Nanaimo volunteer program offers food growing opportunity

McIntyre said people of all ages have volunteered to maintain the food garden where a wide range of veggies are incubating from potatoes, garlic and squash, to several kinds of beans, tomatoes, lettuce and peppers.

Park Avenue Farm is located near Park Avenue Elementary School, just south of Eighth St. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

An online reservation portal is available for people who wish to roll up their sleeves and assist Nanaimo Foodshare and the community.

“People want to help out, they want to contribute to our local food security,” McIntyre pointed out.

She said Park Avenue Farm is home to several programs, including summer camp activities, while it also draws curious people showing up unannounced and asking questions.

Peter Clark has been a regular volunteer this year at the Friday drop-in program.

A long-time avid gardener and retired landscaper, Clark was drawn back to familiar territory.

“I’ve been doing it for 42 years and woke up one day and realized ‘you know, my fingernails are awfully clean haha’. So I thought it might be fun to get back and do a little bit of gardening work, I kind of missed it.”

For Clark, he feels good about helping the community, getting outside, staying active and seeing others learn more about gardening and food security.

“People are going to have to learn how to grow their own as things progress, I think. Things aren’t going to get cheaper and if you can grow a patch of vegetables in your backyard you’ll probably save a lot of money.” Clark said.

While it was a tad hot on Friday, July 5, Peter Clark was happy to help out at Park Avenue Farm. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Nanaimo volunteer program offers food growing opportunity

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