Building Community Resilience through Community Gardening

By Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Community Gardens Coordinator

Community gardens have a unique way of bringing people together in one landscape from different neighborhoods, cities, and countries. The potential challenges faced with such diversity can be overwhelming to some but ultimately, the sense of belonging and resilience helps nurture relationships and break down barriers between long-time community residents and newer members.

Our Community Gardens network enables us to join hands in the dirt with creative gardeners from countries near and far, which gives us insight into new techniques and introduces us to crop varieties that most of us may not grow or even know about. For instance, I had the opportunity to see some amazing trellising techniques at our Northgate Garden and can’t wait to learn more. While I was there, I spoke with the Garden Coordinator, Carol Berning.

Here’s what Carol told me about what motivates her gardeners:

Our immigrant and refugee gardeners are super motivated to garden for several reasons. The most basic, of course, is their desire to grow the types of vegetables they grew up with and use to cook meals for their families. Some of the specific produce they grow is not available for purchase here in Cincinnati. Of course, by growing their own vegetables, they also are assured that their food is organic and healthy to eat. They have told me how much money they save by growing their own food.

In addition to the supply of food for their families (and in many cases also for their extended families and friends), these gardeners benefit from the feeling of accomplishment in doing an activity which they are good at...it’s an area of expertise for them, and something they are confident doing. This is especially important for them since so many of the tasks/activities they engage in are unfamiliar or confusing as they adjust to a whole new way of life in our society.

Finally, they enjoy the physical exercise and opportunities for social interaction that they get in the community garden. Most of them come from areas where they lived much closer to friends and relatives than they do in Cincinnati's suburban communities, so the garden is a place to spend time with others while growing, harvesting, and cleaning their produce.

 When I asked about creating a sense of belonging and inclusion in the community of immigrant gardeners, Carol said:

I enjoy getting to know each of the gardeners and their families personally. At garden workdays and times when I am at the garden at the same time they are we always take time to chat. We often share information about the vegetables they (and we) are growing, how to cook them, etc. and I often ask for advice about gardening methods, when to harvest, and more. I communicate with all of them regularly via email and texting, as well as posting informational signs with any news or dates to remember.

When we have workdays at the garden, we offer the chance to get involved...whether to help with heavy lifting, building our pergola, or using the community's hand and power tools. We've found that many of our gardeners are eager to learn how to use both gardening equipment (mowers, tillers, trimmers, broadforks, etc.) and building tools (drills, saws). Both safety tips and skills are shared with anyone wanting to learn.

The gardeners are welcome to come and work in the garden anytime. They all are given the gate codes, so they really feel like they belong. Many of our gardeners are visited by relatives and friends from their countries of origin, and we're seeing almost all of them bring their guests to the garden to show them around. While we're not always present when they come, if we are there when they come, we have the opportunity to also make their guests feel welcome.

I wanted to know why Carol thought she has such a large group of immigrant gardeners and when she had noticed the increase in this particular group’s interest. She explained:

Our garden is sponsored by Christ Lutheran Church, which has been active in the resettlement program for the Bhutanese refugees since they began to arrive in our area in 2008. In 2016 it was proposed to use some undeveloped property for a community garden, knowing that there would be significant interest from the Bhutanese community. The garden began with 15 gardeners using a fraction of the available property, most of them from the Bhutanese refugee community, along with some church members. Information about the garden spread via word of mouth, quickly attracting additional Bhutanese families, an enthusiastic group of immigrants from Cameroon, as well as local neighbors.

We now have 65 plots, all reserved already for 2023, and a waiting list of over 10 families. 90% of our gardeners are refugees from Bhutan or immigrants from Cameroon. As mentioned above, these gardeners come from gardening/farming communities, want to grow their own food, and enjoy the nutritional, social, and self-worth benefits they get from gardening. 

Given the many obstacles to growing food in an urban setting, I was curious how Carol’s immigrant gardeners worked together to overcome them. Here’s what she had to say:

We feel blessed with our diverse community of gardeners. Everyone gets along at the garden. Language is probably our biggest obstacle. While most of the gardeners speak very good English, those who don't get garden information and messages via those who do. Our younger gardeners have been very willing to help with communications, make phone calls, etc. as needed. Many of the immigrants/refugees do not have experience or training with mechanical equipment, but that training is being provided by one of the local gardeners with good skills.

There is not a lot of interest in either of our international groups in socializing/mixing. We have workdays when members of both groups participate, but they tend to segregate. We've offered a variety of training opportunities, but (probably due to the language difficulties) there has been little to no interest in attending. Besides language, I think interest is low since these gardeners feel experienced and confident in their skills...and I don't want to push the "American way" on them in the one place where they feel good about their skills.

Getting to know your fellow gardener, learning new culturally specific varieties of food and techniques can help expand access to fresh, healthy food, while also growing diversity and inclusion within our network. It is a choice we all intentionally can make. The great thing about our network is that there are many opportunities to learn new techniques of growing food from around the world, locally!