Community garden at Confederation College receives $6,500 grant

The community garden at Confederation College has received a $6,500 grant from Nature's Path Organic Foods. 

The grant is part of the food company's Gardens for Good scheme, which seeks to award local gardens across North America that produce fresh foods in communities. 

Confederation College's community garden is one of ten gardens across Canada to receive the award. Ten gardens across the United States are also receiving awards. 

"The winners this year exemplify what it means to grow with purpose — nurturing community connections, fostering environmental awareness and inspiring leadership rooted in care and connection," says Jyoti Stephens, vice president of Mission and Strategy, in a press release from Nature's Path. 

Growing community

The Confederation College community garden offers access to sustainable land, beyond the student body.

It allows Thunder Bay's wider community to grow organic and locally produced food, as well as the opportunity to learn and experience gardening.

Being able to provide that space for the community, we feel very passionate about it.- Robyn Gillespie

Robyn Gillespie is the manager of applied research and sustainability at Confederation College. 

She says that the garden initiative's twelve years of existence has allowed Thunder Bay residents to come together in a shared activity.  

"I've been involved in the garden since its inception in 2013... it's been interesting and great to see that community grow within the garden," Gillespie says. "It's nice to be able to provide a space for gardeners in Thunder Bay, or people in Thunder Bay that might not have access to land.

"It's coming from a food security standpoint, but it's also coming from those community physical health, well-being, mental health aspects."

Plotting your garden

Gillespie says that the college has seen interest rise among the community. With 24 in-ground plots on offer, there were only two left by the end of registration. 

"We went from about 50 per cent capacity in the garden last year, to just over 90 per cent this year," Gillespie says. "Being able to provide that space for the community, we feel very passionate about it.

"There are some gardeners that come in that are beginners and they're just trying something new, and there are gardeners that are more experienced."

Expanding for the future

With the garden going from strength to strength, Confederation College hopes it can expand its outreach. 

"A little bit more of the focus is to try and bring more groups from the college on into the garden itself," Gillespie says. "We do have some student groups, we have the student gardening space now and we have some staff competing in a pumpkin competition."

There are also plans to create a children's garden.

"We have designs done up for it's creating raised bed planters that are in a maze shape," she says. 

"For anyone in the garden with kids, it's a nice place where they can go to trample around... not worrying about stepping on other people's plots."