How Lennox Island gardeners are promoting healthy eating and sustainability

Jeffery Bernard waters rows of broccoli in the garden next to the Lennox Island greenhouse. 

The garden was there long before the greenhouse project was launched by the First Nation community in the winter of 2020.

Bernard has been working on the garden for about three years now — a job that teaches him a lot, not just about gardening but about many things in life, he said.

"My time here in the last three years, I've noticed I've grown with the vegetables."

Bernard and other gardeners have been bringing that learning opportunity to other community members. And so, the Lennox Island Greenhouse and Gardens has become more than just a place where people can get fresh produce at affordable prices, but also a place for education, he said.

During the school year, students from John J. Sark Memorial School visited the greenhouse and were taught to do things like weeding and planting seeds of cucumbers, carrots and beans.

They also learned the importance of eating fresh healthy food.

"A lot of them thought that [food] grew on shelves in Walmart, where now they realize that a lot of work goes into the food that they buy," Bernard said.

Manager Mark Ellands also hopes the facility can encourage the community to consume more fresh and locally grown produce rather than mass-produced items, he said.

And he's glad to see there has been an increasing demand for the produce grown at the greenhouse since its first season last summer.

"Last year, food would sit on the shelf forever. And now we find this year, there's a lot more people that are finding more about it and a lot more people that want to eat healthy."

Ellands said he also hopes people can learn more about sustainable gardening when they visit Lennox Island Greenhouse and Gardens. 

While the vegetables grown at the facility are not certified organic, he and his team try to use organic practices, he said.

"To me, it's very unnatural to put pesticides, herbicides, all that kind of stuff down. If you can mitigate it or prevent it altogether, I mean, why not try? It's a little bit more effort, but it's so rewarding."