Lifepointe Bible Church offering community garden plots

The Niagara Community Garden Network website can add one more to its list: Lifepointe Bible Church at 736 York Road.

“One thing that has come to our attention is the rising costs of food, said Greg Alderton, pastor at Lifepointe. “Things you paid $7 or $8 for are now over $10 dollars.” Alderton cited the price of romaine lettuce as an example of food prices that have increased over the past few years.

“One of the ways we could help out the community is to open up a community garden and let people come here and grow their own vegetables.”

“We will have 15 gardens ready to go this year,” said Alderton. “Ten will be raised garden beds, and five will be at counter height for seniors, for people who have back problems, or for people who enjoy gardening, but don’t want to get down on their knees and bend over.”

The ground-level plots will measure 12 feet by three feet and the raised beds will be four feet wide by eight feet long.

“The church family will also have our own garden and we will donate all of our vegetables to Newark Neighbours. They gave us a list of things they would like, such as a lot of lettuce,” and other green vegetables. “Anything we harvest goes directly to Newark Neighbours.”

Church members will start to prepare the gardens on the last Saturday in April. “On Saturday, May 13, we will invite all the gardeners out to show them where everything is. If they want to plant that weekend, they are welcome to do so. It’s their space,” said Alderton.

The church is charging would-be gardeners $50 to cover start-up costs such as lumber and soil. “We are supplying the garden, fresh soil, water throughout the season and garden tools.” For now, the church plans to use rain barrels to collect water, but they have plans to mount a large water tank on a repurposed shipping container on the property.

The church backs onto a conservation area and is bordered by Six Mile Creek. Wild turkeys, rabbits and deer may be frequent visitors to a garden, but Alderton suggested that “individuals are more than welcome to put up chicken wire around gardens. After we get our first year under our belt we might put up a fence around the gardens.”

While the location is close to residents of St. Davids and the Glendale area, “anyone from Niagara-on-
the-Lake is more than welcome to sign up for a garden.”

Register for a plot on Lifepointe.ca, or call the church office at 905-688-2525.