GROWING COMMUNITY FROM THE ROOTS UP IN BISON RUN
By Samara Funk
Spring is arriving and many gardeners are itching to dig out their trusty garden tools and seed packs. Luckily, residents near Waverley West have access to a temporary community garden located in a future phase of Bison Run at the end of Northridge Road, off John Angus Drive. Now on its second year, Bison Run’s community garden hosts 54 garden plots that can be filled with a variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers. It also includes apple trees and seating areas to provide a relaxing space for residents to engage with one another. Barb Pearce, a nearby resident and Manitoba master gardener in training, has three family plots where she gardens with her son Kowen and daughter Jessica. “This is my daughter’s first garden,” says Pearce. “My family has always hoped to have a community garden close to home that we could bike or walk to.” In its first year, the community garden quickly reached full capacity and more plots were added to the original plan to accommodate the surge of interest. “In one season the garden has become a meeting place for families and neighbours,” says Pearce. “I love how happy everyone is to have a garden plot. You can see the joy on their faces and in their kids’ laughter
and excitement when they come to check on their plots — it’s wonderful.” The discussion around the temporary use of future land development started in 2020 when Janice Lukes, city councillor for Waverley West, began receiving inquiries from nearby residents. “I reached out to Qualico, and “IN ONE SEASON THE GARDEN HAS BECOME I said, ‘Look, we’ve got a pile of gardeners. Do you have any land we can use until your developments are built?’” Lukes recalls. “And they said yes, so that was exciting.” Qualico Communities works with farmers and community groups to keep land that is slated for future development productive until it is ready to be developed. “When we received this request, we thought this would be a great use of the land while it’s sitting and waiting for Bison Run to be developed,” says Mike Armstrong, operations manager at Qualico Communities. From there, a big group effort was made to make Bison Run’s A MEETING PLACE FOR FAMILIES AND NEIGHBOURS.”
community garden a reality. While Qualico Communities provided access to the land for the Canada Pakistan Trade and Cultural Association to lease annually on behalf of the garden group, Pearce and her family staked out the garden plots. Lukes handed out flyers to find local volunteers to help with tasks such as putting up a deer fence, weeding, and creating pathways between plots. The Sri Lankan Association of Manitoba helped write grant proposals while the City of Winnipeg supplied wood chips, compost, and water. “I’ve had many fellow gardeners tell me how much the garden means to them,” says Pearce. “Not just for food but to see things grow, be outside, observe wildlife, watch the sunset, and wave to fellow enthusiasts. It really touches me that the garden gave us all a lot more than just produce.” Pearce adds, “This was despite having a brutal gardening year with no rain and too much heat. It was a lot of water hauling by hand for everyone, back-breaking stuff, but we all did it and the garden grew.” For this upcoming 2022 growing season, Lukes is planning to add a pollinator garden to the space. “Attracting pollinators such as bees and butterflies will in turn help pollinate the fruits and vegetables in the garden,” says Lukes. “As a councillor you try to do good community projects, but some of the projects turn into incredible initiatives in ways that you never could have imagined. This community garden is one of those projects.” To inquire about garden plot availability, ask questions or offer support, please email SouthPointeCommunityGarden@ gmail.com . There has been immense interest in the new community of Bison Run and Qualico Communities is diligently planning Phase 2 now. To learn more about this new neighbourhood visit www.bisonrun.com .
POH
16 Parade of Homes SPRING 2022
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