BONNYVILLE – Green thumbs will have a new place to plant their roots in Bonnyville.
The Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA) has launched a new Bonnyville Community Garden and Compost location in town, on the land next to the Wholesale Club and Sobeys.
Construction on the project will begin this summer, with garden plots opening in 2021.
Mason Unrau, education and outreach coordinator for LICA, said they wanted to offer another option for people interested in getting their hands dirty and learning about where their food comes from.
"It started with looking at how LICA can be involved with different environmental stewardship practices in Bonnyville, and the community garden is a pretty good one just with people taking part in growing food and creating local food systems,” he explained.
As the current community garden is run by the Bonnyville Seniors' Drop-In Centre, Unrau reached out to them to get support for starting a second garden.
“The main reason was to be able to provide more educational opportunities for local groups and citizens,” Unrau noted. “By creating the space, LICA will be able to help educate the public on how food is grown and other gardening practices or sustainable environmental practices that you can do at home a lot of the time.”
The Seniors' Drop-In Centre wasn’t the only group LICA has found backing from. The Town and MD of Bonnyville, Wholesale Club, GetRidofIt Inc., Bonnyville Community Church, and Bonnyville Fellowship Alliance Church have all voiced their support for the garden.
Trevor Schaffrick, pastor of the Bonnyville Fellowship Alliance Church, expressed his excitement about the project that “connects people to people and people to creation.”
“I believe our souls need both contact with each other and nature to be healthy,” he continued. “This venture brings these things together, and we so appreciate the businesses and people who are pitching in to make it happen.”
Although LICA was unsuccessful with their grant application, they decided to move ahead with the community garden anyways.
“I think having a new community garden open to the public provides citizens with a space to work together and its also beautifying an unused space. It’s a time when a lot of people are thinking about where their food is coming from, and it also helps bring education and awareness to what it takes to bring quality and healthy produce to our homes,” Unrau detailed.
While residents are waiting for the 17 raised garden beds to be complete, the compost drop-off site will be set up for the public to use with signs displaying what's permitted.
“We’re hoping it will be a community space that is welcoming and accessible to everyone and provides an opportunity for knowledge sharing and for people to be able to practice taking part in the food they eat and also in building relationships and communities,” Unrau expressed.
For more information, or to get involved, contact LICA at 780-812-2182 or email outreach@lica.ca.
Robynne Henry, Bonnyville Nouvelle