Public Produce Beds Get a New Lease on Life

Sometimes the right person just appears at the right time (and you just want to give them a big hug, but you can’t because we’re still in the Covid 19 pandemic). This just happened for a little garden project on the North Shore.

Public produce has had its ups and downs in Kamloops – for a few years, we had a good thing going, but as often happens in the world of not-for-profit, project champions move on, funding dries up, and support dwindles. There is a bit of edible landscaping at McDonald Park that, despite being largely abandoned for the last couple of years, provides foraging opportunities for park visitors (rhubarb, haskap berries, raspberries, strawberries, garlic chives, mint, lemon balm, oregano, sage, lavender).

One enterprising neighbour took it upon herself to show the edible garden beds some love – pulling weeds, pruning, adding soil amendments, and generally making the area look cared for. The results are amazing! Coincidentally, shortly after she contacted us asking if it was okay for her to do that (as if we would say no), we got a call from another neighbor looking for a home for some extra tomato and pepper plants. They went straight into the newly prepared edible garden beds! Now we hope there will soon be a few tomatoes and peppers to add to the foraging options!