A garden where the personalities shine through
Dundas Community Gardens has deep roots in the community
ON A STILL AUGUST DAY with heavy air refusing to budge, Hart Hennig still looks cool as a cucumber. He’s tidying up around the vegetables in his plot at the Dundas Community Gardens.
“When I retired, I had to do something,” he says leaning on his shovel. “I knew what I was doing, my parents were growers.”
Hennig grows lettuce, cucumbers, beans and tomatoes, “northern vegetables” he calls them, but this year, his 10th at the community garden, yields are down due to rain, cool temperatures and rabbits.
Those rabbits, and the raccoons are the reason for all the fences around the plots. Sturdy fences, lazy fences, wobbly fences abound.
“I have a floppy fence,” says David Paterson, “The raccoons won’t climb it.”
On a good year, Paterson will haul enough vegetables out of his garden to make preserves that will sustain him until May. He grows celery, okra, beans, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes.
Last year, the tomato yield was seismic, so much so he donated crates full to 541 Eatery & Exchange on Barton Street.
The former restaurant owner has been growing at the Dundas Community Gardens on Olympic Drive for 14 years.
“One of the most important things we did here was put up a permanent fence,” he says. “It keeps the deer out and people. People would just drive up and fill their trunks with vegetables.”
THERE IS A VAST number of community gardens in the city. The Hamilton Community Garden Network (hcgn.ca) has 90 on its list, and there are likely more out there.
The Dundas Community Gardens Association has deep roots stretching back to 1978. There’s a waiting list for plots on Olympic Drive with yearly rents ranging from $30 to $60 for the small, medium and large gardens.
It’s easy to see the appeal. It’s quiet here, parking is close, there’s water and the camaraderie of other gardeners.
Walking among the plots, the personalities shine through. There’s the archer’s garden, with a collection of colourful arrows on the gate, the landscaper’s garden with flowers mixed in with the edibles, and then there’s Karen Bertelsen’s garden, the one with the big cutout of a cleaver on the gate.
Bertelsen is the creator of The Art of Doing Stuff blog (theartofdoingstuff.com) and you’d think she’d be busy enough with the indoor and outdoor projects at her Dundas home, that the last thing she’d need is a mini farm to look after.
“I love it there,” she says of her 40-by-40foot packed plot. “I go there some days just to harvest a few things, and I stay for hours.”
Early in the season, Bertelsen was at the garden every day for two months, part of the five-month creation of her new vegetable garden. She had to level ground, build fences and a potting bench, devise supports for beans, make protective tents for strawberries, and design beds and paths.
She’s written a very informative blog post (theartofdoingstuff.com/20-simple-gardening-tips) with an excellent play by play of the project. Of course, the vegetable garden includes gorgeous flowers like zinnias and dahlias, and two pretty chairs to sit back and appreciate the hard work.
“The gardens here are organic,” Bertelsen says. “So every pest, disease and animal makes an appearance. I like to say, ‘If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.’”
As I go to leave, passing a plot full of corn, and a row of lovely pear trees, I see Hart Hennig packing up, taking a last look at his reluctant tomato crop.
“Do you like to cook?” I ask. “No, but I like to eat,” he says.
“I go there some days just to harvest a few things, and I stay for hours.” KAREN BERTELSEN COMMUNITY GARDENER