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CCFN is an active collaboration of community members, agencies, service providers and organizations working together to enhance the health and well-being in our neighborhoods by supporting and coordinating local food security initiatives and improving access to community health, social services and community-based programs. Join us. It's free, fun and makes a difference! Email the coordinator and receive our monthly e-newsletter.

Monday, June 29, 2009

This Canada Day, Say "Hi"


Our conversation started simply enough, I was walking by and she was weeding. After exchanging "hellos" I learned here name was Kerry and that she had recently moved from Alberta.

“I’m so surprised at what grows here, like these grapes.” Since April she has tended her MOBY Community Garden plot on 11th, just off Commercial Drive. The gardener before had planted grapes which are now nearly four feet high. Other green shoots are sprouting up too. After I took her photo she laughed, “Maybe someone can tell me which ones are the weeds”.

Community gardens, children and dogs; I’ve begun to feel that these are the essentials for a convivial neighbourhood. Dog owners group around while their dogs run, strangers talk to babies and then, maybe, their parents and gardeners with a bit of dirt on their knees seem like easy people to smile at. The small act of weeding near the sidewalk or in a community garden can be the beginning of a whole new friendship. My tomato plants came from 2 different neighbours, both of whom I met while passing the time, talking about gardening.

This Canada Day, say “hi” to a neighbour. You never know who you’ll meet. Erin Nichols

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