The Garden for All aims to obtain local and experimental food production, while respecting natural cycles and saving energy, and thus create a self-shared space.
Problems and Purpose
The Garden for All is a garden developed on the principle of permaculture, without barriers, where everyone can help themselves and get involved in their own way. The goal is to obtain local and experimental food production, while respecting natural cycles and saving energy, and thus create a self-shared space.
Background History and Context
In November 2014, the Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie borough in Montreal was looking for motivated citizens to create a garden on the public land behind the Rosemont library. This garden will be ephemeral because the construction of an aquatic center is planned for 2018.
A group of a dozen citizens come together to think about the creation of an open garden following the principles of permaculture. The garden is open to everyone, without barriers, everyone can help themselves and get involved.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
For the creation of the garden, citizens were supported by the borough, organizations such as SODER, whose mission is to develop environmental projects with a social dimension, CRAPAUD (Le Collectif de Recherche en Aménagement Paysager et Agriculture Urbaine Sustainable) whose mission is to develop and promote plural urban agriculture, the Center d'Ecologie Urbaine de Montréal, whose mission is to propose practices and policies to create ecological, democratic and healthy cities, and by private companies like TD Bank.
The borough provided the land and donates compost every year. The library gives access to its water point for watering the garden. The citizens involved buy the seeds and equipment needed for the garden.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
All volunteers are welcome. Weekly and one-off events are advertised on the garden blackboard and on the garden's Facebook page.
Methods and Tools Used
SODER and Le Crapaud took part in setting up this garden for the first year, but since then the citizens have managed it alone. The Garden is a self-shared space - everyone can help themselves and get involved in their own way. There are group gardening, workshops, cultivating and harvesting fruits and vegetables on your own, etc.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Weekly events include: gardening aperitif every Thursday evening and group gardening every Saturday.
One-off events include: preparation for the opening of the garden, urban furniture construction workshop, harvest festival, etc.
The hard core of citizens involved in the Garden for All take advantage of the weekly meetings to talk about the developments and logistics of the garden.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The land which was until then a simple green ground is now a land provided with plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables.
The street furniture installations and the explanatory panels on the plants make visitors want to stroll, cultivate themselves and pick the fruits and vegetables available.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
A group of a dozen citizens are involved in the garden on a weekly basis, however it seems difficult to recruit more people. While SODER and Le Crapaud took part in setting up this garden for the first year, since then, citizens have managed it alone. The same citizens are always involved in the project, so there are a dozen active people and a dozen satellites.
The people who harvest the fruits and vegetables from the garden are not always the people who get involved.
The citizens involved in the garden knew from the start of the project that it would be ephemeral, around three years. The challenge now is to find a new location. It is not yet defined whether the borough will help citizens in the process of finding new land that requires space and access to a water point.
See Also
References
[1] Center d'Ecologie Urbaine de Montréal. https://www.ecologieurbaine.net/fr
[2] Le Collectif de Recherche en Aménagement Paysager et Agriculture Urbaine Sustainable (CRAPAUD). Mission. https://www.lecrapaud.org/mission/
[3] http://www.soder.qc.ca/mission [DEAD LINK]
External Links
https://www.facebook.com/unjardinpourtous/