South Lanark Community Garden

The South Lanark Community Garden, formerly known as "The Lanark Highlands Plan B Community Garden", is a not-for-profit focused on growing and supplying fresh produce for the members of their community. The cultivation and success of this garden is made possible by their many volunteers, and the fruits of their labour are then donated to the Table in Perth, and members of the community for their use and further distribution within the larger community.
Background
The South Lanark Community Gardens (SLCG) is the brainchild of Cliff Neudorf. Once retired from his government position as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, a Civil Aviation Safety Inspector, and an ISO 10011 Certified Internal/External Auditor, Neudorf decided to devote his time to the creation of a community garden. The idea was to donate a section of land to create a garden where volunteers could grow and be educated on sustainable gardening. The community garden activities are shared in nature as all the volunteers are welcome to harvest what they need from the garden. The SLCG relies heavily on all members of the community for support, and there are many ways to volunteer your time and talents to help this operation run smoothly. Volunteers can contribute in many ways, from starting seedlings in the very early spring, to transplanting, weeding, harvesting, garden maintenance, produce delivery, seed saving, as well as many others. The community garden has been in place for four years, directed by Cara Bouleau and Cliff Neudorf. The south Lanark Community Garden was established on land that Cliff Neudorf and Cara Bouleau donated to their community. What inspired Cliff to start the garden on his farm is another similar project that was run by locals to support a number of families in the Lanark area. Cliff and Cara hope that their project would inspire other communities to do the same. The distribution of produce goes first to the volunteers who have worked in the garden, and once those needs are met, any additional produce is made available to other community organizations such as Food Banks, Interval House, The Table Community Food Centre, and other similar organizations.
Apiary
Most recently, The South Lanark Community Garden added a small apiary consisting of two beehives to the growing acreage. The aim of this addition is to give people who are passionate about honey bees the opportunity to come out and get involved. The apiary gives members of the community the chance to learn the skill of beekeeping, as they familiarize themselves with the process of harvesting honey and other activities needed to keep bees healthy.
Community impact
2020 the SLCG was able to produce almost 10,000Ibs of fresh food to share with volunteers and the larger community. Then, in 2021 the garden grew 16,000Ibs of fresh food. operated a youth garden orientation training program for the past two years. They have also initiated a seed saving program with the intent of producing a majority of our own seeds and being able to trade with other savers of seeds.The South Lanark Community Garden is committed to assuring the security and sovereignty of our community food system, by growing, producing, storing and distributing fresh produce, dried and stored produce and prepared foods to our members and the larger community. Support The Table Community Food Centre in Perth with fresh seasonal produce.
Awards and recognition
On January 12, 2022 the SLCG put out a press release that the project was being supported with a generous donation from Commonwell Mutual’s Learning Accelerator and Education Fund (L.E.A.F.). The SLGC is one of 21 organizations from across south-eastern and south-western Ontario by L.E.A.F to receive funding to build an innovative off-grid, solar powered greenhouse and water pumping system in 2022. The addition of this solar system will provide an environmentally responsible and economical way to expand the garden's infrastructure, while also creating new educational opportunities.
Future goals

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