(Submitted/Willow Creek Community Garden Facebook)

By Nicole Reis

GROWING LOCAL

Perceptions of food scarcity reveals growing interest in personal growing projects

Mar 30, 2020 | 2:52 PM

Sparse isles in local grocery stores seem to reveal a growing perception of food supply scarcity.

According to some local growers, more people are showing an interest in growing their own locally sourced produce.

Patty Morley, coordinator at Willow Creek Community Garden told meadowlakeNOW the pandemic appears to be a reminder of self-sufficiency and getting back to more simple forms of survival.

“Starting your own micro-greens at home by putting a window box in the window, or growing some herbs and lettuces allows something to look forward to,” Morley said. “Seeing something grow is not only good for the freshest vegetables but also your state of mental health.”

Morley, along with local growers, are involved in a weekend seed sale and exchange program called “Seedy Sunday,” which was recently conducted online to comply with social distancing.

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

Ferland earns Grey Cup ring

'A wonderful human being': High school coach thrilled Logan Ferland is a Grey Cup champion

Nov 17, 2025

“For myself, just being self-sufficient and gardening every year has given me an advantage because I can go to my storage space and pull out some fresh potatoes or fresh carrots,” she said. “I’ve got canned and frozen produce and it’s a wonderful thing to know that if I have to stay home to self-isolate, or feeling sick, I don’t have to go to the store for days.”

Willow Creek Community Garden is a membership-based garden where members grow their own produce and maintain the borrowed plot. Produce is often shared and traded among users and local organizations.

Jim Trenier, owner of Prairie Garden Seeds said he has been selling produce to the community near Humboldt for nearly 35 years. His daughter Rachelle has conducted two online seminars recently related to gardening and provided answers to a curious general public about the basics and seed use.

He said people want a local and safe source of food and interested in learning how to grow their own produce.

“We’ve had a very large increase in inquiries from people,” he said. “Quite a few are not our regular customers but people who realize they should be doing more to provide their own food and are looking for seeds.”

Trenier suggested imported produce may be cheaper but locally grown produce may keep profits within the immediate community. He said cities like Saskatoon are increasing public green spaces to allow for more community growing projects.

Prairie Garden Seeds hold online seminars for the public here.

Willow Creek Community Garden staff are making themselves available to the community during the pandemic by offering an opportunity to build and grow a healthy lifestyle while teaching the public to become more self-reliant.

—

nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicole.reis@jpbg.ca