Coronavirus: With community garden season cancelled, members worry about food security

Green buds are sprouting through the thawed soil plots at the Pointe Verte Community Garden in Pointe-Saint-Charles.

But they’ll have to wait to be cared for, as the City of Montreal has ordered all of its 97 community gardens to close.

Amid COVID-19 concerns, gardeners received a letter on April 6 to cease all activities in connection with the community gardens until further notice.

With the season typically starting on May 1 and running until Oct. 31, the closures are a loss for gardeners who depend on their plot.

“There are people on very limited income — senior citizens, new immigrants and so on — that use the garden and for sure they do this … to save themselves a bit of money,” said Pointe Verte Community Garden member Michael Hind.

Located in an underprivileged community, volunteers at the Basile-Patenaude Community Garden are worried about the hundred families it feeds.

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The community garden houses a cornfield, and volunteer Manon Dubois Crôteau said some families have relied on it to cover meals.

But for the time being, with no access to the cornfield, volunteers are taking turns pruning nearby fruit trees for members.

“We want to make sure that the people who are living around the garden still have access to some food,” she said.

With multiple families typically at the garden at the same time, the closures also hinder the sense of community these gardens bring to boroughs.

“The community garden is a place where people come together and meet it’s not just a place where people are trying to grow fruits and vegetables,” said Dubois Crôteau.

Until the gates are unlocked, Basile-Patenaude volunteers are going to use social media to show members how to maintain home gardens and even teach gardening techniques.

“Obviously having your own garden and gardening on your balcony is not the same thing but everybody needs to adjust in the meantime,” said Dubois Crôteau.

But Hind thinks the city can also adjust its ruling.

Suggesting locking up communal tools and making a schedule for gardeners, so social distancing measures can be practised.