In 2006 Frontier School Division began focusing on horticulture as a tool for education, youth development, and community health. The concept was designed to work within formal education and included study spaces, staff, greenhouse and outdoor growing spaces.

In 2007, Chuck Stensgard was hired as regional coordinator. Based out of Leaf Rapids and travelling to many other northern communities, Chuck has become an experienced and knowledgeable northern boreal grower. The local Leaf Rapids infrastructure is comprehensive and includes: a tunnel greenhouse, a shed greenhouse, the Churchill River Nursery with 1.5 acres of in-ground growing beds as well as indoor classroom space that includes a seed room, growing room, and laboratory.

The study and production of vegetable plants in the northern boreal forest is important on a local and global sense. The cost of good food is high and related health problems are far too common. Climate change is happening and we need to build strong food production skills and reduce our dependence on far off food sources. The Boreal Forest can support a strong local food system for northern people. Chuck Stensgard stated, “Our cooler weather and long days, and with the shelter and cover systems, we can grow amazing food. Just look at the strawberries that we have developed.”

Hundreds of youth have benefited from the program over the years by developing gardening skills and understanding of natural systems. Summer internships are usually part of the program with up to 8 youth working in the gardens and growing food together. Adults from the community also get involved in paid and volunteer capacities. In 2016, two adults from the community who were known to have challenges with the justice system and addictions got involved in the garden. They worked to establish more than half of new good in-ground horticultural beds and “nobody worked harder than those guys”, said Chuck Stensgard. They were proud of what they were able to achieve. The downside is that they are not able to work with the students. Les Linklater said, “Lots of people are really interested in what we are doing and I think it’s awesome. I feel really good about it.”

Partnerships are important to this work. The University of Manitoba has supplied a steady supply of both service-learning and Masters students who spend time in Leaf Rapids. These partners have inspired local youth and supported further development and awareness of the program. The Northern Healthy Foods Initiative, offered through the province of Manitoba, continues to be a key partner by providing financial support and active networks focused on food security.

Going forward, the Grow North Boreal Horticultural project looks to maintain our resources and programs, while focusing on sharing knowledge and building skills in other northern community members. In 2017, the program will host three learning events for other northerners to attend and share knowledge. Chuck recently explained that “I believe we get power from knowledge, and I have learned so much up here. I learn more every year. Getting the knowledge and inspiration out to northerners is key for this year. We will share as much information as possible.”

To find out more about the Grow North Boreal Horticulture Project please read here. 

To find out more about other community partners please read here.

​People have been growing their own gardens in Brochet for a long time, but our gardening project expanded in 2013 under the direction and management of our health center, and with the support of external partners, and it has been growing ever since.

The cost of food in Brochet is very high. Some subsidies are in place, but things are still very expensive. A 4-L jug of milk is $14.95, while a 10-pound bag of potatoes is $33. Also, we need positive things for our youth to do, and ways for them to gain employment and learn how to be leaders in our community. Our garden project helps to address these challenges. In 2013, we built a 14’ x 20’ greenhouse at the community garden site and also started a fruit patch. Out of the success and interest from 2013, we applied for additional support from the Collaborative to expand this great work.

​To get better at gardening, our youth have travelled to Leaf Rapids to learn with experienced boreal horticulturalist Chuck Stensgard. Youth from Leaf Rapids have also traveled to our community to help us build new garden beds and improve the soil. We have also received seeds and strawberry plants from Leaf Rapids that are adapted to be strong in our northern climates. Developing the soil and getting the right equipment to move soil to our gardens have been challenges for us to work on. Sometimes the Northern Stores saves rotten fruit for us to add to the soil.

The workers at our garden (usually 5-7 youth and 1-2 adults) plant and maintain the main garden, as well as visit people’s homes and help them build their own home gardens (in-ground and raised beds). Since we started we have doubled the size of the community garden. There is a positive impact for those employed. For the youth, it gives increased job skills, garden training, confidence about their ability to contribute to their community, as well as some spending money. For the adults involved, the money supplements the high costs of food to feed their families and helps them gain confidence in gardening skills. There are lots of young people that would like to work in the garden but not enough jobs available for everyone interested. It’s sad turning people away but we always invite people interested to join us by volunteering in the garden.

The interest in the project has increased because the community has celebrated the work and accomplishments. Food produced is shared through the Elder’s lunch, youth cooking classes, and local food boxes distributed to Elders. These connections all contribute to the strengthening of the belief that delicious, healthy food could be grown in the community.

