Heather Latter
From locations to designs and donations, those on hand for last Wednesday’s meeting regarding the development of a larger community garden here brought forth plenty of ideas to help get the project off the ground.
“There are a lot of really great ideas,” enthused Becky Holden, a health educator with the Northwestern Heath Unit.
“It’s great to see that people are thinking about gardening—even at this time of year,” she added.
“I’m quite positive we’ll be able to move forward with this project given the interest we’ve seen so far.”
The group, which includes several community members and gardeners, as well as representatives from local organizations, is trying to further develop upon the small community garden that was started last summer at the family housing unit at Sixth Street West and Webster Avenue.
“We were fortunate to have a family over the summer who was very interested in that project,” Holden noted, saying they certainly had some success there and thought the whole community could benefit from a local garden.
“Looking into the future, where we’re standing with economic changes and being able to have more local access to food, and developing some of those skills around growing our own food, to provide for ourselves better than relying on things being transported,” she remarked.
But Holden warned getting a community garden up and running here will take a lot of planning and community support.
In fact, at last Wednesday’s meeting, the group discussed different partners that might be interested in becoming involved in the project to varying degrees.
These included the local horticultural society, Community Living, and the town, as well as other organizations and businesses.
“I think we need to get some support from the municipality,” said Merv Ahrens, who is involved in providing recommendations for items to be included in the town’s official plan.
He indicated he would try to get the community garden idea on the next agenda, and hoped it would be an item that is brought forth to councillors.
In the meantime, the members decided they could get a report from Dryden, where a successful community garden has been running there for several years, to share with council.
And they would continue to find out how other municipalities are involved in similar projects.
Possible locations for a community garden also were discussed last week, such as at York Avenue and Fifth Street or space near the former Sixth Street School.
However, these simply were ideas and need to be pursued further to determine if these sites could work.
Logistics, like acquiring permission to use the land, soil conditions, and options for water, would need to be taken into account.
Holden said she’d also like to see the community garden group “adopt” the smaller garden at Sixth Street West and Webster Avenue by providing support to tenants for tilling in the spring, as well as education for planting and maintenance.
“I’d like to see this garden continue since it’s already there,” she reasoned.
While the project there last summer was an open garden, the group offered suggestions for the potential design of the larger garden, which included both designated community plots and rental ones.
The community area would be a space to grow items such as potatoes and corn that would take up a lot of space in a small plot while the rental spaces could have both raised and not raised plots.
And in order to get seeds and tools for the garden, it was suggested local businesses be asked to make donations and former gardeners even could offer items they no longer are using.
But with all the ideas brainstormed at last week’s meeting, the group also noted they will need people to use and support the garden.
“You just have to start it and people will come,” reassured Mike Johnson.
“It will be good for high school students to pick up volunteer hours and for other groups to learn about gardening,” said Holden.
“A community garden is a great way to provide people with the skills, as well as for people who know how to garden but don’t have garden space or can no longer maintain large gardens,” she added.
Jenny Greenhalgh, with Northern Community Development Services here, agreed a community garden could benefit their clients and many others.
“It would help to engage them and give a sense of self-satisfaction,” she remarked.
“It also shows potential employers that they are committed to something.”
Holden stressed they still are in the planning stages for the community garden project, and that help or support from others certainly is still welcome.
Anyone with questions, comments, or ideas is encouraged to contact Holden at 274-9827 or attend the group’s next meeting Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. at the Northwestern Health Unit office on Scott Street.
