Community gardens have been popping up in cities across Canada and have been proven to have many health benefits such as promoting physical activity and reducing stress. The Centennial community garden in St. Catharines, Ontario has seen the immediate health benefits but also found the garden harvests more than food: it utilizes local gifts and assets.
Centennial’s community garden is a place that instills self-confidence and promotes a caring community by connecting neighbours with one another and the natural world around them. It is also an opportunity for citizens, organizations and municipalities to work together to provide low-barrier opportunities in public spaces driven largely by resident leadership. Centennial’s community garden is an example of an empowering initiative that serves multiple purposes, with a host of benefits to the city of St. Catharines: “The Garden City”.