Community Gardening Discussion
An Interview with First-time Community Gardener Melanie Burns
Melanie Burns shares some of the joys and challenges she encountered this season in her urban community garden plot.
Community gardening is a fabulous way for gardeners to meet like-minded people, gain a sense of community, and continue to learn about growing organically. However, community gardening comes with its own set of challenges that are unique to gardening in general.
Melanie Burns was recently asked about her experiences in her community garden plot in Toronto, Ontario. Here is what she had to say.
Tell me about the community garden you are a part of.
"My plot is located on a hydro-field in Toronto. The garden has twenty to twenty-five plots, each at least twenty by thirty feet, and is operated by the City of Toronto. The majority of the plots are tended by people of my parents' generation and older, many of whom are immigrants from Europe. As far as I can tell, at twenty-six years old, I'm the youngest person there by a decade or two!"
Why do you garden in a community garden?
"I moved to Toronto in 2005 and gardened on my balcony for two summers. Growing up, my mom always had a large garden right out our back door that I spent a lot of time helping with. I really started to miss having a plot of land to put my plants in. I decided at the end of last season that I would get a community plot to try my hand at a larger space."
What has been your greatest success in your garden this summer?
"I stuck with it! I had some persistent negative feedback early in the season from one of my fellow gardeners. He was convinced that, because I'm young, I didn't have what it takes to care for the garden all year. On my vulnerable days, it took a lot of effort to get over to the garden, knowing I would have to listen to his criticism as I worked. I also struggled with weed control, a brutal drought that knocked out most of my squash and cucumbers, bugs, and mice that seemed to love my tomatoes, so there were days when it was hard not to take the negativity to heart. But I kept it up anyway, and managed to harvest more tomatoes than I ever thought possible, as well as some brutally hot peppers and very impressive squash!"
What was your biggest challenge?
"Finding the time to get to the garden and do the work. It takes 10 minutes (in good traffic) to get to the garden, and the simple task of watering can take as long as an hour. Because I never installed a soaker hose system, I can't water and weed or harvest at the same time, so everything took a very long time as I did each task one at a time. It was also the first summer in which I was working full-time, running a household, and trying to care for the garden. It's a miracle that anything survived long enough to be harvested!"
How will you confront these challenges next season?
"My primary focus next season is to do a lot of work very early. I'll install a drip-hose, mulch with straw, and put in my tomato stakes before planting. Those things will help with several of my frustrations for the season."
Are you planning to garden in your community garden plot next season?
"Yes. Although I've faced what has felt like constant discouragement throughout the season, I have learned more than I thought I could learn on my own, not only about gardening, but about time management, and about how important it is to be persistent, especially with activities that I really enjoy doing. "
For more information about community gardening in the City of Toronto, visit Community Gardening in the CIty. For general information about organic gardening, visit Canadian Organic Growers.
