Canada: Halifax wants to help neighbours grow vegetables and communities one seed at a time

It’s offering 20 kits containing 5 types of seeds for summer gardeners

By Josefa Cameron
CBC News
Mar 04, 2023

Excerpt:

The Halifax Regional Municipality opened applications for its Neighbourhood Seed Kits this week, with the goal of helping people make community connections while learning how to garden.

There are twenty kits to go around and five different kinds of seeds — basil, kale, Swiss chard, zucchini and beans.

It is part of HRM’s larger neighbourhood place-making program, where neighbours are encouraged to work on projects together. The program is looking for people who want to create more connected communities.

Kate Moon is a community developer with HRM who’s working on the project. She told CBC in an interview that the program grew out of the pandemic and is now in its third year.

“This is a nice way where people could do an activity that’s outside.… We hope that they have the excuse to chat with each other and learn from one another and share skills or recipes,” she said.
“During COVID, we all learned how valuable it is to have connections with the people around us in our neighbourhoods. That can create such a great sense of well-being,” Moon said.

Moon hopes the initiative will improve mental health and break down walls that create social isolation.

“The more that people know each other, the stronger our communities are able to take care of ourselves and be sustainable,” she said.

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