WATCH ABOVE: It can take a whole community to grow and nurture a garden and that’s just what’s happening at Riverbend Gardens. Lisa Wolansky explains.
EDMONTON — A community garden program in northeast Edmonton is helping the city’s most vulnerable citizens connect with each other.
“This garden is about local food security, it is about providing good nutrition for people that don’t regularly get access to the nutrition,” said Kelly Mills, manager of Lady Flower Gardens.
Now in its fourth year, Lady Flower Gardens partners with several Edmonton organizations, including Hope Mission, The Mustard Seed and Bissell Centre — the list grows every year.
Clients tend to the garden and are able to take some of the produce away with them, but Mills says it’s about much more than just sustainable food.
“It’s more about developing community relationships with people that don’t have the same kind of advantages that a lot of us have,” said Mills.
READ MORE: Urban farming: not just growing food but communities
Johnny Lee, who has been involved in the program for three years, says he enjoys getting away from busy city life to get in touch with the earth. It also gives him a chance to get to know new people.
- Posters promoting ‘Steal From Loblaws Day’ are circulating. How did we get here?
- Video shows Ontario police sharing Trudeau’s location with protester, investigation launched
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
- Solar eclipse eye damage: More than 160 cases reported in Ontario, Quebec
“Especially among street people, they’re so separated, and coming out here I’ve made a lot more friends and it creates and fosters relationships out here and that’s a big reason why I keep coming back,” Lee explained.
“I’m taking off a lot of energy and making people have a lot of food to eat and myself also,” added Sandra Gail Bilinski, who is trying out the program for the first time this summer. She’s already been out to the garden about a dozen times.
Four acres of gardening land were donated and planted by Riverbend Gardens. Former owner, Doug Visser, whose daughter and son-in-law will soon take over the business, says it’s all about learning from each other.
“Our idea is to engage people who are vulnerable around food issues and try and build community,” said Visser.
Boyle Street, E4C, Ambrose Place, The Food Bank, Winnifred Stewart Association and The Autism Society of Edmonton are also involved in Lady Flower Gardens. Mills says she’s always open to having more organizations join the program.
“We’re all human beings and we all need to get healthy by being part of the land and learning how to benefit from the gifts of the land together.”
Comments