How Sheridan’s Community Garden is harvesting community and experience

Sheridan’s community garden is back and preparing to accept new members for its winter 2022 initiative. The Sheridan Sun spoke to Melina Elia, a member of the Community Garden, from Trafalgar and Harsh Thakkar from Davis for an in-depth look at the garden’s importance to Sheridan’s community and future.

“We are really all about fostering collaboration and community involvement,” said Melina when asked about what the garden represents. The garden aims to be more than just a standard extracurricular for all of those involved. Its goals are set higher; it strives to be a centre point, a place all community members can come back to appreciate not only a bountiful harvest but each other as well.

The Community Garden accepts all those who want to be a part of it. It doesn’t even matter how much gardening experience you have. “I would say I was a total beginner,” said Harsh. Plots of land on campus are provided to those who wish to join as well as guidance on how you get started in gardening.

Speaking to the community and personal outcomes of the garden, Harsh said “I have along with the Community Garden grown myself.” The garden’s end goal is more than just a harvest, it aims to help people grow and understand each other. Through working on different projects, experiencing highs and lows people can work together towards a common end goal. The garden pushes not only personal growth but growth in the community as well. An example of this is donating some of the harvests to local food banks. “You really get to meet a lot of colleagues at Sheridan that you may not have been able to meet before,” said Melina. Pushing new interaction and acceptance of one and other is what makes The Community Garden so special.

For all those looking to get involved in The Community Garden, they are currently accepting new members for the winter 2022 season. All registration information can be found here, but you are also encouraged to reach out directly with any questions or concerns. The Community Garden committee can be contacted directly via email at communitygarden@sheridancollege.ca

Gardening is only one small seed –  helping it harvest acceptance, growth, and community this year – are the goals of Sheridan’s Community Garden.