Gardens by Refugees and Other Newcomers Welcomed

Gardens by Refugees and Other newcomers Welcomed (GROW) is an innovative program that addressed green space inequalities in Calgary and encouraged the literacy development, and community building of newcomers. This project transformed a previously unused public space into a productive green space and culminated in the sharing of harvest through a community meal.

Project Information

What was the GROW Program?

In 2017, The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) delivered the GROW program where newcomers worked together, using their interest and skills in gardening and garden-building, to establish a community mini-garden that benefitted TIES and its neighbours. Through GROW, participants were able to leave their mark on the community and consequently demonstrate their membership of it. GROW has designed seasonal as well as winter-resilient community garden spaces and successfully transformed an unused public space into a fruitful community garden.

What were the aims of GROW?

GROW aimed to:  

• Foster a sense of belonging among participants and increase their well-being through their connection to a community garden. 
• Allow newcomers to position themselves as sources of knowledge in a context where they are often recipients of knowledge, contributing to their successful settlement in Calgary.
• Improve accessibility of green spaces for newcomers to the city of Calgary. 

Why is this important?

When newcomers move to Canada, they are met with many unfamiliar experiences. They are forced to adjust to a new language, climate, food and culture. However, many are familiar with gardening. Our experiences have revealed the depth of knowledge that newcomers bring about soil regeneration, plant growth, and human-animal relationships as many of them have backgrounds in traditional farming in their home countries. Additionally, consistent with the literature (Draper & Freedman, 2010), we have found that a publicly accessible green space helped with the social integration of newcomers, as well as influenced their mental and physical health. 

Project Activities

The GROW Program took place in 2017 with the support of the Calgary Foundation. The project was led by TIES staff and student leaders. Participants were involved in the building of the shed, fences, planter boxes, and scarecrows, as well as in the planting of seeds. Once the garden was set up, TIES students and volunteers helped with the daily maintenance, harvest, and food preparation for a feast, which was shared with the TIES community. 

Lessons Learned

Participants were eager to help with the garden. Although interest in the garden was broad-based, not many participants could commit to the large amount of time per week necessary in maintaining a garden throughout the summer. To address this, we organized a schedule of service where groups of individuals had an assigned day one a week or in the case of some part time classes, once a fortnight, where they would water the plants and perform basic garden maintenance. This worked very well as it resulted in the garden continuously being maintained, well-watered (despite the labour-intensive process of using a rain barrel and watering cans), clean and harvested in a timely fashion. For some, as per comments to teachers and staff, their gardening schedule was a time to look forward to. Some even took the initiative and reminded their teachers that it was their turn to perform maintenance.  

Participants obtained language skills from the garden. Another aspect of the success and long-term impacts of this project was that we learned the value of incorporating garden topics and language into lessons. Teachers integrated garden-related materials in the classroom, and students utilized their new knowledge in the performance of their tasks or in discussing their gardening experiences with classmates who did not speak their own language.  

Participants found comfort and familiarity in the garden. It seemed that for many newcomers, their experience with GROW was that of finding the familiar in the unfamiliar. There was a discourse of “This reminds me of something I had back home” and “I had something like this before I left for Canada.” In the midst of learning about an unfamiliar place and culture, speaking an unfamiliar language with unfamiliar people, the garden and its activities made participants comfortable and ‘at home.’ 

Impacts

GROW has informed our explorations into the role of food in settlement, and how celebrating newcomer food and cuisine can empower newcomers to become community leaders and support them in sharing their knowledge. This has led to the development of the Newcomer Community Cookbook. 

References

Draper, C., & Freedman, D. (2010). Review and analysis of the benefits, purposes, and motivations associated with community gardening in the United States. Journal of Community Practice, 18(4), 458-492. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2010.519682