Community Gardens put down roots
Kate Aley
PONTIAC – It takes a village to plant a garden. A community garden is being created in five small West Quebec towns this summer as part of a CLD Collines des l’Outaouais strategy to combat hunger and improve food availability and awareness.
The initiative is designed to encourage people to share a communal garden space and grow their own fresh food.
Melissa Hardy of CLD des Collines is coordinator for the project, which ran successfully as a pilot in Masham and Perkins in 2011. Land is either donated by the Municipalities or by private owners or organisations. Gardens are now currently underway in these two places, plus Quyon, Wakefield and St. Pierre de Wakefield.
Hardy visited the Maison de la Famille in Quyon on May 30th to explain the project and help participants transfer small seedlings into larger containers to prepare them for planting out. Tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and peppers were just some of the vegetable plants on offer.
“It is often easier for a new group to learn how to care for a garden together,” she explained. “Starting seeds, cultivating the ground and harvesting produce is a tremendously empowering experience. I love how people make the garden their own, sharing tips and tricks with each other as they learn. The gardens are to be organic, and pesticide and herbicide free. We hope finding out how easy and satisfying it is to grow food will be a revelation.”
Further meetings are planned for horticultural training, information on composting and the potential for a collective kitchen project.
A series of twenty by ten foot lots are now available to new gardeners. Registration in the project is still possible.
Contact Melissa Hardy by email:
jardins@cldcollines.org
or call 819 328 5800
