 | The FRILL garden began in May 2004 when Carone Beaucage and her Grade 2 class at the Kingston, Ontario Mulberry School took on a cleanup project. The area to be cleaned was a vacant lot that was filled with litter, broken glass and trash. Graffiti covered a nearby warehouse. Carone had recently moved into a house across the street from the lot and she did not want her and other neighbourhood children to have to view such an unsightly “mess”. Carone and her class invited teachers, students and parents to help out. Together, they designed and created ornamental, fruit and vegetable garden plots with soil donated by Pyke's. Other local businesses pitched in too - donating lumber, refreshments and plants for the newly forming garden effort. Ultimately, the “FRILL” (Friends Revitalizing Industrial Land Lovingly) Community Garden was born from this project and included families of the students at the school, people in the neighbourhood and other Kingston citizens.
FRILL has run into some interesting twists and turns as it has made its beginnings. In 2005, FRILL almost lost its land when Loblaws, a major Canadian food distributor and supermarket chain who owned the vacant lot tried to evict FRILL gardeners even though a written agreement had been signed. The group was given until October 17 and then Oct 31 to harvest the remaining vegetables and be gone from the land. The community rallied around FRILL and thanks to much publicity and media coverage the garden was able to stay. Now in our fifth season, FRILL Community Garden is grateful to Loblaw's for continuing to allowing us to do our work on the land. We have had many gardeners at FRILL over the years and look forward to welcoming many more. Our mission is to provide an accessible, child-friendly environment in which our plants and our community can grow through skill sharing, laughter and the ability to work together. Families, friends, individuals and community organizations are welcome to submit their request for a plot. We also offer communal plots for those who would like to garden with others who they may not yet know. In November 2009, FRILL was asked to vacate the land as the former No Frills store and warehouse were set to be demolished and all the land sold by Loblaw's. On the 14th and 15th of November FRILL moved its belongings into storage at the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston. We currently seek a new location at which to continue our work. FRILL is entirely coordinated and staffed by volunteers who work within a consensus-based decision making model. New ideas, participants, volunteers, and energy are always welcome! | | About Our Garden FRILL Communtiy Garden has slightly more than 1480 square feet of growing space. There is a central pizza garden and 19 plots that are given out at our annual May Day celebration by lottery. In 2009 this event will be held on May 3 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and all are welcome whether you are interested in a plot, volunteering with us, or just being out in the garden. FRILL also sets plots aside for communal use. Those interested in communal gardening can sign up at the May Day celebration or by contacting frillgarden@yahoo.ca. There is no plot fee for communal gardeners but donations are always gratefully accepted. In 2006 FRILL constructed an accessible raised garden bed which is an eight by four foot raised table-top bed with about twelve inches of growing depth. This bed is suitable for use by anyone who has trouble bending to tend a garden plot, for wheelchair users or those who use scooters. FRILL has begun work on a native plant garden which we hope to develop over the 2008 - 2009 seasons. |
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