Roots and Wings' garden (Image: submitted)
The Roots and Wings Garden Project, which began its third growing season in April, aims to provide access to gardening and information about food sustainability and environmental awareness to Saint John’s south end.
Co-founder and local volunteer Lisa Morris says the project started in 2018 as doing local community projects and growing six pallet gardens at Prince Charles School on Union Street. The vegetables were then distributed throughout the south end, with residents having access to the gardens.
“Even with no yard space, you don’t need that much in order to garden,” said Morris. “This year I was able to get a little bit of funding through P.U.L.S.E. and the Waterloo Village Association, so I was able to offer workshops and a lot more information to the residents.”
Nine participants are taking part in this year’s growing season, which lasts from April to October. The project meets bi-weekly to regroup, make gardening plans and compare notes from their own gardens at home.
Roots and Wings’ gardening station (Image: submitted)
Morris says they are learning everything from re-growing your kitchen scrap food to lettuce container gardening, herb container gardening and planting in the dirt.
“There’s really so many easy ways to grow – sometimes we’re so used to just going to the grocery store and throwing out those leftovers when we really can grow those things ourselves,” she said. “It’s not just for food security, it’s for mental health and it really brings people together.”
The project maintains four mapped-out garden plots in the South End Community Garden and grow herbs and vegetables to make and can pickled beets, Million Dollar Relish and Lady Ashburn pickles.
Axil Gardens hosted a workshop about garden planning, with a potential future workshop about seed preserving.
“All those seeds that we bought this year we’re going to grow as our vegetables,” she said. “We’re going right from the seed rate to their dining room table.”
Roots and Wings’ garden seeds for 2021 (Image: submitted)
Morris adds Root and Wings has partnered with ACAP Saint John to help tend to the Sustainer Container, a replanted shipping crate that anyone in the community can harvest from, located in Chown Field. The project’s residents work together with the Saint John Learning Exchange’s WESLinks program to help plant, water and maintain the Sustainer Container.
Morris says the smaller group of participants creates an informal, yet comfortable learning environment, but would also love to see the program expand.
“It’s something that could really be offered year-round, from starting with pepper seeds in February, to really get a head start on those things and understanding how to prepare your garden bed,” she said. “I would really like to see us have a market where we’re selling our relishes and our preserves and putting back into the program.”
