Vancouver community garden built in one day

More news out of Vancouver and its goal to be the 'greenest' city. Excerpts from this Vancouver Observer article.

vancouverobserver.com

 

A private-public partnership involving 70 volunteers turned two vacant lots near Commercial Drive E. into a large community garden in one short day.

The garden will be a combination of edibles ­ fruits and vegetables ­ as well as decorative perennials like sage, daylilies, coreopsis, and flowering trees donated by Canadian Tire. All Fiskars-donated garden tools, with characteristic orange handles, are left behind for future gardeners.

Say what you want about the corporate involvement, but I doubt this would have happened, otherwise.

"This is a welcome new food producing garden in Vancouver,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “It's great to see the private sector get involved in local food production. ­This is exactly the kind of creative partnership we want to be fostering. Vancouver is keen to reach our goal of becoming the world¹s greenest city by 2020, and new community gardens like this one are a great way to get us there.”

The garden will be left to the use of the community and local non-profits, including Mosaic:

Local residents and members of MOSAIC, a non-profit organization serving immigrants and refugees, will also be able to obtain individual plots in the new garden... The Mosaic community will use the garden as a way to introduce its volunteers, exchange students, new immigrants and refugees to the people and communities around them. “It is an opportunity for them to interact and mingle with other people in the neighbourhood and also to contribute new and different cultural traditions related to food and gardening.”

Victoria is overdue for some more community gardens. I would love to see some private-public partnerships to make this happen.

Your thoughts?