INNISFAIL – Growing season has officially begun.
Local gardeners and green thumb enthusiasts were at the Innisfail Community Garden for a recent work bee on May 10.
Gardeners were busy preparing their raised beds and plots for the season.
“The community garden officially opens on Monday (May 13). Some people have already planted a little bit so that’s great,” said Marion Davidson, manager of the community garden.
Davidson said mid-May is typically the time of year when people begin tending to their gardens and preparing them by tilling the soil, applying (organic) fertilizer and planting seeds.
For much of Central Alberta, it’s been a cold and damp spring but that hasn’t stopped gardeners from getting to work, she noted.
“People always aim to get their gardens in by the long weekend in May,” said Davidson, noting all of the garden plots and raised beds have been rented for the season. “We have 20 beds and 12 plots.
“We’re a committee of the garden club that runs the community garden,” she added. “We typically offer garden club memberships to all of our gardeners (and renters) here.”
This will be the second year for the community haskap berry or honeyberry bushes at the garden, said Davidson, noting they are hoping for a good crop of them this season.
“They were brand new last year and they take a year or two to get started,” she said. “Any recipe with blueberries, you can use these (honeyberries) as a substitute. They’re an elongated berry and a little bit tart, but when they’re ripe they’re good.”
Colleen Harrison and her husband Don are two new gardeners to the community garden this year.
“I grew up near here and I miss gardening,” said Colleen Harrison. “I used to live on a farm so this is like getting back to the basics.
“We’re planting potatoes, carrots, green beans, lettuce and onions,” she added. “There’s nothing better than watching things grow and enjoying the fresh produce.”
Davidson said the community garden has been popular with local residents over the past several years, particularly with those wanting to support the local food movement.
In addition, there are many benefits to having a garden at the community garden, she noted.
“It’s also exercise, fresh air and community building,” said Davidson, noting this year’s focus on improving the sense of community at the garden.
“People are helping each other and working together for a common good. The honeyberries are everybody’s berries so everybody’s working to look after them and sustain them, which is great,” said Davidson. “That’s what we want to see.”
