Club promotes good food, good friends and partnerships

The Turtle Island Garden Club, started in spring 2012, is about more than growing vegetables.

Joanne Mitchell began her own garden work a number of years ago when personal problems became too much. After realizing the “healing experience” of working with her hands and growing things, she pitched the idea of a garden club to the Can Am Urban Native Homes.

“There were so many dynamics to the project,” said Elayne Isaacs, liaison for Can Am. “It was very, very social and interactive.”

Can Am applied to the City of Windsor for grant dollars. After successfully acquiring funding, as well as forming partnerships for seeds and gardening tools, Can Am supplied space on the grounds of one of its housing units creating five raised beds, each three feet by eight feet and the Can Am Indian Friendship Centre donated space for two plots. The boxes were planted with squash, corn, beans, peas, tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables.  Even wild edibles were grown.

“One lady with a lot of knowledge of Indigenous plants, she took one garden bed,” said Mitchell. “She had invaluable knowledge.  She taught us that these kinds of plants were actually what Indigenous people would have eaten prior to colonization.”

Elders were among the participants, as were children and young families. Participation totalled about 30.

“We came together as a community,” said Mitchell. “Friendships were formed and it was really nice.”

Elderly people used the group to socialize; others with health issues learned about healthy habits and how to grow their own food; and young families learned about healthy eating.

“It was very multi-faceted and a lot of different partnerships developed through that,” said Isaacs.

Can Am partnered with the Southern Ontario Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative, training front-line community workers in southwestern Ontario about the benefits of gardening and incorporating healthy lifestyle living and eating choices.

Information about the garden club was included on the friendship centre’s Facebook page, and through the electronic world more relationships were formed. Garden tips and health information were shared, new members were recruited, traditional gardening promoted and the progress of the project was tracked.

 The on-line group has over 180 members from a variety of communities.

Throughout the season, potlucks were held as another way for healthy ideas to be shared and friendships formed. A fall harvest potluck was held in October that ended the growing season.
The project was “manageable” this year, said Mitchell, who would like to see it expanded next year. She would also like to see people who have backyards or even smaller spaces available plant their own vegetable gardens.

“A lot of times, people who are on low-income and even getting out (to a community garden) can be a hardship for them,” said Mitchell.

She adds that homegrown usually leads to healthier eating and saving on food bills.

“I would like to see it expand. Talking to more community members, more people are learning about it and I see that people are getting excited about it. So I’m hoping more people will get involved next year,” said Mitchell.

Isaacs said the raised boxes are all ready for another round of planting, with some of the seeds used coming from seeds harvested from this season’s gardens.