Goats in Gameti
Community garden puts community on the road to self-sufficiency
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, July 6, 2015
GAMETI/RAE LAKES
The sounds of goats and chickens aren't normally associated with communities in the Northwest Territories but barnyard noises are just part of daily life in Gameti these days.
Judal Dominicata, the community's senior administrative officer, said 38 chicks and four goats arrived on the winter road in April, all of which are helping the community reach its goal of becoming self-sufficient.
Dominicata, who is originally from the Philippines, has a PhD in agriculture. His plan is to make Gameti capable of producing its own food - a goal he said is already being achieved.
The community's goats will be used for milk and the chickens are being raised for eggs and meat. Five of the birds have already been butchered and eaten during a seniors' event in the community and Dominicata said elders raved about their first taste of locally-raised chicken.
"The senior people were telling us the meat of chicken is so nice," Dominicata said.
"It's tasty and fresh meat."
The animals are part of Gameti's community garden project, which started last year with a roughly 21,600 square foot garden plot. Since then, the garden has expanded to include two plots encompassing more than 43,000 square feet, a greenhouse, a variety of different vegetables and rice paddies.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs provided funding for the garden expansion, while ITI provided the animals, Dominicata said.
Dominicata planted seven types of rice this spring but only five fared well, he said. Rice grown in the paddies will produce food not only for the community's residents, but for the animals as well. The husks and stalks will be used as feed for both the goats and chickens, in addition to corn husks from the three different types of corn growing in the garden.
Next year, the community will plant grass, sorghum and hay as well, Dominicata said.
"That will bring down costs," he said.
"We can preserve it, give it to them during winter, then in summer harvest the planted grasses."
The project is part of Gameti's five-year community development plan, Dominicata said.
Residents and administrators worked together to establish the plan by holding meetings with representatives from each social demographic in Gameti. Groups included the community's elders, youth, mothers and children between the ages of six and 13. Making sure no one is left out means everyone feels invested in projects, which reduces the risk of vandalism, Dominicata said.
"That is one of the reasons our garden is very successful," he said.
Everyone has a plot in the garden, including teachers, health centre workers, elders and students.
"Saturdays in the afternoon, they are here," said Dominicata. "Everybody is doing their part."
The hamlet also hired four full-time summer staff, including Cindy Gon.
Gon said she had never gardened before starting her new job.
Now, she's doing everything from planting crops to training other employees.
"I'm just picking up as I go," she said.
Gon helped plant the garden's vegetables, which now include tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, different types of beans, turnips, beets, carrots, celery, corn, onions and garlic.
There are also a range of lettuces, a herb garden and sunflowers.
But one crop seems to especially love the growing conditions in Gameti, Dominicata said.
"Potatoes are really the best," he said.
The garden is watered via two watering tanks, the first of which was donated by ITI last year. Ecology North donated the other this spring.
Next year, Dominicata said he hopes to secure funding to order up to 200 chicks and six more goats. He also wants to keep the greenhouse running nine months out of the year.
"Our plan is to shut down the greenhouse for three months only," he said. "December, January and February."
Gameti's community garden project is a model for other places in the territory, Gon said.
"I think it's great," she said. "I think it's a positive example so other communities could do it as well."
Dominicata said watching a garden come to life is not only a way to grow food but it can be good for the soul.
"This is my life," he said. "I think it's my medicine."
