May 23, 2014

Transformation: A Garden in Mount Pleasant

From Scot Bathgate:

My buddy Garet Robinson lives in a rental with his partner on the corner of Alberta & 15th in Mount Pleasant.  He decided to convert the front lawn along Alberta into a garden for him and the other tenants.

Here’s what happened.

.

Hey buddy, here are  a few pics of the garden as it’s progressed over the last couple months.

I started out just wanting to build a couple garden boxes for myself and Sarah to grow some veggies for the summer. Then my friend Kate (who lives down the street) mentioned she really wanted to grow some veggies but she lives in an apartment and has no space. I offered her some space on our front lawn to have one garden box.

photo1

.

So Kate’s boyfriend Dave and myself spent a saturday afternoon building three 4′ x 8′ boxes of reclaimed cedar I got from a friend. As we were building the boxes that day, one of our neighbors in a coach house next to us says she doesnt get any light and she would love to have a box on our front yard as well. I then asked all of the tenants in our building (its an old heritage house duplex with six suites) as well and several people were interested in getting involved. It quickly turned into a little local community garden.

I got the go ahead from the landlord and we ended up building a total of seven raised garden boxes with 12 people being involved. And it was everyones first time having a veggie garden!

photo3

.

It’s been phenomenal, everyone planted seeds about 4-5 weeks ago and pretty much everything has come up.

photo4

 

photo5

.

It’s been awesome getting to know everybody, alot of us didnt know eachother previously. I’ve also met a lot of our neighbors as well, as so many people have stopped to chat when we are working in the garden. The garden has been an amazing catalyst for community connection that I didnt expect.

photo6

.

I also have signs up for my woodworking business, to build garden boxes for people and we’ve had a couple orders come in from people walking by.

It’s been such an awesome experience starting these gardens!

Posted in

Support

If you love this region and have a view to its future please subscribe, donate, or become a Patron.

Share on

Comments

Subscribe to Viewpoint Vancouver

Get breaking news and fresh views, direct to your inbox.

Join 7,284 other subscribers

Show your Support

Check our Patreon page for stylish coffee mugs, private city tours, and more – or, make a one-time or recurring donation. Thank you for helping shape this place we love.

Popular Articles

See All

All Articles