It's been a long time coming, but Burnaby's Lindy McQueen is ready to offer Edmonds residents something they've been waiting for: a space to grow their own food.
Thanks to a partnership with local homes for people with disabilities, McQueen is able to offer the public community gardening plots while creating a more inclusive community.
"I'm so looking forward to having happy gardeners," McQueen told the NOW. "It's something that's been wanted in the area for a long time, and I'm so excited we've worked our way through the avenues to get here."
McQueen's group EPIC, which stands for Edmonds People In Community, is hosting an upcoming meeting on how residents can sign up for community garden plots at local homes for people with disabilities. The Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion and posAbilities run the residences, which have spare gardening spaces opening to the public.
McQueen is expecting the partnership to help strengthen community ties.
"People garden together, and they share tips and they just get to know each other. To me, it creates friendships and takes away fear of the unknown," McQueen said.
Edmonds residents have wanted community gardening space for years, McQueen explained, and there was some talk of a garden at the new Edmonds Community Centre, but the plan never materialized. The high demand is why McQueen decided to make gardening a priority for EPIC, which she formed with her husband in 2013.
At the upcoming meeting, McQueen will talk about the first round of plots up for grabs at the Goodlad garden, located at a posAbilities home on Sixth and Goodlad streets.
The partnership is part of a larger program called Can You Dig It, run by Brooke Oxley from posAbilities.
Can You Dig It is responsible for roughly half of Burnaby's 18 community gardens, all of which are in high demand.
According to Oxley, Can You Dig It started about five years ago to address two issues: community inclusion and food security.
"The idea was to start community gardens in the backyards of group homes, to engage the neighbourhood, liven up the space and just bring people together," Oxley said. "Ultimately, it benefits everybody. It builds a resiliency in the neighbourhood - the idea of people coming together and learning new skills from each other."
For the most part, many people live in areas where they don't know their neighbours, Oxley said.
"It's important for people to get to know each other and for strangers to become neighbours," she said.
The EPIC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb., 18, at 7 p.m. at the Tommy Douglas library branch at 7311 Kingsway. The Goodlad garden contains a dozen plots, a compost, grapevines and a greenhouse. One plot will be reserved for the residents, another for the food bank, and the rest are available to the general public. The raised beds are roughly four by eight feet. Gardening applicants should live in the Edmonds area and must maintain their plots and attend a few work parties throughout the year and two potluck celebrations. There will be chances to mix and mingle with residents at some of the special events held throughout the year.
For more information on the upcoming EPIC meeting, email [email protected] or visit www.epiccommunity.ca.
