TEHKUMMAH—The eight annual Tehkummah Seed Exchange took part this past weekend at JD’s Garden Centre in Tehkummah. The event attracted a large number of garden aficionados eager to mix and share their seeds with like-minded “backyarders.”
“I can’t believe it has been eight years already,” said participating vendor Anastasia Eranosova. “We are at beautiful JD’s Garden Centre and this is the day to exchange seeds, talk about gardens and vegetable varieties and the importance of saving seeds and distributing them in the community. This is one more way to be resilient in our lives.”
In addition to the seed exchange activities, there was also a screening of ‘In My Backyard,’ a film documentary that follows the efforts of urban gardeners in Toronto and their experiences in gardening in small urban spaces.
“It follows the lives of ‘backyarders’ in Toronto,” said Ms. Eranosova. “They will show us how they grow their food in small spaces and it will encourage people with big spaces here on Manitoulin to grow their food.”
The film, produced and directed by Jamie Day Fleck and follows how her documentary began with her own efforts to grow food in her back yard garden and inspired her to explore how “like-minded people in my city were figuring out unique solutions for growing fruits and vegetables utilizing their urban spaces.”
“Urban agriculture allows me to have the city and country in one,” said Ms. Fleck. Urban agriculture is reengaging people with the land and the food they eat.
