By Ginny Wilson, our past president

For over 25 years, I have been saying “I belong to Colony Farm Community Gardens”. Now I must shift gears and say “I belong to Coquitlam River Community Garden.” But what does this new name mean to me?

What does the Coquitlam River have to do with our garden? Everything! We are located on the floodplain of the river which has sustained life in the watershed for a very long time. Our clay and silt soils were renewed whenever the river flooded. Our fertile river soils give us all our flowers and veggies. Veggies which we eat, and which become us.

The Coquitlam River and our Community. Without our members, our garden would be nothing. Our community is like the river which gathers its water from streams and creeks from all the way up in the mountains, just as we gather our members, each with our own origins, culture, traditions and history, from many places around the globe. Like the water in the river, we “flow” together in the community garden to make something much bigger than the sum of us.
What does our new name mean to you? How will you “shift gears”?

Offer your thoughts here.