The new Canoe Garden at Camp Kawartha, just north of Peterborough, Ont., is repurposing retired camp canoes into raised garden beds.
“I was looking for ways to build containers that would be inexpensive or repurposing something that already exists, and I came across the canoe gardens,” said Camp Kawartha’s managing director, Sadie Snell. “We had a number of canoes, so our maintenance staff drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and decided to use them as containers.”
Now the vessels are looking to hold water, rather than float on it, housing produce to be used in the camp’s kitchen.
“We have a lot of greens, onions, potatoes and carrots,” Snell said. “As the summer goes on, we will have more and more that the kitchen can use, talk about with our campers and serve during meals.”
Snell said the site used to be forested, but the derecho that hit Southern Ontario in May 2022 toppled approximately 600 trees from the campgrounds, including some from the garden location.
“We lost a lot of trees,” she said. “It opened up this area and the tree coverage, so it was a great place to put in a new garden.”
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River Schonemann, a counsellor in training, toured the garden for the first time and said he is looking forward to learning more about sustainable food practices.
“The garden is amazing, the fresh produce looks awesome, I love it,” he said, adding he is happy to be back on the grounds with his fellow campers.
Snell said the garden is not only about providing campers with healthy food, but also an education.
“This is so farm to table, so close to where we are actually eating,” she said. “It’s both a practical thing and supporting our mission to connect the campers to their food and to the environment.”
For more information, you can visit the Camp Kawartha website.