Home gardeners have new way to share bumper crops
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Got a glut of garden produce? Planted too many tomatoes? Planning a prolific pumpkin patch?
River Park South resident Sean Philips has created a free online resource where Winnipeggers can list the vegetables they’re planning to grow this summer that they will either sell, barter or give away in the fall.
Grown Next Door has an interactive map that allows visitors to see exactly what their neighbours are growing this season.
Users don’t need to register for an account, there are no joining fees and there is no algorithm to manipulate.
“You simply list what you have, then sell, swap or share with the people who live close to you. The more people who add their garden, the more useful it gets,” Philips explains.
Philips is keen to stress the site doesn’t require users to share their personal information.
“It’s first names only, and no addresses. The only time you ever need to leave contact details is if you want to meet to trade or sell. It’s like a big community garden. You just put your details there if you want to trade something. It’s so no street is drowning in zucchini while everyone’s out of garlic,” he says, laughing.
Philips was inspired to build Grown Next Door after receiving fresh produce over the years from his next-door neighbour Derek Sauve, a keen gardener always looking for ways to share the abundance of produce from his backyard vegetable garden.
“Every fall Derek gives me a couple of giant Ziploc bags full of the most amazing tomatoes. Because I am a terrible gardener, I can’t return the favour, and every year I have to find new ways to say thanks,” Philips says.
Sauve, in his 70s, grows a variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis and chili peppers. He grows for himself and his family and has been sharing his excess harvest with Philips, his other neighbours and his church community for the last 11 years.
“I would love to buy directly from my neighbours. If we all knew what each other was growing, we could trade or share and stop food from going to waste.”
“I grow mainly tomatoes and I’ve already started seeding my plants. When they are ready, I will eat them in sandwiches and stews. I also give away a few bags. The rest I will wash and freeze whole — I freeze about 48 large freezer bag of tomatoes — so I’ll have tomatoes to last me until the next season,” he says.
Sauve will grow fewer plants this year, as he finds he often has more than he needs, even after sharing. He has decided to reduce the number of tomato plants from 30 to 18 and only grow two zucchini plants instead of the six he’s planted in previous years. He also grows thyme, parsley and basil.
“I am slowing down a bit because I am not able to eat them all. I’ve never had waste. Last year I couldn’t eat all the zucchini and I couldn’t give them away,” he says.
Sauve’s predicament got Philips to thinking. He reckoned there were at least 30 people on his street alone who grew their own vegetables and wondered what they were doing with the excess.
“I would love to buy directly from my neighbours. If we all knew what each other was growing, we could trade or share and stop food from going to waste,” Philips says.
He looked around online and after realizing there was no such thing as a neighbourhood vegetable directory, he decided to build it himself and then shared it on his neighbourhood Facebook group.
Within three hours the site had more than 1,000 views, with 15 people immediately joining.
Visitor can click on any area of the map to see what’s growing, what’s available and what’s missing. Green spaces on the map indicate there are vegetables being grown in the neighbourhood, and a drop-down menu shows exactly what will be ready for harvest in the fall.
At time of writing, there are 27 neighborhoods on the map, from North Kildonan to Bridgwater, with gardeners planning to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, including peas, peppers, berries and yes, the ever-popular zucchini.
“My goal is to have every neighbourhood on the map go green before the snow melts,” Philips says. “And when harvest comes in the fall, I would love it if neighbours arranged to meet and swap their peppers for a giant squash or take a bag of tomatoes home in exchange for a couple of jars of homemade salsas.
“Neighbours being neighbours; that’s what this is for.”
winnipegfreepress.com/avkitching
AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV.
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