Food Insecurity on the Schoodic Peninsula: What Can We Do?

In 2016 I was invited to participate as a judge for a local youth speech competition. There were three judges on the panel. The topic was Hunger in America. I suspect my fellow judges thought, as I did, that we would hear speeches with statistics about the United States as a whole. We were surprised. In fact, at several points, we were shocked.

The speeches we watched were solely concerned with hunger in our own community. Indeed, as one young woman made her speech about a child going home to an empty refrigerator and empty cupboards, we had the distinctly uncomfortable impression that she was not talking about a random child but was describing her own home. The three of us discussed these moving speeches, made our decisions about finalists and winners, and went away. I could not get these speeches out of my mind and felt called to act.

I immediately decided that from that day forward, all gardens and landscaping at Dorcas Library would be edible. We would grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I proposed this to the board in June 2016, when it was already too late to plant much. The concern was that the gardens would “not be pretty” or would not be cared for properly and would look unkempt. I promised to prepare an action plan that would meet with their approval.

A group of Master Gardeners gathered at the library for a meeting, and we walked the grounds. We looked at photos of other edible gardens, reflecting upon how beautiful gardens can be when not grown as monoculture, but with flowering herbs and edible plants grown together as companions. We also talked about how many flowering plants are edible: daylilies, roses, nasturtiums, marigolds, pansies, violets, and peony! Many people are unaware that these flowers are edible, and the library could host classes on how to use these in healthy meal planning. Additionally, any food not picked by members of the community would be harvested and taken to the local food pantry.

We made plans not only for edible community gardens, but also texture and scent gardens, meditation gardens in secluded corners, and raised beds accessible for those in wheel chairs. We would plant areas in phases over several years of time. Many of the garden areas would be in containers. As much as possible, we would use native herbs and fruiting trees/shrubs; and we would use heritage varieties of vegetables.

We began the first year with lowbush blueberries in our front rock garden. In 2017, we added two container gardens with tomato plants. In 2018, our tween attendees of STEAM Camp planted the containers with squash, beans, and herbs. We planted more beans and pumpkin in the front garden beds. In 2019, we will plant kale in the beds beside the building and continue with beans and squash in the front beds. We will again plant tomatoes in the containers, with flowers to help control insects. The first shrubs and trees will be installed: hazelnuts, perhaps? Dwarf plum? We will add two towers for strawberries.

With the additional land across the street, we will work with Healthy Acadia to develop an accessible spiral meditation garden, all beds raised to wheelchair height and with a hard path for those with mobility issues. A circular bench will be at the center of the garden. We will plant a short hedge of rugosa roses along the creek bank for additional safety and to attract more birds, bees, and butterflies.

With Earth Day coming up, it is time again for our gardeners to gather, to think and plan, and to recruit community garden volunteers.