New community garden sprouting up

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Strathmore residents will have a new opportunity to develop their green thumbs, as Strathmore Communities in Bloom is developing plans for a new community garden next to Lambert Centre.

The garden is being called the Station Community Gardens, as it is located at the original site of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station in Strathmore. This site recognizes the history of CPR railway stations, which often featured gardens to demonstrate the fertility and potential of each surrounding locale.

The project, which will feature six raised garden beds in the greenspace just east of Lambert Centre, is being funded by about $10,000 from two community grants. The first is $5,000 from Community Choosewell, a program managed by Alberta Parks and Recreation Association and funded by Alberta Health. The remainder of the funding is from the COVID-19 Community Roots Program, an initiative by Alberta Blue Cross.

“Both grants support the social, mental, emotional and physical well-being of Albertans,” said Rob Pirie, Strathmore Communities in Bloom (CIB) president. The applications for these grants were supported by the Town of Strathmore.

The project will help how CIB judges Strathmore and will build upon the work the organization completed in developing its other community garden in Strathmore, the Garden of Eat’n, located at the Hope Community Covenant Church. 

“This will be part of the environment part of the review process by encouraging people to look at growing their own food,” noted Pirie.

Planning for the garden is still underway and Pirie hopes to have the beds in place sometime this summer. “If we can get something going this year, that would be a great step forward,” he said.

The gardens will provide space for community groups and organizations to work together and offer programming outside. Strathmore CIB has been in discussion with The Happy Gang, the Strathmore Municipal Library, Strathmore FCSS and the town’s Indigenous liaison to develop programming at the garden.

The hope is to offer programming to a diverse group of Strathmore residents, including youth and seniors. This will provide residents opportunities to enhance their mental and physical health and gardening skills, share cultural and Indigenous knowledge, and learn environmental stewardship.

The location of the garden once featured bocce courts, so town administration will be looking to build bocce courts in a different location in town, said Donna McCallum, the town’s operations manager.