Brentwood’s People In Your Neighbourhood Article for June

May 31, 2025

The Brentwood Community Garden Fulfills a Range of Aspirations

by Lee Hunt

The Brentwood Community Garden Group (BCGG) is celebrating its 15th year of producing wonderful food, colour, learning, and peace.

The idea of a community garden in Brentwood was originally proposed by Cody Torgerson. After Cody retired, Sue Drader “eventually took the lead with much assistance from several other people.” Sue told me that originally the land on which the garden now sits was owned by the City, but then it was “brought under the Brentwood Community Association’s umbrella.” I cannot imagine how much effort there must have been in turning an unused section of grass into a large periphery bed plus 35 individual plots!

But lucky for our household that it happened, as we have one of the plots where we grow potatoes each year.

One of this year’s new members, Hasib, lives in an apartment so is pleased to join the BCGG to give him “access to a personal open space… and I will plan my bed in such a way as to maximize my yield.”

Current coordinator, Cynthia, followed Sue in 2015. Cynthia is impressed that there is “so much knowledge in the group and we novices soak it all up.” It is exactly this knowledge that first time gardeners Xiao and his family hope to learn from. They rented a plot because five-year-old Jun “became so curious about the plants and activities in the garden.” Xiao went on to say, “I think that gardening is something we’ll enjoy as a family—tending to our garden and learning as we go.”

The periphery garden is made up primarily of colourful perennials, shrubs, and trees which are lovingly tended to by Kathy, while husband Bill looks after their garden plot. Bill is also the garden’s “master carpenter” as he has helped rebuild five of the original beds with each bed averaging three hours to repair.

Talking with other gardeners—be that at the organizational meeting, garden cleanups, or just while tending one’s own plot—can lead to tips and learning as youngsters and novice gardeners learn from the more experienced gardeners. And we all learned together how to deal with the voles which arrived one year!

Many of the gardeners referred to the garden as providing “the chance to interact with nature and with other people” (Sue) and “a quiet respite where I can fade out the noise and busyness of the world… to relax and just appreciate the beauty all around me” (Deb).

As you can tell, a garden can bring abundant harvests, learning, and peace. Visitors are welcome to walk through the colourful garden, but please – no picking!

I wish all of my fellow gardeners a plentiful crop, an opportunity to socialize with other gardeners, plus time to quietly commune with nature.