Community gardens are places for people to grow fresh flowers and produce somewhere other than where they live. Perfect for apartment dwellers, community gardens allow plant-lovers to sink their hands into the dirt. In inner-city, urban areas, community gardens provide beauty in often run-down neighborhoods. Turning vacant lots into gardens is proven to lower crime in the area. Community gardens provide residents with gathering places to meet and get to know each other. The gardens do foster a sense of community.
Community Gardens in Cold Places
Most people probably think of community gardens as gardens located in vacant lots, or in public parks or pieces of land. For gardeners living in cold areas where winter is longer than summer, community plots are increasingly found in greenhouses. Greenhouses are places for traditional growing of plants in soil; however, to make better use of space, hydroponics and simple hydroponics systems allow growers to produce much more food per square foot than traditional growing methods. In Canada, local community foundations have contributed money toward community space in greenhouses.
Rooftop Community Gardens
Urban areas often lack space on the ground for gardening. Where there is free space suitable for gardening, development and building is not far behind. Residents of Montreal, Canada, have taken matters into their own hands and started rooftop community gardens. These gardens in the sky have made use of “simple hydroponics” systems that involve growing plants without soil in light media such as vermiculite, or in simple nutrient solutions. Hydroponics and rooftop gardens go hand-in-hand, as extra weight from soil would crush the roof.
Institute of Simplified Hydroponics
Around the world, the Institute of Simplified Hydroponics develops and supports hydroponics community gardens and farming ventures to help fight hunger in impoverished areas. Large-scale hydroponics systems can be expensive and out of reach for many hungry people. Through teachers, video and DVD classes and CDRom resources, the ISH spreads knowledge of hydroponics around the world. The charitable arm of the ISH is called “Hydro for Hunger.” This affiliated organization raises money to support hydroponics projects that need extra funding.
Hydroponics for Healthy Communities
Hydroponics systems are ways for people without land, or living in areas inhospitable to traditional farming to produce their own food in a cost-effective manner. In populations that are chronically undernourished, the fresh produce from hydroponics systems provides essential vitamins and minerals that might otherwise be out of reach.