If you’re thinking of starting a home garden, there are several things you should know. The first is that growing your food is a great way to support local and sustainable eating trends. Whether in your yard or a community garden, growing your food provides a sense of self-empowerment. When you grow your food, you know exactly where it comes from and can control how it grows.
The case study exemplifies many of these problems.
This article draws on a five-year transdisciplinary study of home gardens in Sacramento, California, led by scholars from UC Davis, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Northern Kentucky. The study aimed to understand the tradeoffs between the perceived benefits of home gardens and their detrimental impacts on neighborhood cohesion, nutrition, and mental health. It also examined the stigma associated with soil lead.
The researchers conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the home garden movement, including nine residents, nine leaders of environmental organizations, and six policymakers. The interviews were coded using qualitative analysis methods and NVivo11 to identify key themes. The interviews revealed multiple dimensions of these problems, including the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of home gardening. In addition, the interviews revealed multiple meanings associated with the physical conditions of cities.
Benefits of home gardens
Home gardens can be a source of economic and social enrichment. They can also be a catalyst for development and change. In the Achuar Indian community, for example, a lush garden is a sign of a woman’s agronomic competency and commitment to the well-being of her family. They also help develop women’s skills in working with plants and caring for the garden. Moreover, they provide an important source of education and learning.
Home gardens also help promote social change and reduce the need for food in poor households. In the Achuar Indian community in Peru, women maintain a productive home garden for their families’ social and economic benefit. In Andean communities, women grow abundant gardens for their family’s nutrition. This practice has many other benefits for both children and adults.
Home gardens are also good for the environment. They contribute to soil conservation by recycling organic soil matter. Another benefit is the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables that don’t contain any harmful pesticides. Gardening is also a good way to improve your diet. People who grow their food tend to eat more vegetables.
Research shows that home gardens have numerous benefits for urban and rural households. In addition to providing food for the family, home gardens can improve the local economy and increase rural employment. They can also benefit the environment by recycling water, controlling shade, and protecting biodiversity.
Consultation method for home gardeners
When you’re ready to start landscaping your home garden, a consultation can help you get the most out of your space. A consultation is customized to meet your specific gardening needs and can range from helping you build better soil to increasing the volume and quality of your vegetables. It can also help you diagnose plant deficiencies, identify problems with pests and diseases, and determine the best watering schedule and fertilizer applications.
Garden consultations are one of the most popular consultation options available. These consultations are tailored to your needs and can include a color-coded garden plan, a must-grow list of plants, and a planting plan. This service is a great way to start your gardening project immediately! And, since garden consultations are so popular, they book up fast. Book early in the season to ensure you get the best service possible.
Ecosystem services provided by home gardens
A recent study assessed the relationship between home gardens, ecosystem services (ESs), and human well-being (HWB). The study applied relevant tools for assessing ESs, including the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and a comprehensive literature review. This study found that home gardens provide various benefits to humans, including provisioning benefits such as food production and climate regulation, supporting benefits such as crop pollination, and cultural and recreational benefits.
Food and other provisioning services are provided by ecosystems, including fresh water, wood fuel, and oils. The food grown in home gardens may be more nutritious than the varieties grown commercially. Many plants are also used to create clothing and other materials. Some plants are even medicinal. By adding these benefits to our diets, we benefit from an ecosystem essential to human health.
A study in the Oromia Province, Ethiopia, examined the diversity of plants grown in home gardens and the associated ecosystem services. They found that native plants, pollinators, and wildlife play important roles in creating ecosystem services. Ecosystem gardening is much more than a collection of plants but is also a community of birds, insects, and soil and water.
The study found that home gardens have a wider range of ESs than other ecosystems. While many men are also involved in home gardens, women were more likely to attribute a higher value to these gardens, which was likely because women use homegrown produce and products more directly – through cooking.
Consultation method for community gardens
Community gardening is a form of garden management in which gardeners come together to manage a garden for the benefit of all. The benefits of community gardening can be numerous, including physical activity, improved nutrition, and decreased stress. It can also improve the social and cultural well-being of gardeners. In addition, it can help address global food poverty.
The process of creating a community garden should start with defining the goals of the project. Identify who will be gardening in the garden, who might be interested in partnering, and how you plan to raise funds. It’s also important to establish a committee structure and a leadership team. You may even want to develop a bylaw for the garden, defining who will do what and how the garden will be administered.
Community gardens often require a great deal of participation from residents. For example, the Housing Authority has 12 community gardens in San Antonio, and volunteers do 99 percent of the work. To help with this, Harris suggests that residents participate in a survey to determine their interest in gardening. The survey results can then be used to recruit resident garden leaders. They can then help with garden management and ensure the most important tasks are completed.
Consultation can help you decide how best to implement your new community garden. A consultation can include onsite coaching, advice, or even planting plans for a specific project. You can seek advice on building better soil and growing more food or setting up a warm or cool-season garden. A garden consultant can also advise on how to set up a compost pile and worm farms and prune and fertilize the garden.