The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health recently hosted a garden party in celebration of the six raised accessible garden beds introduced to Braemar Retirement Centre in Wingham and Harbour Hills Retirement Community in Goderich.
“Here in Huron County we have an agricultural community," said Sage Milne, project lead. "A lot of people might have grown up with a garden, around a garden or growing crops when they were younger. We've really had huge differences between the different places on what people like to grow and it's based on the memories of what they were growing.”
Milne said residents planted a range of things from flowers to vegetables, often depending on what they were used to on their farm or around their home.
Something that made the project so popular was the raised garden beds.
“The great thing about the raised bed is that a lot of people as they get older might experience mobility issues so they can pull up right in a wheelchair or with a walker or if they need somewhere where they don't have to bend all the way down to the ground, they're able to interact with the plants," she said.
Milne said the project was made possible by funding from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.