Gardening, whether in your own little patch or in a community plot, can harvest not just fresh bounty for our plates, but plenty of food for thought on sustainability, a University of Alberta urban agriculture expert suggests.
As social spaces for exchanging knowledge and ideas, gardens are “crucial,” says Dr. Kevin Jones, associate professor and director of experiential learning in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.
“When we think about sustainability, it seems like a big idea that’s out there on the horizon, and we can be unsure how to act on it. But gardens connect all kinds of aspects of sustainability, and they engage communities in doing the same.”
As a volunteer and former director with Prairie Urban Farm, a community-led garden and food security project located on the U of A’s South Campus, Jones sees this connection thrive first-hand.
“They’re places where people can have conversations about their involvement and figure it out together. What matters? How do we do things more sustainably? Gardens empower people to be involved in their own food choices, their own food production. They’re important sites for building awareness, skills and innovation.”
To make the most of the growing season for yourself and your plate, Jones suggests a few ways to get involved:
Harvest the vibe
Growing sustainable food as a team can help people blossom, says Jones, who encourages aspiring green thumbs to join local community gardens that rely on volunteers, like the Prairie Urban Farm. There’s something “essentially human” about gardening, he adds.
“It’s an activity that is uniquely ours as a species and it involves nurturing and sharing, so we learn about who we are. I might not talk to my neighbours much throughout the year, but when we share a surplus of beets, they’ll be appreciated. These kinds of relationships that happen around gardening and food production are just as important as direct sustainability benefits.”
Check out a community garden or farmers’ market
Access sustainable food and support local growers through community gardens such as the Prairie Urban Farm and the Green and Gold Garden, also located on South Campus. They sell fresh produce weekly during harvest time. Purchasing from gardens like these may also help charities they support, including Tubahumurize. Check out the Edmonton Food Resource Map for local gardens or food resources.
A weekly summer fixture in many communities around Alberta, farmers’ markets are also a way to eat fresh and support sustainability. Shoppers have several local producers to choose from, usually selling everything from fresh produce and meat to bread and honey. Jones suggests exploring this list from the Alberta Farmers’ Market Association.
Step inside the box
Community gardens and other local growers often offer fresh produce through boxes full of weekly bounty. Typical offerings in the grocery hampers can range from leafy greens like lettuce and spinach to haskap berries early in the season, to fall harvests of carrots, beets, squash and potatoes.
Grow your own — with a little help from your friends
Urban green thumbs can grow their own food at the community level. These neighbourhood plots, which number more than 80 in Edmonton, are either communal, where the work and harvest is shared (a good option for summer vacationers), or people can plant on their own patches.
Plant the seeds of success
“People often have ideas about all the amazing things they want to plant, which is great, but for green thumbs who are starting out, just grow what grows well here and you’ll have a good garden,” Jones advises. This means choosing cold-tolerant produce like Swiss chard, kale, spinach, beets, carrots and potatoes. For fruit lovers, certain apple, cherry, plum and even pear trees are also good for cooler growing zones.
Get the dirt on gardening
Digging into the soil also brings opportunities for learning, Jones says. “The best way to become a good gardener is to listen to other gardeners; it’s really about getting your hands dirty and being involved.”
Local workshops in skills such as composting and recycling and yearly events like Edmonton Seedy Sunday also offer ways to share knowledge, along with online communities of growers.
Store it up
Enjoy the harvest through cold, snowy months by learning about and using traditional practices of canning, pickling and dehydrating to preserve fresh foods. Potatoes and squash can be stored in basement cold rooms along with root vegetables like beets, and herbs can be dried in paper bags, then used to season food all winter.
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