Community connections: Here’s how these spaces help the bodies, minds of gardeners

Recently, in my casual reading and learning, I was introduced to an intriguing anecdote that detailed the history of community gardens in 19th-century Paris. In essence, the story told how gardens in the city — once highly efficient, prominent and prolific resources — were used by the city’s population in acquiring nutritious produce, which could supplement much of the population’s needs year-round with their production and innovative growing techniques.

A large contributor to their success was that Paris (like other cities) also had a large problem at the time: accumulating horse manure due to the prominence of carriages. In turn, this meant a near-unlimited resource of composted fertilizer.

Predictably, with the industrial revolution making transportation of imported goods from rural production easier and more cost-effective, the onset of the automotive would ultimately lead to a decline in the gardens’ success and prominence in the 20th century. Horses were no longer roaming the streets, and the streets themselves had to be larger, with parking lots included, taking up vast swaths of land.

But despite challenges, community gardens have shown remarkable resilience, adapting to changing circumstances and continuing to provide valuable resources to their communities.

Reading this story, I was impressed by how one innovation within the zeitgeist of a period of time can have such a resounding ripple effect in its consequences. While cars in their inception were completely disparate from city gardens, they would ultimately play a role in their eventual (by comparison) decline in popularity, as success with gardens fledged. Comparing this scenario to current times, it’s worth asking what differentiators now could spell flailing success in our community gardens.

On a surface level, poor community buy-in, limited outreach within a community, improper management, lack of specialized education and lack of funding are just a handful of points that can be prominent factors. However, what are the less apparent factors also working against their success?

Land security can be an issue, as spaces may be lost to redevelopment, making it difficult to establish long-term projects. Support can be limited, with policies and funding sometimes not aligning with a garden’s needs. Even environmental factors such as pollution, declining soil quality and increased extreme weather events can deter their ultimate success.

Nevertheless, community gardens require our support to continue offering their benefits. Numerous studies show that community gardens contribute to increased social connections, decreased vandalism and crime, increased skill-sets (potentially translating to the workforce), and increased overall health in participants via both better nutrition and increased exercise. From the production perspective, every pound of produce grown can roughly equate to three servings of nutritious food put into the food system — a facet important everywhere, especially in urban environments where food deserts can persist.

Thus, if looking to support community gardens near you, I encourage researching and reaching out to the various municipalities, non-profits, churches and other organizations that lead them. Be it via volunteering, promoting, fiscal support, partnerships, or the like, communal efforts require communal support to thrive. By getting involved, you become part of a larger cause, contributing to the success of the garden and your community.

Your efforts can make a lasting difference, helping to ensure that community gardens continue to flourish despite the challenges they face.

Anthony Reardon is a horticulture agent with Kansas State University Research and Extension. Need help? Contact the Johnson County Extension gardening hotline at 913-715-7050 or email garden.help@jocogov.org.