Productivity, resource efficiency and financial savings: An investigation of the current capabilities and potential of South Australian home food gardens.

As the dominant form of urban agriculture (UA) in Australia, existing home food gardens potentially represent a significant resource in the context of future urban food security and sustainability. However, a severe lack of in-field data has hindered our understanding of the form and function of home food gardens which in turn may hinder innovation and improvement. We investigated the productivity, resource efficiency and potential financial savings of home food gardens in South Australia. A group of 34 citizen science participants measured and recorded inputs and outputs from their gardens. Inputs included time spent on various gardening activities, financial costs, and water use. Outputs included crop yields, from which retail value and nutritional content were then derived. The paper outlines a field-demonstrated, comprehensive methodology for continued and consistent data collection for all forms of UA. We found smaller gardens to be more intensive than larger gardens, requiring higher inputs, but also returning higher outputs per unit area. Both productivity and resource efficiency varied among the gardens, and labour requirements were significantly lower than previously estimated. Water use efficiency of the gardens were calculated and found to have comparable water use efficiency to commercial horticulture. Of the gardens involved, we calculated that 65% should break even in five or less years and save money. After applying a minimum wage almost one in five gardens were financially viable. The results represent the most comprehensive measurements on home food gardens to date, and allow practical, evidence-based recommendations for diversification, time saving and smart irrigation practices to improve garden productivity and enhance the viability of UA.

Exploring the meaning of growing food in community gardens to South African township residents: A photovoice study.

The purpose of this research is to explore the motivation for, and potential effects of, participation in a township community garden. The authors conducted a photovoice study with 18 South African township residents who grew their own food as part of a community gardening program in the Western Cape. The results show that informants are motivated by better food access, increases in knowledge, financial savings, and independence. Informants perceive various positive effects from their involvement: they share knowledge, experience psychological and social effects, and engage in knowledge transfer practices for resource integration and value creation when they participate in the program. The study thus extends prior research on community gardening, particularly in relation to helping low-income populations decrease food insecurity.

Determination of azole fungal residues in soils and detection of Aspergillus fumigatus-resistant strains in market gardens of Eastern France.

Medical azole antifungals are major compounds used to prevent and to treat invasive aspergillosis (IA). Azole fungicides, called DMI (14-alpha demethylase inhibitors), are also widely used for crop protection and have been reported to be linked to azole-resistant A. fumigatus (aR-Af) development in the environment. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not market gardens that spray DMIs in Eastern France are also affected by the presence of aR-Af. Forty aR-Afs were detected in soils in only two of the four market gardens using DMIs, with 23% (7/30) and 10% (3/30) of soils containing aR-Af. A total of 87.5% of these isolates had the TR34/L98H mutation and 22.5% the TR46/Y121F/T289A mutation on the cyp51A gene. Analyses of residual azole concentrations in soils showed the presence of difenoconazole for up to 2 years after spraying, but only in soils of market gardens where aR-Af was detected. It is very important to identify professional activities that could lead to aR-Af development and to develop preventive measures for at-risk patients living near professional activities using DMIs. We have to better understand why, in some cases, the use of DMI is not linked to aR-Af. Measures should be taken to avoid the use of DMI conferring cross-resistance to preserve the efficiency of human therapeutics.

School Gardens in the United States: Current Barriers to Integration and Sustainability.

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate details about the barriers (time, funding, staffing, and space) to integrating and sustaining school gardens. METHODS: A total of 99 school gardeners from 15 states participated in an online survey in June 2017. The 29-item survey contained qualitative and quantitative items that we analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis. RESULTS: In order of greatest to least barrier, gardeners ranked time, staff, funding, curriculum, and space. Time for classes to use the garden (66% of respondents) and time for staff training (62%) were the most frequently listed time-related challenges. Respondents also reported low engagement within the school community. An overall lack of funding was the most common funding-related barrier, and gardeners were unaware of how to obtain more funding. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 3 aspects of school gardens as opportunities to address time- and staff-related issues: strengthening of garden committees, professional development, and community outreach. Better channels are needed to disseminate funding opportunities within schools and to communicate with communities at large. Ultimately, doing so will strengthen existing school gardens as a vehicle to promote dietary, physical, and social health within communities.

A tale of two rain gardens: Barriers and bridges to adaptive management of urban stormwater in Cleveland, Ohio.

Green infrastructure installations such as rain gardens and bioswales are increasingly regarded as viable tools to mitigate stormwater runoff at the parcel level. The use of adaptive management to implement and monitor green infrastructure projects as experimental attempts to manage stormwater has not been adequately explored as a way to optimize green infrastructure performance or increase social and political acceptance. Efforts to improve stormwater management through green infrastructure suffer from the complexity of overlapping jurisdictional boundaries, as well as interacting social and political forces that dictate the flow, consumption, conservation and disposal of urban wastewater flows. Within this urban milieu, adaptive management-rigorous experimentation applied as policy-can inform new wastewater management techniques such as the implementation of green infrastructure projects. In this article, we present a narrative of scientists and practitioners working together to apply an adaptive management approach to green infrastructure implementation for stormwater management in Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, contextual legal requirements and environmental factors created an opportunity for government researchers, stormwater managers and community organizers to engage in the development of two distinct sets of rain gardens, each borne of unique social, economic and environmental processes. In this article we analyze social and political barriers to applying adaptive management as a framework for implementing green infrastructure experiments as policy. We conclude with a series of lessons learned and a reflection on the prospects for adaptive management to facilitate green infrastructure implementation for improved stormwater management.