FortisAlberta supports new community garden

Times Reporter    

 

On May 21 FortisAlberta presented Communities in Bloom (CIB) with a cheque to help fund their community garden initiative. CIB is one of eight recipients of Fortis’s 2014 Community Naturalization Grant program. 

The purpose of the grant is to help municipalities that FortisAlberta serves develop or improve environmentally friendly programs and facilities. 

“We’re building a community garden, it will be much like the one at the old Anglican Church,” said CIB Chair Melody Wilson. 

“It will be beds that you can rent, and it’s a very reasonable fee, I think it works out to $10 a year just as a deposit and those funds go back into the garden, whatever we need.”

The idea is to provide a gardening space for those who don’t have one, or for those who maybe want to try gardening but don’t want to do it on a large scale. The new garden will be at Hope Church, in the section of land north of the playground. 

“We are delighted to have the community garden come to Hope Community Covenant Church. It’s just another way of making a link between the church and the community,” said Karen Harris, a council member with Hope Church, and person in charge of the landscape committee. 

She said the members of council, and the church, are delighted at the idea of being able to have the kids play on the playground while parents, or grandparents, dig away in their gardens. 

Water for the garden will be collected from the church roof and stored in rain barrels for use. The hope is to keep the garden open and available for users to use when they are able to make it. Wilson said they hope to build 24 boxes approximately 4’x8’x12”.

Each gardener will be required to sign a short agreement outlining general expectations, and then the committee will take care of the box itself when it’s not being used. 

As for what to grow, Wilson said many people do choose to grow some flowers amongst their vegetables, but typically in community gardens it is mainly veggies grown.

“The best advice I can give to new gardeners is have an ‘I can do this attitude’, have patience, gardening is rarely an instant gratification activity, and read, there are lots if great books out there for new gardeners,” said Wilson.  

“My favourite series is still Lois Hole’s Favorites, and don’t give up if you have a failure.”

When trying to pick crops to start with, Wilson offered a short list of what she would recommend to new gardeners. 

1. Radishes – one of the fastest crops you can grow, they are ready to eat 4-5 weeks after seeding!

2. Lettuce – there are a lot of different varieties, and all of them basically have the same requirements, and you can start picking the baby leaves for salads, and continue to harvest 

3. Carrots – don’t forget to thin

4. Peas – stake for easier picking

5. Tomatoes – nothing beats a homegrown tomato on a sandwich!  Don’t let the plants dry out.

To volunteer with the construction of the garden, or to request to rent a box, contact Melody Wilson by e-mail melody@peapatch.ca.