New community garden downtown could open by next spring

Local gardeners could be planting garlic as early as this fall and growing food in the new community garden by the spring of 2021.

An initiative of the Squamish CAN (Climate Action Network), the new community garden will be located downtown at 1170 Bailey Street, right beside the tennis courts.

The 9,000 square feet space will have around 130 garden plots.

However, the new community garden would depend on grants and fundraising in the community, said Krystle tenBrink, the director of Squamish CAN, which is behind the initiative.

“We have been applying for grants and will be launching a fundraising campaign, but we recognize that it is a difficult time for fundraising due to COVID-19. We will build as soon as we have the funds to do so,” she said.

The non-profit Squamish CAN was instrumental in building the main community garden downtown in the Spring of 2012, and followed by another garden in 2014. With more than 75 volunteers, the garden was able to provide space for hundreds of gardeners to grow vegetables and herbs over eight years.

However, tenBrink said they knew it wasn’t going to be a permanent place, and Squamish CAN had been looking for a place for the last two years.

Barb Hinde, the previous community garden manager, was able to secure a five-year lease with the district for the new location, tenBrink added.

The garden has received support from the district and Vancouver Coastal Health, and Squamish CAN has also applied for a special one-time grant with VCH and Squamish Community Foundation.

Squamish CAN is also seeking in-kind donations for garden-build items like soil and lumber.

The non-profit is encouraging people who can help to get in touch with Gaby Barns by emailing her at gaby.squamishfoodsystems@gmail.com.