Green thumbs in Cold Lake officially have a place to plant their roots.
After months of preparation, the Cold Lake Community Garden held their grand opening on July 29.
“It's amazing. To feel the community response is really amazing, the number of volunteer hours that have gone into (the garden) are countless and it's all done with love and compassion,” said Cathy Aust, president of the Cold Lake Community Garden Society.
“To see the garden come to fruition like this, I'm very proud. It's such a blessing that we get to do this for the people of the community.”
In early 2014, Aust started to gather local gardeners for the project. While they began under the umbrella of Communities in Bloom, in order to apply for grants the group needed to form their own society. That's when the Cold Lake Community Garden Society was born.
“There's been lots of changes and lots of growth; it's been an 18-month journey,” said Aust.
Located next to the Cold Lake Energy Centre, there are two parts to the community garden. In one half of the garden there are a number of raised bed plots for members of the community to rent out for the summer months where they can grow any types of vegetables and fruits that hit their fancy.
The lower half of the garden is the community area. Rows upon rows of produce have been planted by volunteer groups such as the Lakeland Centre for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Joie's Phoenix House. Once the harvest is over, everything from tomatoes to cucumbers to beets will be divided up with 50 percent going to the local food bank and the remainder being split up between the volunteer groups.
“The word community, this garden (defines it). Everyone from all parts of the community are involved,” said Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland. “Hats off to the committee, they have certainly exceeded my expectation.”
However, the society doesn't think the garden embodies a sense of community just quite enough yet. While she doesn't want to give away any surprises, Aust said they have been in discussions about partnering with other community agencies, such as the Energy Center, to provide programming at the garden in the coming years.
“There's lots of growth and lots of partnerships that will come to fruition over the next years, it's really exciting.”
Aust added that they have also applied for a grant that, if successful, will see the creation of a seniors' area in the garden. In order to make the garden inclusive and welcoming for the elderly in the community, the society is hoping to build raised plots and a cement pad so that it will be accessible for wheelchairs and other walking devices.
For now, Aust said all the volunteers who helped make the garden blossom can finally sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour.
“All the hard work is done and the joy of the garden now is come down in the events and just pick a little weeds.”
Communities in Bloom
After a short hiatus, the City of Cold Lake is back on the judging list for Communities in Bloom.
Judges for the provincial competition were touring the Cold Lake Community Garden during their grand opening. Communities in Bloom allow cities and towns across Alberta to put their best flower forward each year. Each community is then give a rating by the judges from one-bloom to five-blooms, as well as a percentage score.
After touring a number of different gardens within Cold Lake, the judges will fill out an evaluation form that looks at the City as a whole.
“There are different categories. So tidiness of the community, whether there's graffiti or trash or that sort of stuff. Also, environmental, historical, urban forestry, landscaping and floral,” said judge Sharon Miller. “It's not just about the flowers.”
Judge Bill Drake added, “It's how the community works together, the civic pride. It's the way projects such as this happen where people work together simply because they have pride in their community they want to make their community better.”
Once rated a five-bloom community, Cold Lake decided to put a hold on Communities in Bloom judging during the Highway 28 project due to the poor aesthetics construction created. Thanks to the community garden and work of city staff, the City is back on the map.
“I think the City has a lot to showcase in terms of gardens and with the community garden that helps. It'll be interesting to see where the judges score us and also their comments,” said Copeland.
Despite not taking part in the official judging last year, Cold Lake still invited representatives from Communities in Bloom to come and evaluate the city, ultimately being awarded four-blooms. Copeland said they used the comments to enhance flowerbeds and environmental features around the city.
“We're always trying to strive for the top. If we can get five-blooms that'll be fantastic. To me, the City looks fabulous but these judges see a lot of cities.”
He added that council is aware of certain areas within the city that need work. With the flowerbeds at the marina starting to take shape, there are other projects on the radar for next summer.
“One of the things we're going to focus on is the sails, we're going to enhance that feature coming into the city. That'll probably be discussed during budget deliberations,” explained Copeland.
With it being only the first summer for the Cold Lake Community Garden, Aust expressed the society was shocked to learn they'd been included in this year's Communities in Bloom.
“We didn't expect to be on that judging list for this year because we're so new, we're very grateful,” said Aust.
While the bloom ratings aren't announced until the Communities in Bloom award ceremony in mid-September, both judges gave their first impression of the new Cold Lake Community Garden saying it was a phenomenal project.
“This is amazing,” said Miller.
“It's really something,” Drake added. “The idea of donating to a food bank, it's wonderful for a lot of folks that would not have (access to fresh, locally grown produce) otherwise.”
