Growing together at Concordia
“We presented our document to them and said, ‘hey, this is what we started, this is where we want to pick up, and if you guys want to change it, go ahead,’” said Ottereyes.
“I’m really happy with the second group.”
Daley Trainer, a mixed settler-Ojibwe design student, helped come up with the layout of the garden: a swirl pattern, with walkways and many points of entry.
“He didn’t ask what they wanted it to look like. He said, ‘What do you want it to feel like?’” said White.
Following that came planting and caring for seedlings, the removal of the grass and sod from the plot, and constructing the raised bed in preparation for the opening.
On Friday, it felt like a job well done, even as the tobacco, corn, beans, and squash seeds, as well as the tomato plants and Ottereyes’ “corn babies” had just been planted.
“I consider it a success. A lot of the seedlings we started with grew and a lot of them are going into the ground, which I’m really happy about,” said Ottereyes.
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“But, there’s still a lot work to be done.”
For White, it was a very proud day, seeing students come help with the garden even after their educational obligations to the project had been completed – the winter semester ended in April.
“It’s been a lot of physical labour, and when the semester was over, students still came back to take care of their seedlings, to water them, to visit them, to nurture them, to transplant them,” said White.
“My heart is so full. I get teary-eyed. I’m so happy of all the work that students have put into it and what it means to the students. I feel really lucky, and this is when I really love my job, that I can help facilitate something like this.”