This is a presentation that was given at UWO\'s IDEAS conference 2010 by myself and my consulting group.

1. London Community Resource Centre
Best Practices for Community Gardens
Presented by:
Cirrus Consulting Group
Jeremiah Brenner, Martha Fallis, Dane Labonte, Josh Wise
I.D.E.A.S Conference
Friday April 16, 2010

2. • LCRC is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, charitable organization
• The London Community Resource Centre (LCRC) has been an
integral part of the City of London for more than 30 years
• LCRC actively addresses the issue of food security that affects a
broad scope of residents in the city
• At present there are 22 community gardens across the City of
London managed by the LCRC
What is a community garden?
A shared piece of land where people rent garden plots,
grow vegetables, fruits and herbs of their choice
LONDON COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE (LCRC)

3. Economic
Social
Environment
Examine the environmental sustainability
of the 22 LCRC community garden sites
scattered throughout the City of London
Focusing on 3 Aspects:
•Maintenance Best Practice
•Watering Supply Issues
•Environmental Audit Framework
PROJECT SCOPE
Sustainability

4. Best Practices
• Community Gardens
• Tilling Practices
• Fertilizer Practices
• Irrigation Techniques
Water Supply
Environmental Audits
PROJECT OVERVIEW

5. ECONOMICS
• Reclaiming and preserving vacant land
• Increased property values
• Garden space is cheaper to maintain
than parkland
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY GARDENS
SOCIAL
• Youth
• Reduces crime
• Health and therapy
• Community development
• Education
ENVIRONMENT
• Green space in urban environments
• Water filtration
• Oxygen restoration
• Waste management

6. COMMUNITY GARDEN QUESTIONNAIRE
A Questionnaire was created and sent to surrounding
communities to determine their garden practices
The Questionnaire Focused on
• Management styles
• Tilling Techniques
• Water Management
• Fertilizer and Pesticide Use

7. QUESTIONNAIRE PARTICIPANTS
•Hamilton
•Kingston
•Kinsbridge
•Windsor
•Sarnia
•University of Western Ontario
•University of Waterloo School of
Architecture
•York Region

8. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS
TILLING
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Rototill Individual Till No Till
• Most common seasonal roto-tilling
• No till- raised beds
• Individual plot till

9. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS
WATER MANAGEMENT
0
1
2
3
4
Hose Rain Barrels River Sprinkler Tap Drip Irrigation
Water Sources:
•Hose
•Rain Barrel
•Taps
•River
•Sprinkler
•Drip Irrigation

10. BEST PRACTICES GUIDE
Watering
Fertilization
Tilling

11. BEST PRACTICES GUIDE
Considerations
• Transparent way to determine Best-Practices
• Method which allows us to give relative
weights to different criteria (depending on
impact level)
Our process
• Defined the Methods for each consideration
• Defined the Environmental Criteria
• Employed Multi Criteria Evaluation to
determine most environmentally friendly
Method

12. • No-Till with Mulch Cover
• No-Till with Cover Crops
• Shallow Till with Hand tools
• Deep (er) till with roto-tiller
• Deep (er) till with harrow
tiller
DEFINING TILLING METHODS

13. • Disruption of Soil Horizons
(on-site impact)
• Erosion Effects (on-site impact)
• Disruption of Organisms (on-
site impact)
• Effects of Soil Moisture (on-
site impact)
• Effects to Nutrients (on-site
impact)
• Fossil Fuel Use (external
impact)
• Seedbed Prep (on-site impact)
TILLING ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA

14. Compares the various Environmental
Criteria based on level of importance
• Incorporated a Weighted Linear
Combination
• Creates Scores for each Criteria
Determines the level of impact for each
Method (positive or negative)
Final Score = (Environmental Criteria
Score) * (Method’s level of impact)
MULTI-CRITERIA EVALUATION

15. Environmental
Criteria
No-Till (Mulch and Cover
Crops)
Shallow Till (Hand
Tools)
Soil Horizons
Erosion Effects
Organisms
Soil Moisture
Nutrients
Fossil Fuel Use
Seedbed Prep
BEST TILLING PRACTICES

16. • Primary Recommendation:
• Implement No-Till Gardening through
mulch or cover crops
• Secondary Recommendation:
• Implement Shallow-till Gardening
through hand-tool use
• Secondary Recommendation (B):
• Ensure proper timing with roto-tiller
and inspect soil quality bi-annually
TILLING RECOMMENDATIONS

17. • Conventional
• Conventional Organic
• Cover Crops
• Mulch
• Homemade Compost
FERTILIZER METHODS

18. • Nutrient Release (on-site impact)
• Potential for ‘Plant Burning’ (on-site
impact)
• Energy to produce (external impact)
• Local availability/ collection methods
(external impact)
• Soil moisture effects (on-site impact)
• Possibility for runoff (external impact)
FERTILIZER ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA

19. Environmental
Criteria
Compost Mulch Cover Crops
Nutrient
Release
Plant Burning
Energy
Availability
Soil Moisture
Runoff
Nutrient
Release
BEST FERTILIZER PRACTICES

20. Primary Recommendation
• Promote the use of home-
made compost
Secondary Recommendation
• Increase education for
responsible fertilizer usage
FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATION

21. IRRIGATION METHODS
Hand watering
Furrow irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation
Drip irrigation
Microsprinkler irrigation
Clay pot irrigation

