Right from my garden, or self-sufficiency

Eating organic might not be accessible for everybody and expensive for some family!

I wanted to share my experience with my community garden. Do you know where you can make your garden? Ideally, everybody would have a plot of land to watch grow his organic vegetables at home! But it is not given to everybody especially in the city to have a garden, even a yard! Well, that’s why Montreal city created community gardens where gardeners and apprentice gardeners can enjoy that pure pleasure!

Montreal’s community gardens program began in 1975. There are 97 community gardens. The boroughs have managed the program since the municipal reorganization in 2002.

Eighteen boroughs offer plots land to their citizens for gardening. In some boroughs, a gardening instructor visits the garden regularly to give advice to gardeners. Some boroughs offer adapted gardens for persons with reduced mobility.

Materials provide include:. Soil, water source, tool shed or toolbox, tables, fences, sand, paint, and flowers.

Each community garden elects a volunteer committee to oversee administrative matters.

From Ville de Montreal’s website

It has now been 3 years that I am a part of that beautiful family that is Le jardin communautaire biologique l’Églantier located in the Maisonneuve park. The two first years, I had an elevated box as a garden to start slowly because I had no experience in gardening and there are so many things to know. Now this year I have my plot which is around 20 feet by 20 feet.

This year: Tomatoes, salad, kale, swiss chard, peppers, cabbages, mixed herbs: thyme, sage, basilic, mint and soon future carrots.

For only a few dollars a year to be a member, there is the fee for the seeds too, and also 10 hours of your time to do volunteer work around the garden (there is always a little something to be done), you could be rewarded by tasting those amazing vegetables that you plant yourself and that you watched proudly grow!

What a nice initiative and a good example of community sharing!

Lyette Cousineau n.d.