THUNDER BAY — The Matawa Heath Co-operative celebrated the grand opening of its Wellness Garden, located at the Matawa Training and Wellness Centre at 523 Algoma Street North on Thursday.
Myles Armstrong is a horticulturist who has developed the Wellness Garden from the beginning.
“This is really a beacon of a food sovereignty program. We’re really getting staff engaged in the wellness aspect of the garden, and it's really quite an abundant and beautiful place that's coming together here.
“We're really working towards a closed loop system where we're able to grow the things that we need, use the things that we grow very efficiently as we process and harvest them, using the compost organic matter,” he said.
Armstrong said they have a giant compost pile to build the soil, collect seeds and be ready to grow the following year.
“A lot of the things that are planted here are perennial crops that are going to come back year after year.
"We have a tremendous variety of medicinal herbs, culinary plantings. We've got some hardy fruit trees and then a lot of really high-value ceremonial plants like tobacco, sweetgrass and things of this nature.”
Everything has come to life since this past April, Armstrong said.
“The domes themselves were constructed nearly two years ago by Four Rivers. They're a program within the Matawa organization.
“We started talks and planning for this particular project over the winter, and we just got started on the ground here early in April,” he said.
The impact the Wellness Garden has on Matawa members will have a ripple effect, he said.
“It will directly impact people tremendously – the ripple is large because staff are coming out, they're being involved, they're volunteering, they're getting inspired.
There are scheduled times when the garden is open, Amstrong said, adding that “people are also welcome to drop in.
“Whenever the doors open, the gardens are open, people are encouraged to come and have a look,” he said.
This is a very sustainable practice, Armstrong said.
“Everything here is designed really well in line with principles of sustainable gardening, principles of permaculture and really building this closed loop system.
“Everything is low impact, no till gardening, really building our soil with healthy natural organics, no synthetic fertilizers, no pesticides, no sprays. Everything here is very true to roots, very natural, very much sustainable,” he said.
Evan Wesley was a summer student who spent time helping create the Wellness Garden.
“I help out like with labour mostly – moving around all these wood chips, helping build pathways and moving around all the rocks. It’s been pretty fun.
“When I first got here, it didn’t look how you would expect it to. As time went on, it got so much better, and just being here with that experience, it's a super nice feeling, and it's just awesome,” he said.
The Wellness Garden is open to any member of Matawa First Nations.
