Heather Latter
With the colder weather setting in and snow starting to fly, the Fort Frances Community Garden has wrapped up its season.
“It went really well,” enthused Krista Anderson, who sits on the Community Garden Planning Committee.
“We had some new gardeners this year, as well as many returning gardeners,” she noted.
“A lot of the gardeners volunteer plenty of their time, which is really great because without that, it wouldn’t be possible for it to be as successful as it is,” Anderson stressed.
Having a community garden also has continued to promote the idea of sustainability and healthy eating.
“People are experimenting growing different things and a lot of people are trying new things,” Anderson said.
And with the garden having expanded since it started in 2011, local gardeners will see additional improvements made for next season after the committee received funding this year from the Moffat Family Fund and a New Horizons Grant.
“As per the Town of Fort Frances’ approval, we will have proper gates installed at the garden,” said Anderson, adding Darryl’s Custom Landscaping was expected to be putting the gates in this week.
“It will be great because we had make-shift gates where we would just pull a piece of the fencing back to enter the garden,” she explained.
“It worked okay, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.”
Anderson also noted this was the first full season that the garden had fencing surrounding it, which was good since there was no evidence of deer in the crops.
As well, the community garden will see the addition of four more raised beds.
“The raised beds are a fantastic option for those with physical limitations that make traditional gardening a challenge,” explained Anderson.
Fort Frances High School students once again will be building these raised beds this fall so they are ready to be used in the spring.
And, upon approval by the town, Anderson said the garden likely will see another accessory shed on site next season.
“That will be great for the storage of more tools,” she remarked.
Anderson noted following a work bee held there last week, the garden now is cleared out and ready to be tilled if the weather co-operates.
“We usually have it tilled in the fall, so hopefully that can happen,” she said, though adding the wet, snowy weather leaves that to be determined.
Anderson, who was involved in the community garden through her role at the Northwestern Health Unit, recently was relocated to the health unit office in Rainy River.
As such, she won’t continue with her position on the planning committee next season.
“I’ve had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people,” Anderson said.
“We had a successful season and I think it will only get better in the years to come,” she added.
