implementing a garden, and in attending various gardening workshops, I learned have learned of many sources of grants and additional information. Here are some sites to get you started on funding your new community garden or other sustainable project in Calgary:


To find out more information about starting a community garden, check out these sites to give you ideas and support:

Start a free website or blog on Wordpress or Blogger like Tuscany did for their garden to document their efforts and raise awareness and support for the project you are embarking on. Print off pieces of paper to distribute to your friends and neighbours in the community and advertise in your community newsletter to drum up support.

If you come across more information for grants or other support, please leave a comment below to help other future community garden supporters!

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