Garden sharing
Encyclopedia
Garden sharing is a local food
and urban farming arrangement where a landowner allows a gardener access to land, typically a front or back yard
, in order to grow food.
This may be an informal, one-to-one relationship, but numerous Web-based projects exist to facilitate matchmaking. In some cases, garden sharing projects are launched as a way to shorten community garden waiting lists that are common in many cities.
The specifics addressed by a garden sharing agreement are potentially numerous, and the contract itself may be simple or exhaustive. Issues to be considered include terms of access, acceptable behavior, and who supplies what as far as gardening equipment and supplies. At one end of the scale, a verbal arrangement may be all that is expected. However, garden sharing organisations often suggest a written agreement and supply sample contracts. Organisers may also interview participants before suggesting a match.
, is run by the L.A. Community Garden Council, overseer of community gardens in Los Angeles. "Yardsharing.org" of Portland Oregon, is a free internet based service devoted to connecting renters with land owners with the goal of creating food for all. The website created in 2007 By Joshua Patterson was the result of a local media campaign to find relief for the Portland Community Gardens Program. "Hyperlocavore.com" is a free international service that matches garden owners with gardeners, and facilitates the set-up of neighbourhood produce exchanges and other sharing projects as well as garden sharing programs. SharingBackyards.com, run by a sustainability NPO
in Victoria, British Columbia
, was launched in 2006 by a volunteer at a community garden—the free programme is now in over 20 cities across North America. "UrbanGardenShare.org", matching garden owners with gardeners in the Seattle, Washington (U.S. state) region, is the result of a collaboration between an individual and a local sustainability group.
and TV personality Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
, in conjunction with public-service broadcaster Channel 4
. Growers, landowners and volunteers can, at no charge, register their interest in participating in a share in their area. There are over 40,000 members.
Garden sharing projects are also incorporated into larger sustainability
schemes. Transition Town Totnes (Totnes, England) and Transition Timaru (Timaru, NZ) have instituted garden sharing projects as part of their Transition Towns
efforts to prepare communities on a local level for the effects of climate change
and peak oil
.
Local food
Local food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
and urban farming arrangement where a landowner allows a gardener access to land, typically a front or back yard
Yard (land)
A yard is an enclosed area of land, usually tied to a building. The word comes from the same linguistic root as the word garden and has many of the same meanings....
, in order to grow food.
This may be an informal, one-to-one relationship, but numerous Web-based projects exist to facilitate matchmaking. In some cases, garden sharing projects are launched as a way to shorten community garden waiting lists that are common in many cities.
Organisation
Garden sharing arrangements take two main forms. The simplest is an agreement between two parties: one supplies the land, the other supplies the labour, and the proceeds are shared. In larger collaborations, groups, often neighbours, share garden spaces, labour and the harvest.The specifics addressed by a garden sharing agreement are potentially numerous, and the contract itself may be simple or exhaustive. Issues to be considered include terms of access, acceptable behavior, and who supplies what as far as gardening equipment and supplies. At one end of the scale, a verbal arrangement may be all that is expected. However, garden sharing organisations often suggest a written agreement and supply sample contracts. Organisers may also interview participants before suggesting a match.
Garden sharing projects
The Web is frequently used as a platform for initiating garden sharing arrangements. Web sites connecting landowners and growers are generally free and non-commercial. Web sites are instituted by a variety of parties, including private individuals, government agencies, and non-profit groups.North America
For instance, "Growfriend.org," matching garden owners with gardeners in Los Angeles County, CaliforniaLos Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, is run by the L.A. Community Garden Council, overseer of community gardens in Los Angeles. "Yardsharing.org" of Portland Oregon, is a free internet based service devoted to connecting renters with land owners with the goal of creating food for all. The website created in 2007 By Joshua Patterson was the result of a local media campaign to find relief for the Portland Community Gardens Program. "Hyperlocavore.com" is a free international service that matches garden owners with gardeners, and facilitates the set-up of neighbourhood produce exchanges and other sharing projects as well as garden sharing programs. SharingBackyards.com, run by a sustainability NPO
NPO
NPO may refer to:*Non-profit organization*Nil per os, Latin for "nothing by mouth", a medical instruction to withhold oral intake of food and fluids from a patient*NP optimization problem, optimization problems that are NP-hard...
in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, was launched in 2006 by a volunteer at a community garden—the free programme is now in over 20 cities across North America. "UrbanGardenShare.org", matching garden owners with gardeners in the Seattle, Washington (U.S. state) region, is the result of a collaboration between an individual and a local sustainability group.
Europe
Landshare is a high-profile national garden sharing project in England, spearheaded by celebrity chefCelebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
and TV personality Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a British celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer and "real food" campaigner, known for his back-to-basics philosophy...
, in conjunction with public-service broadcaster Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. Growers, landowners and volunteers can, at no charge, register their interest in participating in a share in their area. There are over 40,000 members.
Garden sharing projects are also incorporated into larger sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
schemes. Transition Town Totnes (Totnes, England) and Transition Timaru (Timaru, NZ) have instituted garden sharing projects as part of their Transition Towns
Transition Towns
Transition Towns is a grassroots network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability...
efforts to prepare communities on a local level for the effects of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and peak oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
.
See also
- American Community Gardening AssociationAmerican Community Gardening AssociationThe American Community Gardening Association is a non-profit organization of volunteers, professionals and member-organizations working in support of community greening in rural and urban areas across Canada and the United States...
- Organic farmingOrganic farmingOrganic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
- Category: Urban agriculture
- Category: Sustainable agriculture
External links
- Tanis Taylor on the garden-sharers growing their own food. The Guardian. 4 September 2008
- Gardeners plant seeds of sharing WRAL.com (WRAL-TV). April 30, 2009
- Landshare schemes: Share and share alike. The Telegraph. 2 February 2009
- Recession Lesson: Share and Swap Replaces Grab and Buy by Nancy Trejos. Washington Post, July 17, 2009