Powell River General Hospital’s community garden is creating a space that provides sanctuary for those in the hospital and for the broader community at large.
Emily Jenkins, garden coordinator for the hospital community garden, said the project has been underway for more than a couple of years and she was brought on about a year ago. At that point, the garden was just a grassy space.
“Ground had not been broken and the architect was still refining the design,” said Jenkins. “We then had a contractor, Blue Fin Construction, who did the pavilion and the fencing. They did a lot of excavation and levelling of the site.
“That was underway last fall and winter and I was in the process getting up to speed on the design work that had previously been done. I was adding my perspective on what was already planned. There was definitely room for my input.”
The winter work involved finalizing the design and deciding what was to be planted in the space.
By the spring the construction crew was working in the space.
“At that time, it was less research and planning and more physically being in the space and getting things underway,” said Jenkins.
She said an imperative was that the space would be accessible for wheelchairs and walkers, getting to the garden and navigating within the garden. Having a covered space so people could make use of space in a variety of weather conditions was also a consideration. Adding seating is a plan for the future.
The garden features a variety of beds. There are raised beds of different heights in the garden, plus in-ground planting.
Jenkins said the main focus is on edible plants and she also wanted to have beauty in the space. That involved having a variety of colours and textures for as much of the year as possible.
The intention of the edibility is so people can just come in and pick things and eat them in the space.
“That’s why we have some berry bushes that will mature over the years,” said Jenkins. “You’ll be able to come in here and pick a handful of berries or an apple. The interactive quality of the garden is appealing to me.”
Already in the garden are apple trees and some raspberries have been planted. There are also some grapes.
“Over time it will grow up and it will be more of a private oasis in here,” said Jenkins.
A lot of what was done in the first year was the planting of annuals, which was to fill in the space for this season. Jenkins said there is more to be planted, featuring a variety of perennials as well.
She is hoping the hospital community garden will provide sanctuary and become a regenerative space.
In order to create the space, Jenkins said she reached out to the Powell River Garden Club.
“I did a little presentation to them one evening and they have been super supportive of the whole process,” said Jenkins. “Some of them came here and gave me their ideas and feedback. A lot of our plantings were donated.
“Because of the circumstances of this spring, a lot of the plant sales that usually happen couldn’t happen but people are still dividing things up, so I recruited a lot of what’s in the garden from donations.”
Jenkins said she has already received feedback from people she knows who have gone to the garden and told her that what’s happened this year is amazing. She’s also heard from hospital staff who have been enjoying the space.
The hospital community garden is not just for people who are at the hospital, said Jenkins.
“If people from the community want to come and enjoy the space, they are welcome to do so; that’s a huge part,” she said. “The intention is for this garden to be for people who are in the hospital, whether that’s patient or staff, but also to incorporate the broader community and make it another community garden where people feel welcome and they can come and visit.
“If people are in town and need a little break from their errands or if they are visiting someone and want to bring them out here, it’s a great place to come.”
Jenkins is on a contract to oversee the garden space and it has been extended. Sodexo, the provider of food at the hospital, has also provided funding for Jenkins’ position.
“For the foreseeable future I will remain in this position,” said Jenkins. She added that she’s in the process of figuring out ongoing volunteer opportunities to provide further assistance.
Mélie De Champlain, director – coastal community of care at Powell River General Hospital, said the creation of the community garden has been a long journey. The main challenges, she said, were funding, to make sure there were sponsorship and grants and enough money to build it.
“We wanted to make sure we received community support to fund the garden,” said De Champlain. “It’s been created by generous public donations and some support from Sodexo. There’s a lot of sponsors that have helped us.
“Finally, this spring, we have been able to get up and running to build the garden during the COVID-19 lockdown. We have finally arrived at a place where we are able to harvest some vegetables.”
De Champlain said this is a place for the community to be spending some time in a peaceful environment.
She said the hospital wanted something outside of the hospital facility where people can go and have a nice, calm, therapeutic place to spend time.
The space is also intended to be for education regarding healthy food and eventually signage will be increased to inform visitors about the garden.
“We want to make sure the purpose of the garden is to have some dialogue around growing your own food, and also eating more vegetables, and harvesting and eating food that is in season,” said De Champlain.
She said the hospital is hoping the garden can become a space for community engagement. She said the gazebo and a picnic table are already in place so people can enter the garden, sit down and enjoy the space.
De Champlain said the location on Joyce Avenue is quite strategic because the desire was to have people see the garden from the street. She said she can see the garden from her office in the hospital and it’s a pleasure to see people going back and forth to it, and to see people leaving with a handful of goods.
“The garden is very young, but we are already seeing an impact,” said De Champlain. “What I like about this project is regardless of how busy we have been in health care during COVID-19, we have continued to work on the garden.
“There has been a lot of activity at the hospital to implement the project, from the planning side, to getting people to volunteer to help with the upkeep. This has been a bit of an oasis in the COVID-19 time.”
