The Burnaby Village Museum wants to know what local residents are growing in their backyards to help create a new demonstration garden on the museum grounds.
The garden will showcase the kinds of food that can be grown locally, while highlighting the connection to Burnaby's history of growing food.
"I'm really interested in stories of history that show continuity between the past and the present," said the museum's Lisa Codd. "We're interested in showing this land that is Burnaby has a capacity to grow food. It had the capacity in the past, and it has the capacity in the present."
From First Nations to settlers, Burnaby has long been a place where locals have grown their own food, Codd pointed out. In times of scarcity during the Depression and the Second World War, backyard gardens offered some semblance of food security. Today, there are still local, commercial farms, but there were many more in the past, Codd explained.
"In terms of the backyard, definitely an early draw to moving to Burnaby was to purchase a big enough plot of land to have a garden and raise animals."
Museum staff will start planting the large plot in April, and the garden should be ready by May. Codd described the space as a giant box in a meadow on the museum grounds.
People will be able to stop by the museum and talk to staff and gardeners to learn tips on growing their own food.
The museum wants to hear what Burnaby residents grow, how they use it, how they preserve it and how they cook it. Codd is expecting beans and tomatoes as suggestions, but she's also interested in more varied items from other cultures.
The museum is in talks with a food bank to donate the produce.
If you have some suggestions for the demonstration garden, call Codd at 604-297-4542.
