Fort McPherson resurrected its community garden and participation has nearly doubled, with dozens of residents signing up for a plot. Organizers say this is just the beginning.
Last summer, six-year-old Dawson Ford grew his first garden. Every morning, he would wake up, eat his breakfast, then go outside to water the plants. Before going to sleep, come back again.
His father, Dave Ford, says gardening has become part of the family routine with Dawson at the helm. Dawson took to the garden as a “living art project” tending to the plants, placing the caribou as supports, and painting the garden boxes.
“He really cares every day,” Ford said. “And it really paid off. It was amazing.”
Dawson grew tomatoes, broccoli, lemon balm, herbs, bees and colorful flowers.
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“The six-year-old boy, he was the best, the highest bed in the whole community. He had more than 30 tomatoes. He had like six crops, he had bees, he had the biggest heads of broccoli,” he said Roberta Alexie, who runs the Fort McPherson greenhouse with Dinjii Zhuh Solutions.
“All those things I couldn’t believe we could do, and it just ignited something in me.”
For Ford senior, there is real beauty in that.
“Just to wake up and look out and see all this color, and you know you’re a part of it,” he said. “It was something that we helped create just to care for something. It wouldn’t be there if I didn’t come out every day and look after it.
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“Dawson was so proud of his little garden, to show his grandfather and keep him updated on all the new growth. He had to enjoy his garden and share it with people.”
Expansion of the garden
So far, there are 43 residents signed up for a plot this year, including Dawson. The greenhouse will partner with Chief Julius School to teach grades 1 and 2 about gardening.
Alexie recently ordered a second greenhouse to support this growth.
Summer plans include more garden soil, giving more growing containers for home gardening, and preparing more flower pots for seniors. There is also new funding for canning materials, so residents can preserve what they harvest.
This year, the organizers start working in March. In June, residents are invited to transplant young plants in the community greenhouse or in their plots, according to Alexie.
Trina Nerysoo supports the greenhouse project in her role as community energy coordinator at Dinjii Zhuh Solutions. Nerysoo has high hopes for the greenhouse, and says it has a role to play in advancing food security and education in the region.
Sometimes, fruits and vegetables in the store in small NWT communities “do not look good,” said Nerysoo, but they are still expensive.
“We can change that and show that we can grow,” he said.
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“I want to grow. My mother, she did a long time ago … she had a garden when she lived in Aklavik.”
Everyone’s garden was not the same, but it was a learning experience for everyone.
“The fact that they participated, it’s a success,” said Nerysoo. “The fact that they want to do it again, it’s a success.”
Greenhouse name contest
Earlier this month, Dinjii Zhuh Solutions published a call for suggestions on calling the community greenhouse. With five submissions, the organizers closed the contest this week.
The winning submission was from Elder Lucy Wilson, who suggested the name Tetlit Zheh Datłoo, which meant Fort McPherson Greenhouse in Gwich’in.
“In my mind, I always keep the Gwich’in language close to me,” Alexie said. “I always want to incorporate our language into the kind of work we do.”
Last year, the community garden distributed 30 hanging flower pots to Elders who were nominated by community members. Along with flowers, Seniors will receive thank you notes explaining why they were nominated.
“When the Seniors got their notes, it made their day,” Alexie said. “It brought so much happiness and joy.”
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There were also flower pots reserved for children. Parents can show up at the nursery and ask for one for a little one.
At the end of the last season, the participants were invited to share what went well and what to improve. Alexie says she heard people say how good it felt to be in the garden, caring for something.
“It’s therapeutic for people to do that, and it’s helpful, it makes you feel so good knowing you can grow something,” Alexie said. “I was so proud of what I was doing. I didn’t know we could do something like this.”
One resident told Alexie that her garden became a haven for her after a hard day.
“Just going into her garden knowing she could do this, it’s almost like the plants made her feel good again,” Alexie said. “Most of the things he did growing up made a difference in his life. Something he never thought about – he could do something like this and feel better.”
Last season, residents exchanged pictures of meals they made from vegetables and herbs grown in the community.
Residents of all ages were gardening last year, including Seniors in their eighties.
“It helps the elderly with dementia. How good is that?” Nerysoo said.
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“We all have issues with mental health and I think even in smaller communities, with drugs and not, you don’t know what people are going through.”
“Feeling that you have a connection to this land is so important and has so many positive effects on our whole being,” said Ford, who is a community nurse. “So, an activity where every day we share our time and energy with the earth, brings us closer to a place of well-being. It feels so good.”
“Little Dawson, his parents said he was so worried about his garden,” Nerysoo said. “He took so much pride and joy and responsibility. He gave people responsibility and something to look forward to.”
When the harvest time came, the organizers hosted a year-end party to celebrate. They cooked local fish alongside produce from the greenhouse, and invited residents to bring extra vegetables from their harvest.
“If it’s so successful now, what will we see in five years?” Nerysoo said. “I’m so excited about it.”
