Editor's note: The photo caption for this story has been update to correctly identify Georgia Marvin and Vanessa Sparrow.
Although it has been a challenging year, with many hot days and almost no rain, gardeners are again opening their gates for Powell River’s seventh annual Edible Garden Tour.
This year the free tour showcases 10 gardens with visits to Townsite and Westview in the morning and Kelly Creek and Lang Bay area in the afternoon.
“The art of gardening really comes alive when you see the plants growing and talk to the person who grew them,” said Vanessa Sparrow, tour organizer and coordinator of Powell River’s Food Security Project. “It is inspiring and motivating to see what other people are doing in the conditions they have to work with.”
This year’s gardens demonstrate a variety of food growing approaches including a raised bed community garden at Powell River Brain Injury Society, a first-year vegetable and herb garden in a trailer park and a developing farm with pigs, chickens and veggies at Funky Beets Farm at Kelly Creek.
“This tour is not to show off the most perfect and beautiful gardens,” said Sparrow, “but working gardens that are overcoming a variety of challenges to put food on the table.”
Sparrow said visitors can drop in and see the gardens in any order they like as long as they keep to the morning gardens in the morning and the afternoon gardens in the afternoon.
Along with local gardeners, members of Master Gardeners of BC will be also be on hand in two of the gardens to answer gardening questions from visitors.
“The internet is a great tool for finding general information, but there is nothing like sharing the local knowledge and experience of others in the community,” said Sparrow, explaining the event also includes a food literacy treasure hunt with prizes from Ecossentials, Springtime Nursery and Mother Nature.
Donation boxes will also be available at the gardens in support of next year’s tour, as well as local food projects such as the Good Food Box, Sprouts Family Gardening at Family Place and the Babies Open New Doors prenatal nutrition program.
“Powell River has a rich history of farming and food production,” said Sparrow. “But there is increasing interest in how to provide fresh healthy food for ourselves and our families on a smaller scale.”
Readers can find out more about by going to the Food Security Project website at prfoodsecurity.org and downloading the event guidebook. Copies of the guidebook can also be found at Breakwater Books and Tourism Powell River’s Visitor Information Centre.
For more information readers can also contact Sparrow at [email protected] or 604.414.7437.
