The site of what used to be the Arrow Diner in Kamsack is now the Kamsack community garden, thanks to the collaboration of the town with several organizations.
The garden, spearheaded by Candace Nelson of SIGN (Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbors) which is based out of Yorkton, and Cassandra Whalley of Health Canada, First Nations and Inuit branch, has gained support and momentum to become a reality.
Nelson and Whalley approached the Town of Kamsack with their proposal of a community garden, based on donations and volunteer labour, and were granted access to build raised planter-beds on the town lot which is the former site of the Arrow reatauant.
With donations of lumber from the Norquay Co-op, McMunn and Yates and Prairie Barn Brothers of Yorkton, soil from KamKrete and volunteer labour and time, the nine 4 x 8 planter-beds were built on May 12. The donated soil was put in place immediately with the help of Doug Nelson, who is employed at the Norquay Co-op and operated the Co-op forklift, and six-year old Hutch Nelson of Norquay, who handled the rake.
Duck Mountain Environmental (DME) donated the use of a 2000-gallon water-tank which was placed on site by James Perry, and a continual supply of water to be utilized throughout the growing season.
“This project is a great way for community members to learn how to grow a garden,” said Candace Nelson, who works out of the Kamsack SIGN office, located in the former Sunrise Health Region building on Queen Elizabeth Boulevard East. SIGN was started in 1969 in Yorkton, and provides services and programs to build strong children, strong families and strong communities.
“If this garden location works out well for the volunteers of the project, we plan to do more in the way of beautification next year, although we have received a donation from Raabel Holdings Inc. of grass seed to enhance the existing grass currently at the site.
“We hope to create a sense of ownership of the community through growing this garden,” she said. “It will also promote work ethic: ‘tend a garden, tend a life.’
“SIGN is providing a portion of funding, and we are soliciting donors locally for the essentials needed to carry out the project.”
Planting took place on May 29 with donated seeds of potatoes, carrot, beets and beans and vegetable bedding plants donated by Chautauqua Gardens and Grandpa’s Garden greenhouses.
“The garden produce harvested in the fall will go to the New Beginnings outreach centre to help those with food security issues. We plan to use this project as a teaching tool, and encourage community members to learn gardening skills that they may then implement in their own spaces.
“Cassandra and I will be at the garden site once a week on Thursdays from 1 to 2 p.m., weather permitting, to answer questions and provide gardening tips,” said Nelson.
The current group of volunteers is doing a smaller community garden project in Norquay in the empty lot beside Norquay Agencies.
“The use of the lot was donated for this SIGN project by Norquay Agencies, and all other donors are the same as the Kamsack project,” she said.
