Uh oh. We recently returned to the Wanipigow Community Garden and Trail project to discover we’d made a crucial mistake.

Our first stop was the health center. The new garden beds Theresa had installed looked amazing, and all of the garden was planted. We picked up some plants, dropped off a few others, and headed over to the garden site at Raven’s Creek.

That’s when we discovered our key tactical error. On our last trip, we’d taken stock of the work that had been done and made particular note of several rows of identical plants growing thickly together. Whoever had planted those rows, we thought, sure knew how to garden. They were exploding! We’d wondered what these mysterious plants were, a local species of herb perhaps? Maybe you used them to make tea! Either way it was important not to disturb them.

Well, it turns out that they were weeds. Giant, incredibly hearty weeds. Weeds so good at growing that they choked out all other weeds and gave the appearance of being planned. And we had just given them an extra two weeks to take hold. Rats.

So began our work. Eric fought with the tiller, rebuilding the recoil starter several times. Maddie and I resumed planting in the next patch, and Jensine bravely faced the weeds head-on. She was quickly joined by three pint-sized helpers from the community who seemed surprisingly keen on weeding, especially if it meant a group swim later on.

After several hours, lots of sweat and two swim breaks, they emerged victorious. Not only were the weeds uprooted, they were piled off-site, the area was tilled and our helpers even planted the newly-reclaimed rows.

As we made our way home, having promised to return for more swimming, weeding, and harvesting, Jensine took a victory nap in the back of the car. We all agreed that we had but one regret from the day: no before and after photo!

Kalyn
Assistant Campaigner