Submitted by
Battlefords Family Health Centre Community Garden Project 2017
As the days are getting shorter, we bring out our sweaters in the morning as we head to the gardens.聽 Harvest and blanching vegetables for the winter months has begun. It is great to look in the fridge and see the abundance of fresh, delicious food options at our fingertips. It makes meal planning and cooking exciting and fun.
In 2017, our garden project involved two classrooms from Connaught Elementary School, Me to We students from Battleford Central School, four groups of summer literacy students from McKitrick School and Battleford Central School and students from the special ed class at North Battleford Comprehensive High School. With these students, our project staff incorporated many land-based learning strategies 鈥� three sisters planting using the four-direction method, incorporating Cree language words and phrases on site signage, planting of traditional tobacco, adding additional plants to the healing garden, and developing a 鈥淧roject of Heart Garden鈥� to honour residential school survivors.
The garden project provided staff with the opportunity to pick traditional berries, pick sweet grass and to attend a sweat. Garden staff was involved in planting a medicine wheel and tipi flower gardens.
On site events included local and regional guest speakers on a variety of topics and hands on learning such as rock painting, basket making, and learning about arrowheads.聽
The project also supported food security issues by supporting The Lighthouse Homeless Shelter participants, Friendship Centre and Friendship Centre Housing First initiative, Kids First, Catholic Family Services, Prairie North Health Region Mental Health Day Treatment Program, North Town Food Ministries, Mental Health Group Home participants and immigrant families.
We had four cherry trees donated by four mystery youth 鈥� who we were told sold lemonade to raise money for the cherry trees, which they in turn came and planted, watered and nurtured at the Battleford garden location.
This year, our in-kind and new partnerships grew. By growing partnerships this allows the community a better understanding about the community garden project and that it is more than just growing a garden. By having previous partners/donors provide repeat support this shows us that they continue to see the benefits that such a project delivers to the community and the people in it.
Besides addressing physical activity, diabetes prevention, access to healthy foods and opportunities for learning how to grow our own foods, participants supplement their budgets with produce they might not normally purchase because of the cost. The gardens have turned run down lots into green spaces and provided habitat for birds, animals, insects etc. The garden project offered dedicated outreach workers who continue to work to improve the gardens and green spaces that have been created. Garden outreach staff were also responsible to plan, prepare and deliver weekly events that brought garden participants together for a free meal and fun activity.
