Project Orange Thumb builds Vancouver community garden in one day

A new community garden blossomed in Vancouver yesterday. Two city-owned lots just a little west of Commercial Drive on E. 8^th and a little south of the Broadway-bound Skytrain became a source of community pride as Fiskars Project Orange Thumb transformed the barren patch of soil into a beautiful and productive neighborhood garden ­in just one day.

Eva and Isabella check out the neighbourhood's new garden

Fiskars, a leading manufacturer of garden tools, joined forces with Canadian Tire and the City of Vancouver to coordinate, plan and execute the one day community gardening event. More than 70 volunteers, including members of local organizations PosAbilities and Mosaic, participated in the day’s events of wheel barrowing dirt, building frames for raised beds, laying soil, planting and mulching.

Fiskars president, Paul Tonnesen, said the one-day extreme garden makeover was inspired a few years ago by stories of guerilla gardening in Europe where anonymous gardeners transformed a rooftop or yard into a garden under the cover of night. “We didn’t want to go to that extreme, but we liked the concept of all-at-once, urban garden creation where we come in quickly and leave something beautiful behind.”

Fiskars president, Paul Tonnesen, waiting to install the garden's plaque

Tonnesen, who has been involved in eight of the nine Fiskars garden makeovers, said that the greatest challenge in building a community garden in one day is doing all that needs to be done in eight hours. “No matter how many times I’ve done this, I always start to freak out around 1pm when I see all of the plants that need to be planted, raised beds that need to be built, and dirt and trees and grass that need to go in.”

Getting the job done is garden designer Joe Lamp’l’s job. Lamp’l has designed each of the nine garden makeovers for Project Orange Thumb and is also producer and host of PBS’s Growing a Greener World. Lamp’l was busy running between volunteers and the food garden to the west and the perennial gardens further east, stopping to give regular directions on a bullhorn and wolf down a sandwich.

Garden designer and Growing a Greener World host Joe Lamp'l

Lamp’l said that local conditions, area photographs, and the community's ethnicity and abilities were all considered when planning the garden. The raised beds allow access to people of varying abilities, and plants like bok choy reflect some of the ethnic diversity in food planting. The garden will be a combination of edibles ­ fruits and vegetables ­ as well as decorative perennials like sage, daylilies, coreopsis, and flowering trees donated by Canadian Tire. All Fiskars-donated garden tools, with characteristic orange handles, are left behind for future gardeners.

Duncan Reith, SVP Merchandising, Canadian Tire Retail, took time out of planting beds to talk about a conversation two years ago between long time business partners, Fiskar’s and Canadian Tire, that led to the inclusion of Canadian cities in Project Orange Thumb. “As one of the country's largest retailers of lawn and garden products and a company focused on giving back to the community, we are delighted to be involved in this meaningful project,” he said. “Each Canadian Tire store is independently operated and our Grandview store is very invested in its local community and very committed to supporting this project.”