The 2024 growing season brought both familiar favourites and new elements to Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere (GBB) staff and our hearty group of community gardeners. With nine Community Gardens across the region once again supported by the Biosphere, staff happily spent a considerable amount of time “in the weeds”.
The Community Garden’s welcomed several new faces this year. Each community garden plot is free, but a portion (20% or more) is donated to local food programs. There was tremendous help from a dedicated volunteer, Violet Elvy, age 10, who showed up each week to help with GBB’s plots and some other garden maintenance.
Spring in the Biosphere started off wetter than usual this year. Too much rain and not enough sunlight made it difficult for many common fruits and veggies to rebound, with many hobby gardeners commenting on smaller plants, lower yields, and an above-average crop of weeds. While this did mean lower total produce donations from the gardens, over 200 pounds of produce was collected and donated from just four community gardens! In the motivational words of volunteer Violet, “Don’t give up if it gets hard, the reward is delicious!”.
This year also saw relaxed rules around social gathering at the Community Gardens, and allowed us to start putting the ‘community’ back into Community Gardening. Several “Garden Parties” were held where gardeners were able to connect with neighbours over plants, recipes, seeds, and more. A new annual tradition in the gardens to be sure!
In keeping with accelerating social activities, this year also saw the reintroduction of the Eat Around the Sound (EATS) workshop series. Dozens of people have attended the late summer and early fall workshops, with more scheduled for November and December. This annual series is dedicated to enhancing a variety of food and garden skills and knowledge – from backyard hens and foraging for mushrooms to sourdough and growing garlic, there is something for everyone.
GBB’s food and gardening programs contribute to sustainable food systems, an important part of being a UNESCO biosphere region. A key factor of sustainable food systems is knowledge sharing and building capacity for people to grow their own food.
