- by Melanie Knapp

The community garden is a wonderful place in the community. Some skilled gardeners are turning their skills in the soil as they dig and weed and plant and harvest. Diversity in the garden means different ages, genders and cultural backgrounds. There are about forty raised beds. What caught my eye when I first started to enter were the pear trees. There are a variety of pear trees and they look so sweet… their branches moving sideways to create designs of pretty textures.

As you enter there are a couple of entrances. One has a hand-washing station but this is not just a place, to not get illness but it is a place to boost health through sharing in a community some co-operative work while gardening an individual garden, and nourishing self and others with vegetables and herbs.

My friend has a garden plot in this place. She takes her work there seriously. Years of gardening have made her efforts easier and I have learned from her as I have helped her with her garden. Then she graciously gave me tomatoes, peppers, parsley, kale, Swiss chard and chives and other wonderful delicious foods from the earth and air…..

The sunlight helps the plants grow and the rain gives them water. I also got to water the food sometimes. Is it food when it’s still growing or is it plants? I wonder.

Other friends helped with the garden in their own considerate yet powerful ways. I was able to bring my guitar to the labyrinth located beside the gardens. This is a nice place to visit if you are looking for a nice resting or interesting place to see. With the guitar I sang to the plants… and the trees… and the garden itself. With the guitar…. People came, oh so quietly and oh so distantly and oh so considerately.

The grants, the set up, the managerial work, the atmosphere and the sharing have been so important to the workings of this garden. The greens of plants that change from day to day are emotional to watch. The activity of a garden is more exciting than you would think. Living with the life around you can be an enthusiasm that helps you from season to season.

Forests regenerate…. Gardens regenerate… sometimes systems in the earth like the communication properties of fungi in the earth....helping the earth and the plants to know how to grow and the forests use this knowledge for growth. I’m sure the steady earth energies of rocks and clay and waters help with this knowledge of growth as well.

The gardens in this Owen Sound Community used to be a tennis court. The court for many years was run down and unused. I often wondered how this space could be used. As a person who has some past history as a Presqu’ile Camp Counselor, Program Manager and Director in Owen Sound (I welcome you to see my Presqu’ile facebook page), I like to remember the way I would imagine what this space could be. I can’t remember what I thought it could be. Maybe a park or a reused items store or an artistic structure… but the community here was smart to provide this space as a community garden. This garden was the idea that is for the best as it is able to feed people in spirit and body, some who otherwise, wouldn’t get fresh foods.

In the future perhaps there will be a place with give-aways for people passing by who may not have access to fresh foods. In the future perhaps there may be a display of some of the biology of the foods and the growth. In the future perhaps there may be some Indigenous welcoming to the gardens. In the future perhaps there may be some gentleness and consideration as people grow the yield of a summer’s harvest.

A special thanks to my encouraging friend for inviting me to help her harvest her garden. The salads were delicious… and my immune system improved a lot. I write so that you will feel blessed or happy that our community has a garden because I know I certainly do feel happy and blessed. Perhaps you will garden there next year. Please contact CMHA for information about a garden space for yourself and visit the labyrinth park space for a nice restful and peaceful time in nature.