Brockton Community Garden Assessment By the Brockton High School/Wildiands Trust Envircthon Team Site Na Coordinates For use by Brockton’s Promise Land Owner Soil Test Results Potential for Community Gardening Potential for Rain Collection System Issues to Note Potential Issue with Site Unanswered QuestionsPotential for Community Gardening Assessment 5 Very High * Great soil health © Easy access to water ‘© Receives plenty of sunlight © Centrally located and easily accessible to the community ‘* No known contamination issues High © Good soit health © Access to water * Receives plenty of sunlight © Easily accessible to the community * No known contamination issues Moderate © Overall soil health fair, but needs amending © Some access to water © Receives at least part sunlight © Accessible to the community ‘© Contamination may be a concern ‘© Other concerns may include land owner or other land use issues low Soil health is poor - possible presence of heavy metals Access to water is very limited Does not receive proper sunlight Not easily accessible to the communi Contamination isa concern Other concerns may include land owner or other land use issues No Potential Soil health is poor with presence of heavy metals © No.access to water ¢ Highly contaminated site ‘* Not accessible to the community ‘© Land owner will not allow a community garden Other significant concernsProcedure: 'With guidance from Brockton’s Promise, the team identified the following five community garden sites as priority areas to assess: ‘Main and Tremont St. Corner Lot Arnone Elementary School ‘The Family Center at Community Connections Brockton Old Colony YMCA Perkins Park ‘The team also assessed Brockton High School garden beds and the Farm at Stone! ‘during an after school field trip to volunteer at the farm. College ‘At each site, the team collected and labeled soil samples to send to the UMass Soil Lab. Comeosite samples were collected from inside the raised beds. In addition, samples were collected from outside the beds to help assess the overall soil health of the plot. ‘Soil Collection Procedure: 1. Label Ziploc bags with a permanent marker listing site name, location of soll on site fe or outside bed), and date. 2. Use soil sampling tool to obtain a proper amount and depth of soil, standardizing the sampling, from both inside and outside the raised beds. Sampler places foot on the device, pushes it into the ground, and rotates clockwise, pushing the soll into the pocket of the sampler. 3. Shake soil from sampling too! into the corresponding labeled bag. 4. Wipe sampling tool clean between samples with a clean dry cloth. 5. Repeat this process four to five times until at least one cup of soil is collected for each sample, 6. Remove any vegetation, rocks, or foreign material left in the soil. 7. If soil is moist, lay it out overnight to ensure that it completely dries. 8. After the soil is completely free from material and moisture, send labeled bag to UMass Amherst Soils Lab for analysis. In addition to sampling soil for analysis, the team researched rain collection systems and analyzed the potential for rainwater collection at each site. Assessment: The following assessment attempts to create a well-rounded analysis of each community garden site the team visited. The overall potential for community gardening at each site was rated using the system described below. The team made their best attempt to provide any information about each site that could be helpful to Brockton’s Promise as they move forward with their efforts to restore and revitalize community gardens in the City of Brockton.