Posted by Hazel Nevrkla
At a recent meeting, Salvation Army Lieutenant and Rotary member Joel Torrens talked about and showed us pictures of the Community Food Forest recently started at their Lighthouse location at the corner of 3rd Street and 5th Avenue SW.
 
The Food Forest is designed to highlight the need for and provide food security.  The gardens are being planted with fruits (including trees), vegetables, and herbs which will be available for anyone to come by and harvest so that they can have a nutritious meal.
 
The growing beds are constructed to make optimum use of the available area around the Lighthouse, and to glean water and nutrients as efficiently as possible.  To this end, raised steel and brick beds, built-up hill-shaped (hügelkultur) beds, and rainwater collection facilities have been constructed and already planted.  Hügel beds are built up with rotten wood and plant debris, then topped with compost and soil.
The Food Forest is well underway, but volunteer help is still needed.  Lekker Land Design has managed the project and many other local companies and individuals have volunteered their help.
You can check out more about the project and how to volunteer by checking the websites of the Salvation Army and Lekker Land Design.