The West Lorne and Rodney Community Gardens are thriving this year!
A few gardeners have shared their positivity and appreciation with the Centre:
"The Community Garden allows me to plant some food items that are hard to get in stores here. It also helps our daughter learn about growing and caring for food and also about bugs and worms. Because we are so busy running the Rodney grocery store, it is difficult to meet people outside of the store where they see me and my family in one role. We want to be part of the whole community. To meet them on every level of life. The Community Garden gives us that opportunity".
"Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Garden again this year. The design of the raised beds with a cut out has been most beneficial to accommodating my deteriorating health. Overall this garden has given me the opportunity to be part of a larger group of same minded individuals who appreciate the benefits of being outside, of growing our own vegetables, of sharing our produce with others through our Caring Cupboard, of sharing the responsibility of watering and weeding, of learning more about composting, of coming together and to share advice, problems and solutions".
"I love to participate. Since I have participated, I have had food. This is so much fun. The funding is great but could be used more for various items we need. I have done this for 2 years. The work that I do helps other people so the more we have the more we can help. When the weeds start coming, we could use students to help with the weeding and get the volunteer hours they need for their diplomas. We could use anyone willing to help us. For all of us to learn how to plant and meet new people in the community and we can help each other. We can tell the people involved are doing a fantastic job (Stephanie Skelding). I take some of the food to eat and some to put in the freezer for winter to save money. There is so much you can do with vegetables. Make different food for the freezer such as cabbage rolls, etc. I hope this program will continue".
Thank you Stephanie and the Health Promotion Team at the West Elgin Community Health Centre!