SUNDRE — Local green thumbs recently began enthusiastically preparing their plots and planting seeds in the community garden.
“I heard from a few gardeners that they were so happy that the garden was a go so they could be outside and meet other people, at a safe distance of course,” said Renate de Bruijn, community outreach coordinator with the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society.
“They have started seeding and putting sheep manure in and things like that,” de Bruijn said last week.
The provincial government had previously announced that community gardens would be granted the green light to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As it is a gathering, any community garden or related program is not prohibited by the chief medical officer of health,” Justin Laurence, acting press secretary to Devin Dreeshen, the minister of agriculture and forestry, confirmed late in April.
Laurence added community gardens must comply with sanitation and safety measures outlined by the government.
“Risk mitigation strategies, like ensuring anyone sick does not attend, need to be implemented,” he said.
Following an organizational meeting on Wednesday, May 6, de Bruijn said people who had “applied for a plot were allowed to start working their beds.”
The first growing season was in 2015, and every year since a meeting was held in March to allocate the plots, followed later towards the end of April by a site clean-up, she said.
Of course due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers did not know for sure until the end of April whether they would even be able to go ahead with the community garden, she said.
“I’m glad we were able to go ahead with it, because it’s a good thing on different levels.”
When she spoke with The Albertan, only one out of 28 plots remained available, and there were a total of 18 participating gardeners.
Aside from providing a little additional food security for growers, community gardens not only offer an opportunity to get some light exercise as well as fresh air, but also a chance to chat with other people — carrying a conversation is still easy even when separated by six or more feet. All of this is beneficial to one’s mental health, she said.
Although some gardeners withdrew their registrations earlier this season — either as a result of the pandemic or simply through having access to gardening space elsewhere — others were glad for the opportunity and did not hesitate to get involved, she said.
“Gardeners had to a sign an agreement to follow all the COVID-19 criteria, just to keep everybody safe and on the same page.”
Regulations include directives for anyone who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19, or who has been exposed to the virus, to stay home for a 14-day period of self isolation. The same applies to those who have recently returned from travel abroad, she said.
“Everyone in the garden must maintain physical distancing of six feet at all times unless you’re gardening with members of same household,” she added.
Best sanitary practices are also encouraged, with gardeners advised to bring their own tools instead of borrowing them from the community garden’s shed, she said.
Additionally, a community chores list includes cutting the grass at the site with a provided mower that must be disinfected before and after use, she said.
