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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's been a good season for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's Square Foot Garden project, and to celebrate they're holding a lunch for volunteers and clients at noon Sept. 7 at the Coast Fraser Towers.

CNIB gardening co-ordinator Rosanna Strong adds some new perennials to a planter in the Square Foot Garden across from Coast Fraser Tower. - Jesse Winter/NNSL photo

It's not just any lunch. As garden co-ordinator Rosanna Strong explained, she will be serving a special treat with produce picked from in the garden itself.

"We had a beautiful harvest stew last year, and a big salad, as well," she said. "Potato soup this year."

Strong has been hard at work on the garden all season, doing most of the planting herself. It's been a lot of work, but they've had many supporters from the community come forward to help.

Some of the most recent help came in the form of a Wal-Mart green grant. The company provided funding to help pay for the gardening co-ordinator position, as well as perennials such as raspberries and strawberries that will bear fruit year after year.

"With all the construction at the site, this year we couldn't plant as soon. We've had a lot of challenges this year, but next year will be even better," said CNIB's regional manager Norma Jean Jarvis.

She said the garden also had a lot of help from local construction companies, who have been working to finish the project, which is laid out like a clock to aid CNIB clients in navigating from planter to planter.

"Clocks and directions are very important for a lot of our clients," Jarvis said. "If you serve someone a plate of food, for example, you might say, 'Your meat is at 12 o'clock, your veggies are at four o'clock.' Our garden is laid out the same way."

Organizers are awaiting a few final touches before the garden is finished, including a flagpole that will rise from the centre planter and allow people to tell the time of day by the sun's shadow.

"The park isn't just for our clients and seniors. Every day that I come in here I see people sitting and reading a book, or just enjoying the peaceful area," Strong said.

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