Your Guide To Green

Everyone likes to win. Everyone wants to live in a neighborhood that is clean and green. Everyone benefits from eating fresh, naturally grown food. And most everyone likes a sense of community with the people who live around them.

A community garden makes all of this possible.

A community garden provides beautiful, soothing green space to break the concrete monotony of the city. A community garden enables the gardeners to grow natural, organic fruits and vegetables for their families and to save and share seeds for future planting.

It also teaches us things that go far beyond gardening. Working side-by-side in a community garden teaches people to become neighbors, not just people who live on the same street or nearby, but people who stop and say "hi," and share a few minutes with one another. Being a good neighbor involves interaction. You are making a connection with another person and developing a relationship.

Likewise, successful gardening relies on the interactions of all the elements that make up a garden. Plants, insects, soil, sun, water, birds, butterflies, and of course, the gardener, all work together to create a thriving plot.

I remember as a kid being given carrots, lettuce and tomatoes from the people who lived on the north side of my family home. My parents would talk over the fence with the people there (the Sandfords) and share stories and say thanks. On the south side we exchanged friendly greetings and talk of the weather mingled with comments about how the gardens were doing that year. It felt safe and warm.

Later, I was the volunteer coordinator for the Regent Street Community Garden. This garden had a similar feel. There were nine plots in all. Each spring when the gardeners first met to plan that year's garden, you could feel the relationships renew. There was so much more than the anticipation of fresh produce. The garden is located in a park that overlooks McVicar's Creek and in the distance you can see the Harbour and the Sleeping Giant, aka, Sibley Peninsula.

The community garden was a place that I looked forward to visiting, even if I was just looking. When other gardeners were there, we talked about many things: cabbage and sealing wax, carrots and kings. When I was alone, I was not actually alone, for the work of others was all around me and the birds and butterflies kept me company. It was a great spot to just sit and watch nature be.

In our new home, I have begun the search for kindred spirits and a space for our own community Eden. It is time to get back to the garden.