22. IRRIGATION ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA
• Root Zone
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Deep Percolation
• Runoff
• Drift
Maximize Efficient Water Application
Minimize Water Loss

23. Drip Irrigation
• Best water efficiency
• Can be designed with gravity
fed system
Challenges
• Maintenance complexity
• Cost
• Vandalism
Clay Pot Irrigation
• High water efficiency
• Historic interest
• Hands on watering
Challenges
• Cost
• Lack of literature
• Tilling
IRRIGATION METHODS
RECOMMENDATIONS

24. IMPROVING HAND WATERING
Proper Technique
•Runoff
•Evaporation
•Deep Percolation
•Drift
Scheduling
•Evaporation
•Deep Percolation
Mulching
•Evaporation
•Runoff
Furrows
•Runoff
• Dominant form of irrigation
• Potentially high water
loss
• Cheap equipment
• Social benefits
• Highly controllable

25. WATER SUPPLY
Sources
•Onsite Taps
•Water Tanks
•Rain Barrels
•Wells
Considerations
•Ability to meet water needs
•Cost
•Maintenance hours
•Environmental Impacts

26. WATER SUPPLY
RECOMMENDATIONS
Onsite Taps
•Best solution for water supply
needs
•Future Planning
Challenges
•High capital cost
•Reduces water conservation
incentives
Well
•Good for meeting water supply
Needs
Challenges
•High capital cost
•Reduces water conservation
incentive
•Source water protection concerns

27. WATER SUPPLY
Rain Barrels
•Improve LCRC environmental performance
•Low capital cost
•Connect gardeners with conservation
Challenges
•Need additional filling
•No collection area at some sites
Water Tanks
•Helps meet current needs
•Low capital cost
Challenges
•No water catchment
•Needs additional filling
Recommendations
•Improve harvesting
•Create communication links
•Education about importance
of water conservation

28. Environmental Audits
• A management tool:
– An evaluation of the performance of the organization
– Designed to protect the environment
– Examine the interaction between a business operation and natural
surroundings
• Can include:
– Emissions to air
– Land and Water
– Legal Constraints
– Effects on the Neighbouring Community
– Landscape and Ecology
– Public's perception of an organization’s operation
• A Diagnostic Tool
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT

29. • Enables environmental problems and
risks to be anticipated and proper
responses to be planned
• Demonstrates that an organization is
aware of its impact upon the
environment
• Provides increased awareness
amongst key stakeholders
• Develops more efficient resource use
and financial savings
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT
Why an Environmental Audit ?

30. ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT
Critical Points and Environmental Systems
• Water
•Soil
•Human Activities
•Flora and Fauna
•Nutrient Cycles
•Organic Matter Balance at Soil Level

31. • A pre-construction and pre-
season environmental audit
checklist should be utilize
d by the LCRC.
• Key performance measures
of the LCRC should be
captured with currently a
vailable data in the short
-term and long-
term, as data capture strat
egies become available.
RECOMMENDATIONS

32. List of Measures for Immediate Implementation
KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES

33. List of Measures for Immediate Implementation
KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES

34. List of Measures for Future Implementation
Air Emissions – Annual Growing Season
CO2 Emissions from Roto-tilling
Beginning of Season Roto-tilling
Amount of fuel used by tractor ( )(Litres) x 2.4 kg of CO2
Amount of Carbon Dioxide Emissions = Kg of CO2
End of Season Roto-tilling
Amount of fuel used by tractor ( ) (Litres) x 2.4 kg of CO2 Kg of CO2
Amount of Carbon Dioxide Emissions =
Total Emissions from Roto-tilling for Season = Kg of CO2
CO2 Emissions from Weed Trimming Equipment:
Amount of fuel used ( ) (Litres) x 2.4 kg of CO2
Amount of Carbon Dioxide Emissions = Kg of CO2
Total Amount of CO2 Emissions for Season = Kg of CO2
KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES

35. List of Measures for Future Implementation
KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Water Usage
Water Usage from Weekly Operations
Water Usage In Rain Barrels
( ) Litres of water used x ( ) Frequency of Fills per Week
Amount of Water Usage (Litres) = Litres
Water Usage in City Owned Tanks
( ) Litres of water used by truck x ( ) Frequency of Fills per Week
Amount of Water Usage (Litres) = Litres
Total Amount of Known Water Usage (Litres) Litres

36. PRE-CONSTRUCTION CHECKLIST
Focused on:
 Materials
 Energy
 Effect on Natural Cycles
 Disturbance of the
environment
 Long-term impacts

37. PRE-GROWING SEASON CHECKLIST
SoilWaterWastePlant Biodiversity

38. CONCLUSIONS
• Implementation of the recommendations will aid th
e environmental performance of the community garde
ns
• Moving forward the information collected for this project
can be used as background to help the organization a
ssess the best alternatives in the future
• Best practice techniques for everyday
operations, such as tilling, will
help to ensure the longevity and
long-term productivity of the garden
sites

39. CONCLUSIONS
• In their pursuance of environmental excellence, the LCR
C has taken a positive first step through their investigat
ion of these issues with Cirrus Consultants
• Through the environmental audit checklists and key
performance measures
a proper baseline of impacts can be generated by the LCRC
•
This information will allow the gardens to continue to grow
in size and popularity, while ensuring
positive environmental performance

40. Economic
Social
Environment
Sustainability
CONCLUSIONS

41. Questions?