ASSIGINACK—With summer weather finally upon us, gardeners will be in full planting mode and Jackie White, Assiginack events coordinator, is encouraging residents in her municipality to ‘Make Assiginack Edible’ this growing season.
The township, Ms. White explained, has partnered with the Assiginack Horticulture Society and the Manitowaning Agriculture Society in this unique event. It is largely thanks to the volunteers of these two organizations that the beautiful oversized barrels, a trademark of the Manitowaning community, are spilling over with flowers each summer. But this year, instead of flowers, the community’s flower barrels and beds will (hopefully) be brimming with produce as part of the edible Assiginack campaign.
The idea stemmed from a showing of a TED Talk at the Debajehmujig Creation Centre by Pamela Warhurst on ‘how we can eat our landscapes.’ Debajehmujig has already been leading the way on this front in Manitowaning, with a community garden planted just up the street from the Creation Centre two years ago and seasonal workshops on such topics as canning and preserving as well as early spring seed swaps.
The municipality has already created a large raised garden bed directly in front of the town office, with Assiginack deputy treasurer Fred Bond and treasurer Deb MacDonald the head gardeners on this project. The fruits of their labour, come harvest, will all be donated to the Plant a Row, Grow a Row program led by Little Current Master Gardener Wendy Gauthier, which sees extra produce donated to the important Good Food Box program.
Musky Widows restaurant has also pledged to support the program and has promised to turn their front flower boxes into an herb garden, which will also be used in the preparation of food. Assiginack Public School has a garden bed that will be planted with good foods, as will the flower gardens at St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
The volunteers who look after the community beds and barrels are ultimately responsible for what they grow, but Ms. White says most of them will be open to the taking of a handful of peas or tomatoes from passersby, and will encourage this, but not from people’s personal gardens, she added.
The school will also be given a list of addresses of the places where growing vegetables can be found, and what is growing, so they can keep an eye on the process as they tour the community on spring field trips.
Ms. White encourages residents to get involved and get growing this year, noting the many benefits from eating all the good foods that can be grown locally. What if you grow too much? What better way to get rid of it than to donate to those who need a helping hand through the Good Food Box program.
If you’re looking for ideas for planting, how about pumpkins? Ms. White is already in the planning stages of an Assiginack pumpkin festival this October.
