North Kootenay Lake Community Services Society is a registered charity. Please help support our work through a tax deductible donation. You can make a donation by mailing it to the address above or donate online right now by clicking above.
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Kaslo Lawns to Gardens Survey results
Lawns to Gardens is a program of North Kootenay Lake Community Services Society. The program was created to educate through action how a fallow piece of land can produce food, thus alleviating the need for food to be shipped thousands of kilometres. A contest awarded four households with having the Lawns to Gardens team come onto their property and plant a food-producing and native-plant garden. The project also installed a demonstration garden at the Community Garden in upper Kaslo, showcasing a balanced diet in the ground, including grains. In addition to the gardens, several educational workshops were offered to the community. Classrooms in the Garden looked at composting, xeriscaping, wildlife and the garden, and soil management. The program also hosted canning workshops, a Seed Saving Workshop, and an Edible Garden Tour. Overall, this program directly affected the way 5 families were able to sustain their diets, and through workshops, over 200+ people were able to learn new skills, assisting them towards a healthier and more sustainable diet.
The Kaslo Lawns to Gardens project has just completed its second year of the program and we were wondering what Kaslo thought, so we sent out surveys to every household in Kaslo and from the returned surveys we are very happy with what we heard.
- Do you use natural fertilizers in your garden? Such as animal manure, worm castings, household compost, etc? 93% said yes
- Do you use water saving methods in your garden? Such as soaker hoses, low broadcasting sprinklers, water timer, and or water capture devices? 82% said yes
- Have you expanded your food producing garden within the last 2 years? Ex. Expanded a pre-existing bed, added container pots, created a brand new garden? 73% said yes
- When given the option of purchasing a local product versus a product which has been produced elsewhere do you purchase the local product? 86% said yes
And we also received some great comments;
"Have appreciated all the garden information in email and articles in Valley Voice and workshops. Have also appreciated info on bulk buying locally. We're now keeping bees, thanks to information about a course that was offered in the area. Pollination has increased our fruit production dramatically. Thanks for all your efforts to increase local food production and consumption of locally produced produce."
"Thank you for your great work! You keep a high profile image with many news items, which keep the whole "food issue" in our minds and awareness. I have a tiny garden space but managed to get dozens (hundreds maybe?) of tomatoes from just 2 plants!! Rich compost/manure and the fabulous weather was the key. I also got 40 spaghetti squash!!! I really like how you gather un-wanted fruit. Keep up the AWARENESS ideas and your HARD work. Many Thanks!"
"Events such as the Edible Garden Tour in the fall are a great way to encourage people to either start gardening or to do it in more productive ways"
"Huge gratitude to Community Services and all those with the Food Security Project for educating and inspiring us further! No matter what 'level' each of us gardeners is at, we can all use positive reinforcement and inspiration to do a little more each year, for our own health, families, community and eco-system. Please, please keep this project ongoing for sustainable life!!!"
"I'd like to see workshops about planting tips and techniques. Opportunities to order seeds in bulk? I think this is an amazing program! We are so lucky to live in Kaslo!"
Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey and who participated in the Lawns to Gardens program. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Year 2 of the Lawns to Gardens program is now complete but make sure to keep following what the Kaslo Food Security Project is doing by checking out the website regularly www.nklcss.org/food.php and if you want to get the updates emailed directly to you please sign up by emailing Betty at bettygutierrez@nklcss.org or call her at 250-353-7691 ext. 304.
The Lawns to Gardens Program was funded by both Environment Canada's EcoAction Community Funding Program and Union of BC Municipalities.