Lisa and Craig Devine are volunteers at the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Community Garden, which was started in August 2015. Funding for the garden comes from the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
With the help of Matthew and Eric Seitcher and Joe Martin, the Devine’s built the garden’s 24- by 60-foot fence made out of old telephone poles and wiring.
Both Lisa and Craig are learning about gardening as they go along and would like other community members to join them.
Lisa had a stroke almost seven years ago and helps out with the garden by weeding and harvesting. The garden is wheelchair accessible.
Seedlings were started Aug 15, 2015 and by mid-Sept they began harvesting kale, lettuce and broccoli, and for a couple months they had this for their salads, which was very tasty and fresh.
Craig also said that growing their own food was really helpful for them as they are on a fixed income and the cost of living is high on the West Coast.
To promote fruit and vegetable growth, Craig uses seaweed, kelp, bone meal, blood meal and liquid concentrated fish oil in the garden, which helps the vegetables grow.
To begin the preparations for this year’s crop, amending the soil will start in the coming days, and seedlings will be planted in March so vegetables will be ready by summer time.
Vertical planters will be set up this year. Rocks will be used instead of using wooden crates for the raised beds. The rocks gather sunlight during the day and radiate into the soil at night. These rock beds are used for cold-sensitive plants. A greenhouse will be built to plant tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers and cucumbers.
Sun flowers, sweet peas and clover will be planted to help with pollination by bees, and to provide nitrogen. Weeds are also important to grow as they serve the purpose of keeping bugs away, so there will be a little section for weeds in the garden. Craig is working on setting up a community compost program, and only raw fruit and vegetable peelings can be used in the compost, which will help keep costs down and to keep providing organic matter for the produce.
Much work is planned and community members and especially children are encouraged to come out and volunteer their time. Come learn, relax and have fun at the same time.
If interested, please contact Craig at 250-725-3625.
