Multiculturalism factoring into crops grown by Niagara’s community gardens
Niagara community garden hubs are gearing up for spring planting as they look back on successes and failures to guide them forward.
Two of the largest garden hubs operated in the region are run by United Way Niagara and Start Me Up Niagara (SMUN), which combined grew more than 9,000 kilograms of fresh produce last year for pop-up markets, food programs and community kitchens.
Luke Baulk is United Way community garden and farm manager for operations at 4300 Victoria Ave. in Vineland.
“This year, we are continuing to learn and grow our garden hubs initiative,” he said.
“We are looking to increase our yield at both locations (including Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus) to get more food out to communities in need.”
He said one goal this year is to produce a variety of foods.
“We are looking to diversify our offerings to provide more culturally appropriate food. There are so many more varieties of veggies out there than what we commonly find in our grocery stores,” he said.
Linda Crago, SMUN garden manager, said when looking at how crops have changed over the years, there is a clear transformation in what is being sought, including okra, kohlrabi and other less-ordinary crops.
“Those crops, years ago we thought wouldn’t be anything people would have an interest in,” she said.
“But because we’re serving a more multicultural society, there is a lot of interest in different crops like eggplants, okra and tomatoes.”
Crago said the garden has seen great success over the past 13 years with minimal impacts to yields.
“Most years were producing more. We had a failure with sweet potatoes last year just because the voles got into them, but we still had 600-plus pounds,” she said.
Crago said, after last year, crop choices are being examined.
“We went around to some of our community partners on the receiving end and we were told, for example, we grew corn, but many people getting the food don’t have teeth and can’t eat corn,” she said.
Both community garden hubs plan to grow upwards of 40 types of crops including cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, kale, broccoli, peppers and eggplant.
As issues of food insecurity continue in Niagara, SMUN and United Way continue to host pop-up food markets that provide access to fresh produce at little to no cost.
“We learned about the immense interest and support from many people and organizations in Niagara have for combating food insecurity,” said Baulk.
“It’s a problem that is increasing and affecting more people, (as they) look for ways they can contribute and come together to grow a more food-secure Niagara.”
Crago said she hopes to focus more on “storage crops,” which will hold up during winter months.
“What we found is come November, most of the produce from the gardens across Niagara has gone to the various kitchens, supporting people having trouble affording food,” she said.
“I’d like to worry about storage crops, so come the winter months we can still get produce to people because the need doesn’t die down once the winter comes.”