Community garden in Poplar River First Nation sows seeds for more sustainable future

A community garden program in a remote First Nation in eastern Manitoba, run by a father and son, is growing in more ways than one.

It’s helping sow the seeds of sustainability amid concerns about climate change and high food prices.

“Through my dad, I guess, seeing him garden all his life … kind of made me take an interest in it, and I got offered the job through the health centre,” said Kelly Hindmarch, who has run the program since it started eight years ago.

Every fall, people in Poplar River First Nation, about 350 kilometres north of Winnipeg, have been reaping the rewards.

The program puts fresh, locally grown produce on tables in the fly-in community at no cost.

WATCH | Father and son help and heal by growing food for their community:

“It was for food security … kind of made me interested in it, after they mentioned it was for food security, because of the prices of northern food and just general health of people in the community,” Hindmarch said.

Food from outside the First Nation, which has approximately 1,200 residents, comes in on the winter road, by boat and by plane. 

While a federal subsidy, called Nutrition North Canada, helps to keep costs down for fresh food sold at the Northern store, the garden gives people another option.

“It was for food security … kind of made me interested in it, after they mentioned it was for food security, because of the prices of northern food and just general health of people in the community,” Kelly said.

Hindmarch now runs the program with his son, Julius Hindmarch, 24.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to work with your son,” Kelly said.

Julius started gardening around five years ago.

“I’m probably the youngest gardener in Poplar River,” he said.

Julius said gardens help cultivate a culture of healthy eating and food security.

He worries it could become more difficult and more expensive to get food to his remote community.

“I would think it’s probably pretty good if younger generations get involved in gardening because of climate change and global change around the world right now,” Julius said.

It’s a concern shared by Poplar River Chief Vera Mitchell. The gardens are part of the community’s lands program.

“Gardening is something that we’ve always had in our community in some form or another,” Mitchell said. 

“People have little gardens that they plant stuff [in], but this communal garden has been beneficial. It helps Kelly, I guess, too, because we pull our funding together so that he can do it full-time.”

Kelly and Julius deliver corn, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots and cucumbers, among other vegetables, straight to people’s homes.

“Every year, we give out probably close to 400 to 600 pounds of potatoes, about 200 to 300 pounds of beans,” Kelly said.

“The last couple years, we’ve given out about 100 to 200 cobs of corn, probably 300 onions each year.”

Green beans are a favourite in the community, Julius said.

“Lots of people like beans around here,” he said. “It’s to go with their moose, that’s why.”

They also help people take care of more than 30 home gardens in the community where people grow food in their yards. Some have even started growing grapes.

Along with the vegetables, the community garden itself is growing, with expansion plans in place to make it even bigger for next growing season.

“The community garden right now is about one acre and we’re in the works to increasing the size to three acres,” Kelly said.

They’re going to add two temperature-controlled greenhouses to grow even more vegetables.

Poplar River is also opening a butcher shop where people will be able to get wild meat and fish.

“The meat shop will be running through part of the fall and the winter,” Kelly said.

But the father and son both find the job healing.

“It keeps me away from bad habits,” Julius said.

Growing conditions in the area can be challenging due to the area’s clay soil, Kelly said, but the feeling of helping the community makes it all worthwhile.

“It’s an all-summer job, and it’s all day’s work every day pretty much all summer,” he said.