Gardening has become a huge part of our community and has brought the people closer. A growing number of people have stopped by the community garden to see how everything has been going and are really shocked and excited about the results. Some community members have even come to lend a hand to the garden advisors. Having a garden in Brochet helps with saving money and allows people to purchase other things that we can't grow. Because of the garden, people are cooking healthier and getting exercise, because having a garden is a lot of work but also worth it.

To find out more about the Youth Garden Project please read here. 

To find out more about other community partners please read here.

The Northern Association of Community Councils (NACC) Beekeeping program began as a pilot in 2013 and has grown and been refined each year since. The program started small with five families taking part. Since that time many have gotten to be quite strong beekeepers. In 2016, there were 11 families actively participating in the program.

The NACC Beekeeping Program is a five year graduated support program that facilitates learning about bees as well as acquiring the bees and equipment needed to keep them. Participants sign a contract that outlines their responsibilities as well as the NACC’s commitments to the program. Each participant keeps a logbook that details their beekeeping activity. The logbook helps beekeepers keep track of their operations and helps the NACC track the activities of the apiaries. In 2015, one NACC staff member described the new contract system, “This really helped to guide us towards beekeepers to understanding the path to sustainability. We also did a better job of record keeping with the project.”

Pollination benefits have been obvious to many of the participants. Dave Olsen from the Homebrook community shared that his gardens were “over productive” after the bees were added and Alana Parker from Dawson Bay also observed significant changes in local pollination rates. Honey and other bee products are shared and sold in a variety of different ways. For some families the honey serves to offset the purchasing of sugar for their large families. Other participants sell or share the honey locally. In 2016, the first workshops focused on non-honey products like candles and soaps took place. Bonnie Dumas commented on the culture of sharing between the beekeepers and other community members, “We shared the honey with members of the community and co-workers. We also shared the information we learned with others and got people interested in possibly trying to raise their own bees.”

The participants have an array of motivators for joining the project. From economic development opportunities for their families, to pollination, to positive and action-based projects for children, adults and Elders to be involved in, people are finding many benefits from keeping bees. One 2016 participant said, “The honey we harvested is amazing and the smiles I see on my children’s faces when the Elders thank them and tell them how good it was, is completely worth every minute and penny.”

In 2016, more than 4,100 pounds of honey was harvested from over 70 hives by our participants. Beekeepers have also learned how to split their own hives and some are working on raising queens. The participants are now able to teach and support each other in a way that was simply not possible during the first years of the program. We are excited to support the emergence of new beekeepers, to increase the total number of beehives and see the resulting pollination benefits and honey produced by small and remote Northern Manitoba communities. In 2017, the NACC will be supporting some communities along the Bayline, with only rail access, to get into beekeeping. We will also continue to provide training and supports to our current participants and to promote this important project.

To find out more about the NACC Beekeeping Project please read here. 

To find out more about other community partners please read here.

The gardens in ‘the Bronx’ neighborhood of Cross Lake were established in 2012 by community members to create a positive space, build new skills and grow healthy foods. The Mikisew School took a lead role in creating these gardens and we hoped that they would be a place where the students who attend Mikisew School Garden Club could build their skills and then use them at home in their own gardens. There are 10 garden beds for students and community members to use.

The cooking component was added in 2016 to provide families with the opportunity to learn how to cook healthy meals that are diabetic friendly and promote food traditions of Cross Lake. Local Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative workers manage the cooking classes.

Food Matters Manitoba plays a supportive role in both the garden and cooking classes. For the garden, it has been difficult to find adults who have gardening skills and will spend time (either paid or volunteer) to consistently help organize and run the gardens. The children love to come out on planting days and to see how the food is growing, but we need more help and organization to do the weeding and watering for the garden to grow really well. There is so much value in getting outside together and getting our hands dirty.

In 2016, Carol Blair, a local lunch program volunteer at Mikesew School, helped organize the garden. Carol is a long time gardener in the community and lives directly across from the community garden space. Carol, her son Marcus, and community member and volunteer Frank prepared the planting space. Carol and Marcus then took the lead of planting vegetable seeds with children from around the area. It was a rainy summer which lead to some delays in getting the seeds in the ground. Each volunteer was paid an honorarium throughout the summer for their contribution to the project. Scheduling and organizing continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of the garden, as well as regular access to tools and supplies.
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The cooking classes are offered through the Cross Lake Health Centre and Prenatal Nutrition Program. Twice a month, Wendy and Sonia from the health centre host cooking classes for local mothers and children. Local food champion, Donna Hoppener, volunteers with the program by providing a variety of different diabetes friendly recipes and helping during the classes. These classes are popular and we plan to do more of them. We would also like to incorporate more traditional foods and food from the land into our cooking.

To find out more about the Garden and Cooking Project please read here. 

To find out more about other community partners please read here.