When I first moved here almost four years ago, Pacific Gardens did not look like a garden - it looked like the Gobi desert.
My moving van got stuck in a dust-filled rut trying to reach my door. Clouds of brown dust hung over the grounds. Not a flower or blade of grass could be seen.
But now I look out and see a clover-studded green lawn, berry-laden bushes, and garden beds full of lettuce, kale, chard and other veggies.
Flowers of every colour and description appear in profusion - red, orange, yellow, mauve, white - with purple lavender in each front garden.
It took the work of many green thumbs to make this a green place, and a great deal of determination to make it so beautiful.
We were not well-served by those who were supposed to help us build Pacific Gardens and create our landscaping.
An unscrupulous contractor took away the rich topsoil from the years of farming on our site to another development they were working on nearby.
The thin soil that they left was littered with stones, sticks, and bits of plastic and debris left over from the construction.
The person hired to lay down a form of permanent rye grass for our lawn gave us a variety that grew faster than weeds - and had some in it.
Plants were put in the wrong place. Those that needed strong sunlight were put in shaded areas, those that needed a dark, cool place were placed in hot sunny ones.
Some died; others had strange blights or diseases. Some were just wrong for what we wanted, which were indigenous and food-producing plants.
For a lot of people, this could have been really discouraging. For our Pacific Gardeners, it was a challenge - and one they met.
They planted, they weeded, they watered, they mowed, they mulched, they moved plants and shrubs and even trees.
They composted with a vengeance. They called on friends in Nanaimo and beyond for donations of manure and straw and grass clippings and leaves.
The city of Nanaimo donated a small mountain of topsoil, which took many, many full wheelbarrows and shovels to move to the garden beds.
Kaj built a roomy shed for all the tools and equipment, making sure not to disturb a bird's nest that got built inside while he was constructing it!
The result of all that hard work is plain to see, with a herb garden, raised beds, vegetables galore, a plethora of flowers, and happy birds and bees too.
As a non-gardener, I have observed this happening, and am awed and incredibly grateful for the transformation of what was a desert into a blooming garden.
To all the green thumbs at Pacific Gardens, thank you so much!
This is just another reason why I love living here.
Kathryn
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sowing Seeds of Community
When I was at the Harvest Festival 10 days ago, someone left a Fall and Winter Gardening Guide put out by West Coast Seeds on the Pacific Gardens display table.
Intrigued, I brought it home to take a look, hoping to get some understanding of what's involved in gardening, and in particular, growing your own food - since I know almost nothing about the subject.
Wow - it was amazing! Page after page of detailed instructions on when, how and where to plant everything from arugula to turnips, and how to do overwintering, heirloom, spring, summer, fall and winter harvest gardens.
Then there were all the cover crops, the sprouters and the microgreens, not to mention the equipment with strange names such as soil blockers, cloche tunnels and cold frames, which help plants grow.
It made me understand why my neighbour Chad is a midnight gardener during the growing season, and why he works so hard. Last night at a meeting on gardening I also found out why he is so committed to this.
He - as do most of us - sees that in the not too-distant future we will face economic collapse due to the destruction of the environment and the effects of climate change.
That's scary. But the way to deal with this is to become as self-sufficient as possible, and food production will be crucial to our survival. That we could all understand.
But I also found out that other members of our community, like myself, have concerns about how this was being expressed. What if your heart is in doing other kinds of community work besides gardening, both within and without Pacific Gardens?
Are you a second-class citizen if you are passionate about social justice, and want to give voice to those who are marginalized, or are a young Mum with the big responsibility of small children to care for? Is what you do less worthy?
This was a tough issue for us to wrestle with, and our community members spent two hours trying to understand the ramifications. To say we were tired and stressed-out by the end of it would be an understatement!
But it was important work. We were sowing the seeds of community, building up the inner gardens of our hearts and minds, and that, just like growing our own food, will take a great deal of time and commitment.
We will keep sowing, and one day we will have a rich harvest for all of us.
Kathryn
Intrigued, I brought it home to take a look, hoping to get some understanding of what's involved in gardening, and in particular, growing your own food - since I know almost nothing about the subject.
Wow - it was amazing! Page after page of detailed instructions on when, how and where to plant everything from arugula to turnips, and how to do overwintering, heirloom, spring, summer, fall and winter harvest gardens.
Then there were all the cover crops, the sprouters and the microgreens, not to mention the equipment with strange names such as soil blockers, cloche tunnels and cold frames, which help plants grow.
It made me understand why my neighbour Chad is a midnight gardener during the growing season, and why he works so hard. Last night at a meeting on gardening I also found out why he is so committed to this.
He - as do most of us - sees that in the not too-distant future we will face economic collapse due to the destruction of the environment and the effects of climate change.
That's scary. But the way to deal with this is to become as self-sufficient as possible, and food production will be crucial to our survival. That we could all understand.
But I also found out that other members of our community, like myself, have concerns about how this was being expressed. What if your heart is in doing other kinds of community work besides gardening, both within and without Pacific Gardens?
Are you a second-class citizen if you are passionate about social justice, and want to give voice to those who are marginalized, or are a young Mum with the big responsibility of small children to care for? Is what you do less worthy?
This was a tough issue for us to wrestle with, and our community members spent two hours trying to understand the ramifications. To say we were tired and stressed-out by the end of it would be an understatement!
But it was important work. We were sowing the seeds of community, building up the inner gardens of our hearts and minds, and that, just like growing our own food, will take a great deal of time and commitment.
We will keep sowing, and one day we will have a rich harvest for all of us.
