Head down to Colwood City Hall on most days, and you are likely to find a handful of green thumbs tending to garden plots in a large fenced-in area just off the front parking lot.
Depending on the time of year, the Colwood Community Garden could either look like a forest of green attempting to escape its bounds, or a more humble collection of more than 60 raised garden beds, but one thing which is undoubtedly constant is the dedication of the Colwood Garden Society members who work hard to maintain both their own plots and the garden as a whole.
“Everybody is expected to do some form of volunteer work, either working on the board, attending work parties to keep the whole place nice and tidy, doing some planning, or working on the Indigenous Plant and Pollinator Garden,” said society vice-president Barbara Sibbald. “It was created as a community building place, and a place where we can address in a small way food insecurity and healthy eating.”
Work on creating the garden got started in earnest when the society was founded in 2014 and began the four-year-long process of formalizing agreements with the City of Colwood for the rental of the land and establishment of the garden.
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From the moment it officially opened in 2018, Sibbald said the garden has proved extremely popular with wait lists for plots rarely disappearing despite several expansions over the years.
It’s attracted a wide range of gardeners from all walks of life, from those with home gardens simply looking for a social activity to newcomers to Canada looking to grow their own food with no land of their own to do so.
Community has always been a focus of the garden and the society, said Sibbald, both within its membership and outside. From the onset, two plots have been dedicated to growing food for the Living Edge Neighbourhood Market, providing free healthy and locally grown food to those in need, and in the past schools have sent students to the garden to learn valuable life skills.
“It’s the only public community garden (in Colwood) where anybody can become a member,” said Sibbald. “People really want to garden, especially now with the really high prices for fresh food … we really promote gardening. Even people who have questions about growing something on their balcony are welcome.”
In 2021, the society and City of Colwood added the Indigenous Plant and Pollinator Garden to the site’s outer perimeter to promote native species which are mainstays in First Nations health and healing, and to promote pollinating insects in the area.
While the waitlist for a plot currently sits at around 16 people, anyone is welcome to join the society while they wait for a spot to open up and take advantage of everything they have to offer. More information on how to join is available online at colwoodgardensociety.org.
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