New Boundaries in Windsor is a non-profit organization that usually provides learning opportunities for mentally-challenged adults. Now they are opening the garden gates for everyone to participate in their current project and hoping public interest in their new community garden will grow.
Called the "No Boundaries Community Garden", Windsor and county residents are invited to take ownership of one of the 27 raised-bed allotments that will be available this spring on New Boundaries' property. Each space will have wooden boundaries to improve overall garden management, but the project name means there are no restrictions on who can participate.
Working in conjunction with the West Hants / Uniacke Community Health Board, the group recently invited residents to a planning meeting to explain the project and gauge interest. Half of the spaces are now assigned and three additional spaces are being created specifically for New Boundaries to help improve the centre’s nutrition and local food delivery.
Milbury says the idea stemmed from some of the Community Health Board members wanting to support a project that would yield a wide range of health and social benefits for participants. "Gardening is obviously a great way to support physical activity and produce cost-effective healthy, local food. It helps people pay more attention to what they are eating,” says Milbury.
“Participants can share each other’s bounties and knowledge, and also have a great social activity where they are learning as they go.”
It’s also a great opportunity for those who usually engage in solo gardening at home to branch out. “If I am in the garden working by myself sometimes I feel alone and abandon it for some other activity to be with others,” says Milbury.
“You can enjoy tending to your garden while being social and reap all the benefits that go with that.”
Project Co-ordinator Jessica Moore adds some residents may not be able to afford to manage a garden alone, or have a brown thumb and want some mentoring to improve without having to fork over a lot of start up cash. “This is a perfect way for them to dig in,” she says.
Moore also hopes to see some school-age children participating in the project to help raise awareness of nutrition and physical
activity for those children who may not have an interest in sports. “It’s also about helping to grow their confidence. “Growing your own vegetables gives one an enormous sense of accomplishment that
usually comes with the temptation to eat them.”
With a variety of ages participating, the opportunities to share traditional gardening methods rooted in Hants County also increase. “Historically local families are growers. They have a lot of farming and harvesting expertise in their families that would benefit future generations and promote local food security,” said Moore.
The community gardens will be organic, which means no use of any synthetic additive in a raised-bed soil in favour of organic
fertilizers, leaf mould, compost and compost teas to feed the soil. Non-pressure treated lumber will also be used to create the beds and a shed will be constructed to securely store garden tools.
And, yes, the project’s tart-up funding did originate from a Community Development Grant (SEED funds) provided by the community ealth board. A group in Hantsport also got some funding from the board to help establish a community garden near Churchill House. Milbury anticipates the funding will cover a third of the Windsor garden's expected costs so the Centre will be hoping for an influx of financial “green” to cover the rest. The project committee will soon begin consulting with local landscaping companies and suppliers to assess resources and donations in kind. Members of the community are also encouraged to donate materials and garden tools they no longer have a need for.
Contact Sandra Milbury, West Hants/Uniacke Health Board or Jessica Moore at 798-2210 for more information.
Submitted by Heather Desveaux
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