Tucked away in the town’s north end, one local initiative has been helping dozens of families in town learn more about the food they eat, appreciate the hard work and skill that goes into gardening, and become more connected to the planet we call home.
The Fort Frances Community Garden, located along Lillie Avenue North, is a well-attended project that provides garden beds to local individuals and families, helping them to grow their own vegetables, fruits and flowers for personal use. The beds allow families to supplement their own food, putting fresh and nutritious offerings onto the table at a time when more and more people are struggling to afford the daily costs of life.
Elaine Fisher works for the Northwestern Health Unit, who are one of the partners who has helped oversee the Community Garden as a project over the years, alongside the United Native Friendship Centre, Fort Frances Horticultural Society, Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre, Metis Nation of Ontario and more. Fisher noted that since the garden’s first year of operation in 2011, the demand for space, as well as the space available to demand, has continued to grow.
“The garden is going great,” Fisher said.
“The demand continues to exceed the availability of plots and raised beds. We’ve been trying to work on that every year. We’ve been expanding bit by bit as we get funding and as we have capacity to do it.We have over 140 plots available to the community now. We started with eight raised beds and 20-some ground plots.”
The Community Garden also provides local youth a chance to learn more about gardening and their own food supply. The Community Garden has held a Kid’s Garden Club each year since 2013, and Fisher noted the club routinely fills up quickly, leaving a waitlist. With the garden itself seeing a waitlist, the drive to continue to build out each year remains a priority, and Fisher said the increased demand year over year can have a number of driving factors behind it.
“Some people are looking for more space,” she said.
“I don’t know if it’s the cost of food and they want to try to grow a little bit more of their own fresh food. That’s one factor for sure, but we’re seeing more demographics. We’re seeing more younger folks, and in previous years the raised beds have primarily been for older adults with limitations, and we’re seeing a variety of a ages now, which is great.”
Kristina Bragg, a user of the Community Garden, said her plot helps to keep her family fed, as well as pass along their good harvests to support others in the community.
“The community garden is an important space and service to help provide fresh food to those who otherwise may not have access to it,” Bragg said.
“Having few options for affordable fresh produce is common in our community. It brings people together and provides an excellent learning opportunity for all involved. Just our family alone saved around $600 last summer on produce. We were able to donate extras to neighbours, and teach our children about self sustainability and nutrition.”
In order to try to provide a space for as many families as possible, the garden now limits plots to two per household. Fisher said sometimes this winds up being a kids plot for the younger members of the family and then an additional ground plot or raised bed to grow more.
When it comes to what people are growing at the Fort Frances Community Garden, Fisher said the fruits, veggies and flowers that are on display each year runs the gamut from everyday essential to rare or unusual heirloom varieties.
“We’ve had black tomatoes,” she said.
“We’ve had quite a variety of tomatoes. We’ve had the purple carrots. All kinds of the common peas, beans, carrots, to different varieties. We have some flowers for pollination. We still discourage potatoes because of potato bugs. It’s hard in that communal setting, if one person has potato bugs, it’s difficult to keep them contained.”
Working on the garden plots also provides a social benefit to members. Garden user Judy Webster says the time spent on the garden with her husband allows them to get to meet, and trade tips with, other garden enthusiasts.
“It’s a wonderful pastime to share and watch the fruits of our labor grow and enjoy the finished product and share with friends,’ Webster said.
“Also it’s enjoyable meeting other gardeners and share tips and ideas. Very sociable time. We like giving back and thats why both my husband and I volunteered to help with the mowing of the community garden.”
The garden also provides another benefit to local gardeners who otherwise struggle with the town’s population of deer. Though elegant to behold, those trying to grow much of anything in town are intimately familiar with their voracious appetites, often reducing a good sized garden to nothing but nibbled stalks. The Community Garden is fenced in, which Fisher said helps to keep the pesky cervids away from the garden’s bounties. Going forward, the garden plans to improve its fencing to help keep the deer and other pests out, and continue to work on expanding plots. Another new initiative is to encourage gardeners to till their greens back into the beds to promote healthier soil, or to use the garden’s compost bins to benefit other garden beds with rich, nutrient-dense compost.
The Fort Frances Community Garden is gearing up for another busy season, and while there may currently be a waitlist, those interested in learning more about the garden can visit the website at ffcommunitygarden.com.
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