Community garden proposal to germinate in spring

CHARLOTTE PETRIE

Plans for a community garden have finally taken root after more than a year of intense work by members of the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society.

Since pitching the idea to an enthusiastic council in 2001, the society has been quietly, but tirelessly working away at its goal to create a place where people can gather, and plants and friendships can grow.

The group firmly believes in the therapeutic benefits of growing things and the learning-friendly environment a common garden creates in a community. And that’s a quality the group feels is especially important in a community like Iqaluit, where part of the population is seasonal, and where cultural diversity shines as brilliant as marigolds in summer.

The group’s vision involves an indoor greenhouse the size of a hockey arena with space for 80 to 100 plots, a separate potting shed, classrooms, lockers, a stage area for theatrical performances and a cafeteria-style gathering place.

Along with the help of a consultant, the group is tossing around four possible locations, the most likely of which is near the city’s power plant. This particular location is currently favoured in part because of its proximity to the downtown core

A feasibility study completed by the consultant in 2002 also identified a number of user groups, and the list is long. The group hopes to attract anyone and everyone, from elders to children, families, medical patients and service clubs.

“You don’t have to come with a rake, you can just talk,” society member Fran Carter assured with a friendly smile.

Fellow member Alison Lee couldn’t agree more.

“It will be a resource for anybody in the community. It’s a creative activity which appeals to any age, and a marvelous tool for teaching school kids about how things grow and learning about tundra plants,” Lee added.

And the learning isn’t intended to be restricted to the plant variety. With classrooms and a theatre stage, the group hopes the garden will grow beyond the walls of the greenhouse to become the soil from which many other passions grow.

Storytelling, art displays and theatrical performance can only enhance the lusciousness of a garden in full bloom.

“It will be a place for breaking down barriers and building friendships,” Lee remarked.

But a lot less-dreamy stuff has to be done before the first seeds can be planted. The group and its consultant have embarked on the second phase of the feasibility study, which includes fine-tuning some of the details determined in phase one, choosing a definitive location, conducting market and cost analyses, researching funding sources and planning the construction phase.

A recent conference attended by members Tanya Smith and Fran Carter, and sponsored by Community Programs of Environment Canada, invoked a new wave of enthusiasm.

“It fueled our imaginations,” Carter said.

“We realized the sky’s the limit,” Smith added.

The conference, “Learning from the Voices of the Soil,” held in Alberta in early March, was attended by about 100 people from across the country. Smith and Carter were part of a group from various northern communities including Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River and Fort Smith.

Delegates listened to speakers describe their experiences in developing a community garden in an inner-city area where 50 per cent of the population is Aboriginal. They told of how they involved the entire community in their project, how they used local talents and materials to minimize costs and create a sense of ownership for those involved.

They also showed how they used their community garden as a place to grow an ethnobotanical garden, which is a place for traditional Aboriginal crops, giving the people an opportunity to learn from the elders.

The Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society has a similar vision and will be holding several events in the next few months to pass their enthusiasm on to others within the community.

A plant swap is being held in the Arctic College staff lounge April 26 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Some cuttings will also be for sale for those who haven’t any slips to swap.

To find out more, attend the public meeting scheduled for May 10, or try the new Web site at iqaluitgreenhouse.com