Brought to you by the Food Security Team at Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society Creating Edible Garden Spaces 314 Second Street East Po Box 2880 Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S0 foodsecurity@community-connections.ca (250) 837-2920 Proud to partner with The employment program of British Columbia is funded by the government of Canada and the province of British Columbia. A guide to converting lawn into garden space for landscape professionals in Revelstoke, BC
Hello landscapers, Due to increasing concerns about climate change, water shortage, and environmental impacts of fertilizers and pesticides, Revelstoke's appetite for healthy eating has sparked a renewed interest in growing food at home. By offering an edible garden service, your business can help clients decrease their impact on the environment, support our local economy, create a healthy environment with organic food, and participate in the movement towards new and sustainable food systems within our community. This booklet aims to provide information for landscape companies to offer an edible garden conversion service to citizens in Revelstoke including methods, training, and consultation options. Resources ONLINE Victorygardensvancouver.ca A successful lawn-2-garden conversion business in Vancouver, BC. Lawntogarden.org Provides info for the garden conversion. Ediblegardenproject.com Successful edible garden landscape business in North Vancouver. Greencityacres.com A SPIN business ran in Kelowna who has produced 50,000 lbs of food on less than one acre. Youngagrarians.org A network of new and young farmers, both rural and urban who work to steward land and soil to produce local food. Westcoastseeds.com Provides quality organic, heirloom or non-gmo seeds. Their mandate is Eat local. Grow Food. Grow from seed. BOOKS Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg The Edible Front Yard Book by Ivette Soler Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy
Training/ Contract Opportunities Home Grown Revy (Revelstoke, BC) Start-up business looking to create edible landscapes in Revelstoke, offering design, building, Whatever method you choose, be patient. It takes at least two years for a new garden to really fill out and start to bloom and grow. professionals. It s going to look a Contact bit thin at for first. rates. And keep in mind that the soil in your garden will feed your plants for years to come. The better the soil, the better the garden. Starting up costs planting, and harvesting services. Offers: Training consultation and third-party contract work for landscape Victory Gardens (Vancouver, BC) Build. Teach. Grow. Landscape company who assists people in growing food in urban spaces. Offers: Infrastructure building, training consultations, and garden maintenance. One-on-one consultations or training classes available, starting at $130/ hr. Okanagan College Landscape Horticulture Certificate 120 hour course offered in Salmon Arm, Vernon or Kelowna. The curriculum consists of botany, soil science, plant identification, and landscape skills. People involved in landscape maintenance and construction contracts can benefit from this program s components. Water Use & Pollution Problems with Lawns Lawns require excessive amounts of water to maintain a healthy, green appearance Our water shed is vulnerable to drought due to the fluctuating water levels. Need to conserve our water. In 2013, Revelstoke used an additional 200 million litres of water during hot summer months. Nitrogen & Phosphorus-rich fertilizers and pesticide chemicals seep their way into groundwater systems, which ends up in our rivers & streams. The chemical presence increase algae populations which eat all the oxygen, declining the fish populations. Estimated that 60% of nitrogen added to our lawns ends up in our water supplies due to run-off from over -fertilizing and over-watering lawns. Chemicals used to treat lawns have adverse health effects due to direct contact with skin and sprayed product into respiratory paths. Air Pollution The amount of volatile organic compounds emitted by a lawnmower for an hour is equal to the emissions of a car being driven 550 kms. Yard waste (ie. Grass clippings) thrown into landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas. Noise Pollution Lawn mower noise can cause disturbances with your neighbours.
Benefits of an Edible Garden Problems with Lawns Gardening has many health & therapeutic benefits and can be enjoyed by everyone. Improves Family Health: Provides you and your family with a healthy source of nutritious and safe, fresh food plus gardening is a physical activity, which offers relaxation. Save money on groceries: Grocery bills will shrink as you harvest your own garden goods. Reduce your Environmental Impact: Growing food organically (without pesticides/ herbicides) reduces chemical exposure and help increase pollinator populations. You contribute to the reduction of fossil fuels from the global transport to supermarkets. Enjoy better tasting food: How long does it take for your food to travel farm-to-table? How long does food sit on the store shelf? Compare garden fresh veggies with storebought.you can taste the freshness! Stop worrying about Food Safety: When you responsibly grow your own food, you don t have to worry about contamination that may occur at the farm, manufacturing plant, or transport to the supermarket. Landsharing A viable tool to help with people who do not own land or lack the space in their yard but want to farm. Landsharing is an rental agreement between a farmer and a landowner to utilize vacant space for agricultural means. Best approach to is to converse with local landowners to inquire about unoccupied space. There is a farm linking blog on Young Agrarians website (see resources section) to connect farmers and landowners. The website offers resources to initiate the landshare agreement. SPIN Farming A popular approach to urban farming. Small plot intensive faming, otherwise known as SPIN allows farmers produce gardens on less than an acre. People are creating SPIN plots wherever they can create space (front lawn, backyard, neighbourhood lot). It is production based, entrepreneurial, environmental friendly, low capital intensive and best of all, is it is local! Green City Acres in Kelowna has seen trememdous success with producing over 50,000 lbs of food on less than one acre.
Lawn-to-Garden in 5 Steps Sheet mulchinga simple technique that reduces the cost of grass removal. Over time as the lawn decomposes it suppresses weed growth, improves nutrient and water retention in soil, and enhances the soil structure, all of which improve plant health. Plan to sheet mulch in the Fall to have your garden space ready for planting in the Spring. Step One: Find a sunny location with at least 6 hours of sun. Mark the designated area by cutting the edge in with a shovel. Step Two: Spread a 2-inch layer of composted soil on top of sod, which helps decomposition. Step Three: Cover compost with cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper to protect from the sun (keep moist) and stop weeds from sprouting. Step Four: Add organic materials on top (ie. grass clippings) Step Five: Add 3-inches of mulch and start planting!! Cedar chips, straw, and compost are three popular mulches. Cedar chips are a good-looking, but pricey, mulch. Compost and straw works well, though weeds may take hold eventually. Plus straw can look messy. Ways to Convert to Garden Method 1: Sod Cutting/ Tiling Remove sod using a shovel or sod cutter. Compost sod or turn into soil. Cover with newspaper, then mulch. Pros: Immediate results with cutting. Tiling helps loosen the sod and helps to mix in organic materials. Cons: Labor-intensive work required. Sod needs to be composted not thrown into landfill (see Air Pollution section on page 2). Method 2: Sheet Mulching or Lasagna Mulching Cut grass as short as possible, then cover with a think layer of newspaper. You can also mix in layers of kitchen scraps, yard waste, compost to the layers. Then cover with mulch. Pros: OUR RECOMMENDED METHOD. Easiest and most eco-friendly. Low cost of materials. Cons: Lasagna mulching requires time to decompose. Start in the Fall to plant in the spring. Method 3: Solarization Cut grass as short as possible. Cover lawn with a black, plastic sheet. The plastic heats up the soil, killing all plants below it. Takes 4-8 weeks. Pros: Effectively kills grass in a short amount of time. Cons: Plastic requires disposal afterwards, it is an eyesore. Method 4: Herbicide Treatment Spray designated area with a glyphosate based chemical. Remove grass, then add topsoil and mulch to the treated area. Pros: Relatively quick and effortless procedure. Cons: Herbicidal chemicals seep into waterways causing pollution and it has adverse health effects from use (see Water Use & Pollution on page 2).
Edible gardens can be of any size and most locations...