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Community garden must move by summer’s end

The Barrhead Community Garden will have to be moved by the end of the current growing season, as the Town of Barrhead wishes to use the land where it is located for future development.
Community Garden 1
The sign near the front of the Barrhead Community Garden lists all the sponsors who have donated to the garden over the years. The 76-plot garden must move by the end of the current season.

The Barrhead Community Garden will have to be moved by the end of the current growing season, as the Town of Barrhead wishes to use the land where it is located for future development.

Following an in-camera session at their July 10 meeting, town councillors passed a motion to send a letter to the Community Garden committee indicating the garden must be re-located.

The letter does suggest an alternate site, but that location was not disclosed to the Barrhead Leader as there are still some negotiations being carried out with the current owner.

The Community Garden is currently located on the western side of town, just north of the apartment buildings along 53rd Street and south of the Shepherd’s Care facility.

Town of Barrhead CAO Martin Taylor said they had purchased five acres from the Schneider family several years ago, with the idea that it could be the future home of the Barrhead Aquatics Centre.

While the Aquatics Centre ended up being built beside the Agrena, the town eventually bought up the entire parcel of 14 acres and gifting some of it to the Community Garden.

Although there’s no immediate need for the land, Taylor said the town thought they should find a more permanent spot for the garden “because at some point, some development will definitely occur there.”

He added, “We’re not in a big hurry, but we’re going to work with them … and we’ll find them a new home.”

Marilyn Flock, who has been involved with the community garden since the beginning, said the town’s request came as a bit of a shock.

“I was hoping they would develop around us, there’s no doubt about that, just because the location is so prime for so many people,” she said.

Flock said the community garden’s current location is close enough for seniors from Shepherd’s Care and the nearby apartment buildings to come over and tend plots.

As well, many hours of work have gone into preparing the soil, putting up fences, establishing raised beds for gardeners with physical disabilities and so forth.

That said, Flock acknowledged that it is ultimately the town’s property, and at least they are proposing an alternate location.

How the garden grew

Flock said the Barrhead Community Garden has been in its current location for five years now.

The idea behind the community garden was to bring together people who had an agricultural background, like old farmers who missed tending the soil, and get them talking and interacting with urban people, she said.

It was also meant to draw the community back together. For the most part, Flock said they accomplished both goals.

“It’s a real community thing. Lots of people talk and enjoy each other’s company there,” she said. “I think we’ve done quite a bit for the community.”

Besides offering a way for people to grow their own food and interact with each other, it’s also been a learning resource, as local school classes come over to the garden for educational purposes she said.

When the garden started out, there were 52 plots. That number has grown to 76, not including a couple of plots reserved for growing food for the Food Bank.

Although there are larger community gardens in Red Deer, those are tended and maintained by the city itself. For that reason, Flock said Barrhead’s project is regarded as the largest volunteer-based community garden in Alberta.

“A couple of tours have come through from other towns (to see our garden). We’ve kind of been the envy of them,” she said.

Not only are there people tending the garden who rent out the individual plots, but Flock said there are about 14 volunteers “that are helping us with weeding and stuff like that who don’t even have plots in the garden.”’

There is no running water out at the garden, so initially, the County of Barrhead had to truck water to the site. These days, the county and town split the responsibility.

Numerous local organizations and businesses have donated to the garden; their garden shed and much of their garden tools were donated by Pembina West Co-op and the Neerlandia Co-op.

The gazebo was also built by the students at Barrhead Composite High School, as were the wooden flowers that adorn the fences.

As well, they have received about $13,500 in grants over the years from the Community Initiatives Program, the TD Friends of the Environment program and Fortis Alberta.

Flock noted that although they may have an alternate location for the community garden, the volunteers will still have to discuss whether they want to start the project all over again.

She stressed that it took a lot of work, including laying peat down by hand, just to get the garden ready for growing.

“It’s not just one year’s worth of work; it’s three or four by the time you get that soil built up, with all the extra stuff that you have to put in it to make it garden ready,” she said. “That’s if you’ve got some decent soil to start with.”

Luckily, they have a lot of the stuff they need to re-build the garden. If they had to start from scratch, Flock noted, the project probably wouldn’t go ahead.

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