Climate Change

& Community Gardening

Go Green!

What is a Community Garden?

A community garden is a garden that is planned, planted, maintained, and sustained by individuals within a community.

Benefits include:  

• Beautification
• Reduced crime
• Food security
• Environmental benefits
• Improved health

How does Climate Change Affect These Crops?

• Plants experience unpredictable growing seasons as a result of rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns.

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• Native species are being outcompeted by invasive, non-native species due to their expanding ranges.

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• Climate change threatens many native and iconic plants of their historic ranges.

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• Wildlife and plants that depend on pollinators, breeding birds, insects, and other wildlife will be disrupted.

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How do Gardens Help Mediate Climate Change?

• Gardens can slow future warming by reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon storage in soil and plants.

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• Also, gardens help divert food waste from the landfill when composting is included.

What is Composting?

Composting is the act of reusing old food waste to fertilize soil and plants. This reduces waste that would go into landfills and decrease greenhouse gas emissions such as methane through regular watering and turning

A complete guide

How Do I Start a Community Garden for my Students?

Questions to Ask Yourself

• How much space is available?
• How can students best be engaged with this project?
• Will parents be able to be involved?
• How will the composting bin be available to the entire school?
• Will other classes have access to the garden?
• What are the goals for this garden?

ex: Do you want to be able to send children home with produce at the end of the year?

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The list is almost endless! First let’s dive into what a garden consist of.

What is Needed to Make a Garden?

• Fertilized soil
• Fruit, flower, and vegetable beds
• Watering system (irrigation)
• Composting bin and fertilizer
• Gardening tools such as a rake, shovel, garden hose, gloves, etc.

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• Plants and seeds

D.I.Y Irrigation system

Cheap and Easy Hanging Drip Irrigation

1. Cut the bottom out of a 2-liter bottle using a box cutter.

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• Cut small holes on each side of the bottom and wrapped string through them to create a hanger

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• Hang the bottle over my test potting plant and filled it with water. Make sure the cap is on snug when you do this.

What Types of Plants are Most Desirable?

Florida does have a unique climate so that must be considered when choosing what crops to plant.

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The easiest crops to grow in spring in Florida are lettuce, turnips, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, squash, zucchini and cucumbers.

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Snap peas, green beans, and cucumbers are especially easy to grow which is important when working with younger gardeners.

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*zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce don't need a lot of maintenance and grow relatively quickly.

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Tomatoes (80-360 tomatoes/4 plants)

Cost: ~$.25 per lb

Space: ~ 8 feet

Water: ~ 96.8 inches or .42 gallons of water

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Carrots

Cost: ~ $0.0009 per seed

Space: 1 inch in between each plant

Water: ~ 1 inch of water a week

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Zucchini (~ 4 zucchini each plant)

Cost: ~ $0.28 per seed

Space: 3 to 4 inches apart, in rows 2 to 3 feet apart

Water:

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Lettuce

Cost: ~ $0.007 per seed

Space: ~ 12 inches apart

Water: ~1 inch per week

Next

Working in gardens allows students to gain a greater understanding of nature, as well as the historical roots of gardening, and helps them develop a positive relationship with food.

Milkweed

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What is Milkweed?

Milkweed is a native flowering plant common in Florida.

Milkweed is a great addition to any garden as they are inexpensive, easily accessible, attractive, and they promote monarch butterflies through playing a key role in their lifecycle.

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Milkweeds

• There are dozens species milkweeds native to North America, thus you can find milkweed species wherever you live. There are 21 species of milkweed that are native to Florida.

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• Butterfly Weeds are native and most common in North Florida. They are also cheaper and easier to maintain than other milkweeds such as giant milkweeds. 

Milkweeds and Monarch butterflies

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• Milkweed is so vital to monarchs because it is a host plant, which means Monarchs lay their eggs on it, and the resulting caterpillars will eat Milkweed until they enter a chrysalis.

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• Planting milkweed allows students to develop a direct mutualistic relationship with the world around them, and observe first hand the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

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Climate Change and Milkweeds

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In response to rising temperatures, milkweeds produce more cardenolide to protect themselves from predators. Despite monarchs' tolerance of the poison, they aren't invincible to certain concentrations which pose a threat to themselves and their larvae. Droughts and desertification further threaten milkweed nationwide.�

How to Manage a Garden?

• Schedule class use of the garden for weekly maintenance

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• Post garden maintenance tasks (watering, cleaning up weeds, etc.)

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• Develop a work schedule for volunteers (if applicable)

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