Welcome

One of the biggest barriers to growing food in the city is access to land - despite the fact that many yards, lawns, and backyards have plenty of room to spare. Sharing Backyards links people with unused yard space with those looking for a place to grow food.

If you have a garden and want to share it with someone, or if you are looking for a space to garden, Sharing Backyards is for you.

This site is in under active development. If you would like to see some sample data - type 'Victoria, BC' into the box below

Enter your address to get started

Format: "City, State" or full address


Sharing Backyards at the Banff New Media Institute

Sharing Backyards attended the Banff New Media Institute's Interactive Project Lab - a weekend long entrepreneurial boot camp for cutting edge projects throughout Canada. As one of severial non-profit entrepreneurial projects, we had our buniness plan critiqued and helped along by various highly skilled mentors.

You can watch our presentation on Sharing Backyards in this video

Considerations for Sharing your Backyard Garden

There are no restrictions on how you might choose to share your space - however there are a number of issues that you might want to consider when making arrangements to share your gardening space with another member of your community.

Time Considerations

  • How many hours per week will the garden space be available?
  • On which days of the week?
  • What time(s) of the day?

Tool Considerations

  • Do you have tools to share?
  • Where will they be stored?

Soil Considerations

  • Is there enough soil?
  • Who will pay for soil amendments?
  • What types of amendments or additives are acceptable?

Seeds / Transplants

  • Who will provide the seeds and/or transplants?
  • How will decisions be made about what is grown?

Water Considerations

  • Can the gardener use the hose and water?
  • Who does the watering?
  • When?

Harvest Considerations

  • Who will harvest the food?
  • How will the harvest be distributed?

Privacy and Security Considerations

  • Who can enter the garden? (children, partners, friends, pets)
  • What space can be used? (shed, basement, bathroom)
  • What about locks and gates?
  • Emergency contact numbers?