Building Community Gardens Manual
A space to grow food is as vital to any community as a health centre or grocery store. Getting a community garden off the ground takes a great deal of commitment, yet the rewards it will bring to your community are many.
The City of Kitchener in conjunction with The Working Centre created Building Community Gardens. This manual includes eight sections: the function of Community Gardens, first steps, designing and building a garden, maintaining a successful garden, and a list of Community Gardens in the Waterloo Region.
This manual has been designed to inspire and inform. You will find the kind of local information needed to create a successful garden, drawing on experiences of local gardens. The rest will come from you and your neighbourhood.
Building Community Gardens
by Sara MacDonald & Greg Newton
52 pages LD11 $10 softcover, spiral bound
Other Gardening Resources are available in the Alternative Work Catalogue or at the Queen Street Commons gift shop, located at 43 Queen Street South.
The Beginning Gardener's Handbook
A simple resource booklet geared toward new community gardeners in the Waterloo Region, focusing on gardening in Zone 6, this booklet covers the whole garden season discussing the basics of starting seeds, companion planting, natural pest control, composting, mulching, weeding and seed saving. The booklet also includes a garden planting countdown calendar, tips to improve the health of the plot, and a gardener's log.
The Beginning Gardener's Handbook
by Kate Gould & Karin Kliewer
43 Queen Library
Queen Street Commons Library
Other organic garden resources are available at our onsite library at 43 Queen Street South. Please stop by to browse through our excellent selection of books and magazines.
Topics include:
- Herb Gardening
- Seed Saving
- Pest Management
- Extending the season
- Starting a home-based garden business
- Self-reliant living
Magazines include:
- Eco Farm & Garden
- Mother Earth News
- Organic Gardening Magazine
- Home Power
- Harrowsmith
Alternative Work Catalogue
Community Gardening and Urban Agriculture resources can be purchased through our Alternative Work Catalogue. Many of these books are also for sale at the Queen Street Commons gift shop.
Topics include:
- Basic organic gardening
- School gardens
- Building local food security
- Starting a Community Supported Agriculture project
- Inner-city gardens
- Backyard herb gardening
- Vegetarian cooking
- Successful small-scale production
- Extending the harvest
- Backyard fruit orcharding
- Greehouse growing
