By Seth DuChene
Editor
There are always good things growing at the Napanee Community Garden, but this year, things they’re growing even better than usual.
The volunteers at the garden just south of Napanee on County Road 8 are regularly taking bumper crops of healthy vegetables for distribution to those in need at the Salvation Army Food bank.
One of those volunteers, Susan Withers, credits the spring’s wet weather to the unusually good growing conditions this summer — in sharp contrast to the dry conditions last summer. “We (also) amend the soil here. In the very beginning, we added sand, and twice we’ve had mushroom compost put in and then, of course, we compost our stuff, and that will go back in,” she said.
The garden has been growing vegetables for the community since 2010. “The objective was to get people eating locally-grown, fresh produce, and hopefully eating better — getting away from packages and cans, and hopefully getting people cooking and interested in food,” she said.
Most of what the garden produces gets picked up by clients of the Salvation Army Food Bank, though some of the veggies eventually make their way to other community-based agencies such as Morningstar Mission and L&A Interval House.
“We do have Community Mental Health come in (on Tuesday mornings)… that has provided a program for them,” Withers adds. “We allow them to pick a few things, and they take it back to the agency and they prepare lunch on Tuesdays. That’s part of their program for that day.”
Withers says they keep track of how much the garden produces, something that makes it easier when approaching various organizations for funding support. “We’re able to give that spreadsheet to those people, and we also include some photographs of what we’re doing,” she said.
Right now, Withers says that there are about a dozen volunteers who regularly help out at the garden, usually every Monday at 8 a.m. She does say, however, that the group could always use a few more volunteers to assist with the weekly harvest.
Those interested in lending a hand can contact Withers directly at 613-354-5765.