5 minute read
Community Garden
Blooming garden beds at the Bedford Campus.
Our fall alert buttons and other technologies give you the confidence to live in your home.
Enjoy independence knowing help is on the way when you need it!
What sets us apart?
A Nova Scotia based not-for-profit Revenues go back into community programs Installed by local volunteers No minimum contracts
Mention this ad for free installation 902-492-3346 or 1-800-461-3346 northwoodintouch.ca
Northwood believes in vibrant communities and giving the ability to live more. The William E. Frank Live More Park & Community Garden, located at our Bedford campus, helps do just that. The park and garden provide enhanced community recreation opportunities, a beautiful comforting space where everyone, regardless of age or ability, can have fun while producing high quality, organic food and enjoy a sense of belonging that comes from neighbourly connections.
Boasting 42 garden beds and a wheelchair and dementia friendly space, the park and garden is normally a wellused asset to the community. The garden beds always sell out, and the fully accessible walkways are usually busy with residents on an afternoon stroll, parents teaching their kids how to ride a bike, and everything in between.
The space is used by many people for many different reasons. Some use the garden plots for producing food, others use them for recreational gardening to spend some quality time with friends or family. Northwood residents and people in the community also rely on the park as a venue for workshops, birthday parties, walks or a place
to exercise and just to get some air. Some daycares even use the space to help get kids involved with nature.
Jessica Titchmarsh, Community Programmer at Northwood’s Bedford location, has been very active in the park for years and works to make it a safe and accessible space for everyone. She has made it her personal goal to meet each individual need through the parks program, which is also the purpose of the park – to provide a community green space that cultivates positive shared experience among intergenerational people in the community.
This year, however, looked much different for the park and garden because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The May long weekend opening was postponed to the end of June, and when the park did open many restrictions were set in place to keep people safe. Despite these setbacks, the garden still offered many benefi ts for the community during uncertain times caused by the pandemic and was still used regularly by many members.
“Besides the benefi ts of the produce grown, it felt good to get out to what we consider to be a safe area and do something productive,” said Cindy Blanchette, a returning garden member who rents a plot in the park. “Our daughter’s bed was next to ours and it was fun to compete to see whose beans grew better. It was also important for our granddaughter to participate in weeding and watering… although sometimes I got watered almost as much as the plants.”
Cindy’s experience is refl ective of the experiences of many people who utilized the garden as something more than a means of producing food this summer; as a way to safely escape the tensions of real life and unwind.
At the height of the pandemic, when Northwood residents could not roam around the park or grow in the garden, Titchmarsh and her students went the extra mile to include them in the community garden. They communicated with interested residents on what they would like to grow and every few weeks Titchmarsh would bring them fl owers or produce the garden yielded. A small gesture that went a long way for the residents.
Although what the summer season would bring for the park was uncertain in the spring – the park and garden has fl ourished. It was
by no means a traditional season for garden members, Northwood residents, and members of the community. However, the space still served its purpose, possibly this year more than ever by bringing the community together in support of common interests. The results and impact are seen not just in people who spend time there, but in the look of the park itself; a stunning community garden.
Two of the Northwood Board of Govenors have stepped down this year.
We would like to thank Linda Carvery for her years of dedicated service to Northwood. We also want to extend a huge thank you to Peter Wilde, who served as Chair of the Northwood Board of Govenors for four years.
Their dedication and commitment to Northwoods Mission, Vision and Values has had a positive impact on the lives of Northwood’s residents and clients. Their contribution is very much appreciated and they will be dearly missed on the board.
Here to listen. Here to help.
Claudia Chender MLA Dartmouth South 902-406-2301
Gary Burrill MLA Halifax Chebucto 902-454-8365 Susan Leblanc MLA Dartmouth North 902-463-6670 Lisa Roberts MLA Halifax Needham 902-455-7300
