NANAIMO — Operating for more than a year, a volunteer program at a small south Nanaimo food garden is a magnet for community activity.
Since the spring of 2023, Nanaimo Foodshare has staged a seasonal drop-in volunteer program on Fridays from 10 am to 2 p.m. at Park Avenue Farm
A nearly acre plot of land located at 945 Park Ave. leased by the valued non-profit organization provides vegetables for several of its own programs and other community agencies, noted educational facilitator Alia McIntyre.
“People learn what certain plants look like, what would be considered weeds, what actually goes into growing food, because it’s quite labour intensive,” McIntyre told NanaimoNewsNOW at the farm.
McIntyre said people of all ages have volunteered to maintain the food garden where a wide range of veggies are incubating from potatoes, garlic and squash, to several kinds of beans, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers.
Park Avenue Farm is located near Park Avenue Elementary School, just south of Eighth St. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)An online reservation portal is available for people who wish to roll up their sleeves and assist Nanaimo Foodshare and the community.
“People want to help out, they want to contribute to our local food security,” McIntyre pointed out.
She said Park Avenue Farm is home to several programs, including summer camp activities, while it also draws curious people showing up unannounced and asking questions.
Peter Clark has been a regular volunteer this year at the Friday drop-in program.
A long-time avid gardener and retired landscaper, Clark was drawn back to familiar territory.
“I’ve been doing it for 42 years and woke up one day and realized ‘you know, my fingernails are awfully clean haha’. So I thought it might be fun to get back and do a little bit of gardening work, I kind of missed it.”
For Clark, he feels good about helping the community, getting outside, staying active and seeing others learn more about gardening and food security.
“People are going to have to learn how to grow their own as things progress, I think. Things aren’t going to get cheaper and if you can grow a patch of vegetables in your backyard you’ll probably save a lot of money.” Clark said.
While it was a tad hot on Friday, July 5, Peter Clark was happy to help out at Park Avenue Farm. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.
Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes