Last Thursday, Kalyn and I headed north for my first trip to the Wanipigow Community Garden. We’d been promised a small army of pint-sized helpers from the local summer camp for the afternoon, and were looking forward to all the extra hands. Kalyn had told me stories about past trips up to the garden and I was excited for the chance to get my hands dirty.

When we arrived, we met Theresa, who works at the Health Centre and coordinates the community gardens. She showed us some of the raised beds she and a few others have been tending, which were doing very well. The carrots, beets, squash, tomatoes and peas were exploding out of their boxes. In a couple of weeks they will be pumping out tons of ripe, juicy tomatoes and other tasty snacks.

We then drove over to the other garden at Raven’s Creek where we made a shocking discovery…Eeek! It was overrun with weeds, some as tall as I am. For the last few weeks, Eric and Reynold Raven—who’s running this garden—had been forced to focus their attention on building a new shed roof and reservoir. While those were both now fully operational, the efforts had left the garden in need of some love. We went to the shed and armed ourselves with gloves, spades, pitchforks and a shiny red wheelbarrow. I gave a motivational speech, and after an epic high five, we dove in.

Soon, the kids arrived to help us out. First a trickle, then a tide of children waded into the garden. These kids were great helpers. Some were so enthusiastic, they even pulled out a few plants—oops! Collateral damage, I guess. We soon discovered that some of the veggie plants were growing so well that they were growing over others. I guess someone (Kalyn), who probably shouldn’t be named (she’s named Kalyn), planted them a little too close together (pretty sure it was Kalyn).

Before we knew it, the garden of weeds had disappeared. Underneath, there was a beautiful array of vegetables: onions, broccoli, beets, radishes, cabbage, peas, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, basil and more. Now that the weeds are out of the way, there should be a great harvest so that everyone can enjoy the fruits (well actually, vegetables) of their labour.

After a quick swim and a snack we headed back to the ‘peg feeling very satisfied with everything. Thank you to all our little helping hands in Hollow Water, and also to Theresa for showing us her garden. I had a great visit and hope to come back sometime soon.

- Will
Wilderness Committee Volunteer, Winnipeg

Photo: Young volunteers from the summer camp helping out at the garden. Photo by Kalyn Murdock.