Harvesting Memories
When I was young, we went to my grandparent’s house on weekends. We would spend our days in the garden. This was part of our family’s spring and summer ritual. We began by planting seeds in the spring. Then later in the early summer, I would help grandma pick the ripe produce from the garden. I recall her spending about 5-10 minutes showing me how to gently twist and pull the carrots out of the ground by grasping the top of the carrot at the base of its leafy stalk. This way, I didn’t end up with just the greens and no carrot. They were always so patient as it took me many tries to get it right. It was a wonderful memory and every time I bite into a ripe garden-fresh carrot or crunch on some garden-fresh peas all those memories flood right back. It’s always so comforting, at the same time, healthy.
Gone are the days where everyone has the privilege of having a backyard garden, let alone time to leisurely work in it. However, the nutrition that comes from fresh produce, grown in mineral-rich soil, is still important. Farmer’s markets and community gardens are springing up around greater Vancouver to provide these essential services to many communities. We touched on this idea in our last local food production episode, Community Garden Builders. However, time is still a challenge. Many people who are immobile, mobility restricted, or not able to access these gardens or markets are sometimes left out. That is where the Edible Garden Project comes in. They are a charitable non-profit organization that has many initiatives such as their sharing gardens hosted in 5 community garden locations around North Vancouver. These sharing gardens reach those who cannot access the fresh produce benefits many other community members have become used to.
In 2005, the Edible Garden Project was created by a coalition of representatives such as Vancouver Coastal Health, the North Shore Neighourhood House, municipal governments, other community agencies, and volunteers. The idea was based on an access gap to fresh produce discovered in a Vancouver Coastal Health food security survey.
A year later, the first sharing garden was born. From that time onward, the Edible Garden Project grew from an idea to promote food security on the North Shore to facilitating over 5 sharing gardens, 1 urban agricultural space, called Loutet Farm, all while hosting a variety of workshops, volunteers drop-ins, as well as sponsoring internships. At the same time, the Edible Garden Project helps to educate people of all ages on how to grow, harvest, and benefit from growing food locally.
Theresa K. Howell
In this episode, See ChangeMAKERS talks with Claire McGillivray from the EDIBLE GARDEN PROJECT. She discussed the project, some of their initiatives, and how they have been managing during COVID-19.
Listen to the extended interview in the podcast.
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