Fort St. John to get new community garden, input sought from public

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A new community garden is coming to Fort St. John and residents will have the opportunity to provide input on its design. 

In an April 25th Facebook post, the City of Fort St. John said a piece of land will be provided to FSJ Community Gardens for a new garden. 

The garden allows volunteers to grow vegetables, plant flowers, perform maintenance work and engage in other garden activities in an effort to improve the city’s appearance and health. 

The property at 9803 87th Street will be leased to the North Peace Community Garden Society for one dollar over a 10-year term. 

Ryan Harvey, the city’s communications manager, said the garden provides many benefits to people living in Fort St. John.

“The gardens are such a staple, they allow for local production of vegetables and food, not only for those who rent plots that may not be able to have a garden, but also they have a lot of community space,” said Harvey.

Residents can provide input on how the garden will look at the Garden Re-Design Public Input meeting on April 28th at Northern Lights College on 120th Avenue, in room 1502, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

No registration is required and there will also be information provided on how to volunteer with the society throughout the season. 

“I just obviously encourage people to come out and help support the gardens and see what the future holds,” said Harvey.

In March 2024, it was announced FSJ Community Gardens would be managed by the North Peace Community Garden Society to help better handle the gardens’ responsibilities. 

“It’s just really great to see local agricultural, small-scale stuff happening in our community,” said Harvey. 

More details on the meeting can be found here.