A second community garden in Squamish is taking root.
Having seen the vacant lot adjacent to her hotel, August Jack Motor Inn, flourish, Tejinder Bhullar and her husband are transforming their property across from the Squamish Public Library into another public garden.
"Right now, we are managing it," Bhullar said. "We are hoping that the Squamish Climate Action Network (Squamish CAN) will jump in."
Last spring, the Bhullars offered their lot on the corner of Main Street and Cleveland Avenue to the network. Setting up a garden was mutually beneficial to Bhullars' business and the community, she told The Chief during the facility's opening. It cleaned up an eyesore and the new land use placed the property in a lower tax bracket.
Up to 50 planter boxes are slated to be built on the additional lot, Bhullar said. Currently close to half of the planters are constructed and the District of Squamish has provided the couple with earth left over from the Stan Clarke Park upgrade - the garden sits adjacent to municipal park.
The extra plots might help ease the original community garden's wait list, Bhullar said, adding she hopes it adds to residents' enjoyment of growing their own vegetables.
Squamish CAN will examine its future goals over the next few months, the network's president Krystle tenBrink said. The decision on taking over the management of the new garden will depend on how members want to move forward, she noted.
"Squamish CAN needs to evaluate where we are at," tenBrink said.
The organization is currently working with another non-profit organization, Shifting Growth, to examine transforming the old Chevron site on Cleveland Avenue into a community garden. A possible idea is to run the garden in conjunction with a non-profit charitable group that could benefit from the proceeds, she noted.
