Burnaby Allotment Gardens is home to almost 1,000 pairs of green ...


Photo by Mario Bartel.

Community garden started by BC Provincial Government in the early 1970?s

Story and Photos by Mario Bartel
Burnaby Newsleader
June 14th, 2008

Excerpt:

Mike Calderone, 85, is one of BARAGA?s originals. After a lifetime of toil, including seven years crouched in a Belgium coal mine 1,600 feet underground, he needed an escape.

?What am I going to do at home, watch TV all day?? says Calderone, his thick fingers wrapped around a tumbler of his own homemade apple wine as he takes a break from. raising his garden beds with a foundation of grass clippings. ?Nobody bothers me here. It?s nice and cool.?

Calderone visits his garden a couple of days a week, leaving home at five in the morning, puttering around his potatoes, peppers and parsnips until one in the afternoon. The parsnips aren?t doing so well this year, he frets. But that?s OK, he?ll try a third planting.


Photo by Mario Bartel.

?Once you come down here, the rest of the day goes so good,? says Calderone.

Like most gardeners, he grows more. than he could possibly eat, so he shares his bounty with friends, family and even his dentist, with whom he trades tomatoes for free dental work. He?s especially proud of his garlic crop, which he uses to spice his homemade sausages.

The gardens are as much about growing community as sprouting spinach, says Thompson. Senior gardeners like Calderone are always willing to share their years of experience and knowledge. When members fall ill, go on an extended vacation or are otherwise unable to care for their plot, others pitch in to keep it going. A portion of the harvest is donated regularly to the Food Bank. And Thompson says he can?t even begin to calculate how many friends, family and co-workers benefit from the gardeners? toil.

Read the complete article here.

Source: http://www.cityfarmer.info/2012/10/16/burnaby-allotment-gardens-is-home-to-almost-1000-pairs-of-green-thumbs/

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