Community gardens are a success – city hall wants to know where the fourth one should be located.

News 100 greenBy Staff

February 18, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

Burlington has had community gardens ever since Michelle Bennett and Amy Schnurr delegated to city council for support in creating a garden back in behind the library and the Seniors’ Centre on New Street.

BurlingtonGreen's Michelle Bennett pacing off the size of each lot in the Community Garden that will open this Saturday.

Michelle Bennett pacing off the size of each lot in the Community Garden that opened in WHEN

The garden was a hit from the Get Go – every politician that wanted to get their picture taken was there.
The public seemed to want them and so the city began spending some of the tax dollars it collects asking people where they would like to see community gardens set up.

There are currently three community gardens in the city: Amherst Park Community GardenFeatures: 28 ground based plots, two wheelchair-accessible plots, water, street parking, full sun, storage shed, security fence, proximity to playground.

Schnurr-Stewart-Peachy-1024x805

Amy Schnurr proselytizing for community gardens.

Central Park Community Garden; Features: 28 ground plots, two wheelchair accessible plots, parking, washrooms, water, full sun, storage shed, security fence, proximity to playground.

Francis Road Bikeway Community Garden; Features: 20 ground based plots, two wheelchair accessible plots, street parking on Warwick Drive, water, full sun, storage shed, security fence.   There are no public washroom facilities at this garden location.

The City did one of their online survey to help gather input from the public about the location of the city’s next community garden.
“The city currently has three community gardens, which have been very well received by gardeners and the surrounding neighbours,” said Rob Peachey, manager of parks and open spaces. “The city is now seeking input about the location of a fourth garden which will be ready for planting in the spring of 2016. We want to hear from residents about where in the city they’d like to see the newest community garden.”

The short online survey is available at . It will remain open until Sunday, Feb. 22.

The information collected from the survey will help inform city staff with their final recommendation to City Council at a meeting of the Development and Infrastructure Committee in June.

This year’s Burlington Seedy Saturday (community seed exchange event) is happening as part of the Burlington Public Library Eco Fair on Saturday,  April 18. Contact their marketing department or event coordinator Craig Logue loguec@bpl.on.ca for more info.

 

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4 comments to Community gardens are a success – city hall wants to know where the fourth one should be located.

  • Peter Rusin

    On the roof of the new 28 story condo building at the corner of Martha and Lakeshore. The Royal York has a similar type arrangement on the roof of the hotel.

    • New Age Carpetbagger

      Excellent suggestion and if we can get the whole thing designated as some form of market garden enterprise then it will increase the ‘mixed use’ rationale of the building – brilliant! Peter, you’re my hero! No wonder your real estate consulting expertise is so in demand.

      • Peter Rusin

        I also have expertise in dietary consulting. We can grow vegetables high in fibre for all those in support of the Ward 2 counsellor that complain all the time about everything.

  • Anna

    I had a plot in the Amherst garden over the summer and I have to say, the city did an amazing job building that garden. If you are near one of the gardens, stop by and check one out over the summer. They are impressive. The only negative was they gave us pretty low quality soil, and anyone who didn’t amend with compost or fertilizer had reduced veggie yields. But they delivered a big load of compost at the end of the summer to amend the beds, so next year should have bigger harvests.

    The only drawback is the plots are drawn new each year from the pool of applicants – ideally gardeners would be able to use the same plot for several years, so that they can plant things that need to overwinter or require 2 years to harvest like garlic, strawberries, asparagus, etc.