Kathryn
Sunday, November 30, 2008
It takes a village to raise an adult
On Saturday I attended a forum about food security in Nanaimo. At the turn of the (previous) century, Vancouver Island produced 85% of its food locally. Now only 5% of the island's food needs are met locally. This is astonishing if you consider that we have a mild climate that allows us to grow winter greens and that the ocean also is a source of food.
The City of Nanaimo has quite a progressive attitude towards local food production. Municipal bylaws allow the growing of vegetables in front yards. They encourage real estate developers to plant edible landscapes. City parks and school playgrounds have some space set aside for community gardens.
Although there are some community gardeners doing stellar work, not all of the space that the City makes freely available is used. In addition to that, local farmers wish more Nanaimo residents would buy their groceries from farmers' markets.
One of the obstacles that became apparent during the discussions was the general population's loss of skills. In the past, say about 50 years ago, it was common for people to grow some of their own food, to store some types of fruits and vegetables in root cellars, to can other types of produce, and to cook recipes that employed seasonal plants.
But, after the Second World War, social and economic trends tempted people to rely more and more on convenience foods and on foods that had been imported from distant climatic zones.
I am a prime example of that. When I moved from Africa to Canada just over thirty years ago, I was able to keep right on buying oranges, bananas, avocados, etc.
But earlier this year the province of British Columbia introduced a tax on carbon-based fuels like gasoline, diesel, natural gas and home heating fuel. People are starting to re-think their habits and to ask themselves if they can do things differently. It turns out that efforts to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels overlap very nicely with the concept of increasing our level of food security.
At the food security forum there also were representatives of Vancouver Island Health Authority. They were talking about the staggering rise in the rate of diabetes in Canada, the health benefits of eating vegetables and the exercise that gardening provided.
The people who already were involved with community gardens reported what a lot of fun it was to work together. They said that all aspects of food production and consumption -- gardening, harvesting, canning, cooking and eating -- were so much more enjoyable when they carried them out in each others' company. This testified to a fact of which most of us are aware at some level, namely, that food helps us to come together and celebrate.
I then recognized that we at Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community already were carrying out some of the suggestions at the food security forum and already had plans to carry out the remaining suggestions once we moved into our apartment complex.
Once we're living there, we intend to have organic vegetable gardens and an orchard.
But, in the mean time, those who know how to cook seasonal fruits and vegetables have been sharing their recipes with those who didn't know how to do so. At our potluck dinner last Friday night, we enjoyed a delicious meal that focused mainly on fall and winter vegetables.
After we'd cleared the table, we returned to it. About half of us strung popcorn so that we could have environmentally friendly Chrismtas decorations (that we would feed to the birds after Christmas). The other half of us wrote Christmas cards to the friends of our community.
As we did all this, we were sharing stories and telling jokes. I felt so warm and fuzzy. In looking back on it, I realize that some of my behaviours had changed for the better, and it hadn't taken anyone wagging their finger at me (or my feeling guilty) in order for me to switch.
The City of Nanaimo has quite a progressive attitude towards local food production. Municipal bylaws allow the growing of vegetables in front yards. They encourage real estate developers to plant edible landscapes. City parks and school playgrounds have some space set aside for community gardens.
Although there are some community gardeners doing stellar work, not all of the space that the City makes freely available is used. In addition to that, local farmers wish more Nanaimo residents would buy their groceries from farmers' markets.
One of the obstacles that became apparent during the discussions was the general population's loss of skills. In the past, say about 50 years ago, it was common for people to grow some of their own food, to store some types of fruits and vegetables in root cellars, to can other types of produce, and to cook recipes that employed seasonal plants.
But, after the Second World War, social and economic trends tempted people to rely more and more on convenience foods and on foods that had been imported from distant climatic zones.
I am a prime example of that. When I moved from Africa to Canada just over thirty years ago, I was able to keep right on buying oranges, bananas, avocados, etc.
But earlier this year the province of British Columbia introduced a tax on carbon-based fuels like gasoline, diesel, natural gas and home heating fuel. People are starting to re-think their habits and to ask themselves if they can do things differently. It turns out that efforts to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels overlap very nicely with the concept of increasing our level of food security.
At the food security forum there also were representatives of Vancouver Island Health Authority. They were talking about the staggering rise in the rate of diabetes in Canada, the health benefits of eating vegetables and the exercise that gardening provided.
The people who already were involved with community gardens reported what a lot of fun it was to work together. They said that all aspects of food production and consumption -- gardening, harvesting, canning, cooking and eating -- were so much more enjoyable when they carried them out in each others' company. This testified to a fact of which most of us are aware at some level, namely, that food helps us to come together and celebrate.
I then recognized that we at Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community already were carrying out some of the suggestions at the food security forum and already had plans to carry out the remaining suggestions once we moved into our apartment complex.
Once we're living there, we intend to have organic vegetable gardens and an orchard.
But, in the mean time, those who know how to cook seasonal fruits and vegetables have been sharing their recipes with those who didn't know how to do so. At our potluck dinner last Friday night, we enjoyed a delicious meal that focused mainly on fall and winter vegetables.
After we'd cleared the table, we returned to it. About half of us strung popcorn so that we could have environmentally friendly Chrismtas decorations (that we would feed to the birds after Christmas). The other half of us wrote Christmas cards to the friends of our community.
As we did all this, we were sharing stories and telling jokes. I felt so warm and fuzzy. In looking back on it, I realize that some of my behaviours had changed for the better, and it hadn't taken anyone wagging their finger at me (or my feeling guilty) in order for me to switch.
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