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SUNNIDALE COMMUNITY GARDEN

In June 2009, Barrie City Council passed Council Motion 09-G-290  approving Barrie's new Community Garden Policy.   

Barrie's first Community Garden is located along Coulter Street in Sunnidale Park. It is a fenced area containing prepared plots of a standard size of 1.5 x 4.5 metres. Garden plots will be rented for $20 plus GST ($21 total) for the season (more details included in the policy - see above). Gardeners must sign a Community Garden Contract (see below: How to Rent a Garden Plot). The new garden will be operated as a pilot project and will be evaluated at the end of the gardening season. There are currently 35 garden plots in the fenced enclosure. Water is stored on site in rain barrels but supply may not suffice for individual gardener's needs.

A Public Information Centre will also be held in 2010 to determine public interest and receive feedback on other locations for Community Gardens. Staff will report back to Council in late 2010 with recommendations regarding expanding the Community Garden Program.

1. Fill out and sign a Community Garden Contract . DUE TO LIMITED AVAILABLITY, ONE PLOT ONLY PER PERSON. 

2. Submit  in person, with payment of cash or cheque to the Engineering Department, 6th Floor, City Hall, 70 Collier Street. Hours of Operation from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

OR     Submit by mail with payment by cheque (please do not send cash in the mail) to City of Barrie Community Garden Administrator, 6th Floor Engineering, Box 400, Barrie Ontario, L4M 4T5.

3. Signed contracts will be received on a first-come/first-served basis. You will be assigned a plot number immediately and notified by phone or e-mail if your contract was mailed. Your contact information will be made available to the Sunnidale Park Garden Coordinator, who will contact you when the garden is opened up in the spring.  If you indicate on your contract that you are interested in being a Garden Coordinator, you will be contacted by the City of Barrie Community Garden Administrator.

4. Due to the limited number of plots available in 2010, you may be placed on a waiting list, in priority sequence, if the plots are all rented.  Your money will be returned if your contract was mailed . If a plot becomes available, you will be contacted according to the waiting list priority sequence, and the fee will be due at that time. Please submit your signed contract regardless of plot availability in order to help indicate the level of community interest and the need for more garden plots.

For questions, please contact the Engineering Department at (705) 739-4207 and ask for the Community Garden Program Administrator.

Source-Wikipedia: 'A community garden is a single piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people. Allotment gardens are characterized by a concentration in one place of a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. In allotment gardens, the parcels are cultivated individually.'

Community gardens provide access to fresh produce and plants as well as access to satisfying labour, neighbourhood improvement, sense of community and connection to the environment. They are publicly functioning in terms of ownership, access, and management, as well as typically owned in trust by local governments or nonprofit organizations. A community garden brings your community closer. Community gardens encourage an urban community's food security, allowing citizens to grow their own food or for others to donate what they have grown. The gardens also combat two forms of alienation that plague modern urban life, by bringing urban gardeners closer in touch with the source of their food, and by breaking down isolation by creating a social community. It has also been found that active communities experience less crime and vandalism.'  Source: Wikipedia

Garden Progress

1. NOVEMBER 2009:  The location for the new community garden.

2. NOVEMBER 2009:  Volunteers from Living Green (Environmental Action Barrie) prepare the garden by using the Sheet Composting Method. Layers of cardboard, leaves and compost are laid directly on the grass. The materials will settle and decompose over the winter in order to be ready for planting in the spring. Thank you Volunteers, for hauling all that cardboard, compost and mulch!

3. DECEMBER 2009: 20 new plots are complete, the pathways are laid out, and fencing is installed.

4. MARCH 2010: The volunteers and gardeners are back to install the last 15 plots.  

5. MARCH 2010:  The garden plots are now complete. Great job everyone, and thank you for your hard work!

END.  Last Updated: May 12, 2010