People across the country are turning to gardening in response to Covid 19. Seed companies have seen demand surge as people stock up on seeds ahead of the coming growing season. While the primary motivation may be to grow food, gardening can also be a grounding and healing activity in anxious and unpredictable times.
There is a tradition of returning to home gardening in times of upheaval and need. Both WWI and WWII saw the widespread adoption of Victory Gardens. At that time, governments urged citizens to grow as much food as possible in their own gardens, as a way to support the wartime effort and boost morale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden).
More recently, the concept of victory gardens has been applied to dealing with climate change through Climate Victory Gardens (https://www.greenamerica.org/climatevictorygarden).
In order to support individuals and families in their gardening, Kristine Hammel of Persephone Market Garden is offering monthly garden workshops. Kristine has operated a market garden near Allenford for the past 10 years. She had originally planned to offer the series to support garden clubs (groups of neighbours, friends, family gardening together) and have garden club members take turns hosting workshops in their own gardens.
Under the new reality, an in-person approach is currently not possible, so the series is moving online. “Gardening teaches us that we have to be flexible and adaptable!” says Kristine. In April, she is offering two workshops: One on planning a garden and a second on soil, compost and starting seeds. Workshops are 2 hours in length and limited to 20 participants each. “I love gardening! And so I would like others to have fun while growing their own food.” Each workshop costs $35. There will be 2 pay-what-you-can spots available in each session. More information is available on the Persephone Market Garden website http://www.persephonemarketgarden.ca/gardening-workshops.
Persephone Market Garden is a small, family farm that grows veggies, lots of trees, 3 small kids and big dreams about regenerating soils, ecosystems and communities.
Contact: Kristine Hammel [email protected]
