Dartmouth community garden finds its roots in Acadian history

The Francophone Community Garden opened 10 years ago, and the local French-speaking community is celebrating its anniversary by preparing the ground for this year’s gardening season.

People of all ages met at the Dartmouth Common to take part in celebrations, spending time outside tending to a plot that will include carrots, herbs and tomatoes. 

Marina Turbide, communication and marketing co-ordinator for the Conseil communautaire du Grand-Havre, said this garden is inspired by traditional Acadian gardens dating back to before 1775. 

“Acadians had a very precise way of gardening,” Turbide told Radio-Canada. “The goal was to create a garden that could … sustain itself and have natural repellents for hungry bugs.”

She said that a traditional Acadian garden would include up to 22 types of herbs to serve as natural insecticides. 

This specific garden does not have as many herbs, she said, but it has a similar structure. 

According to the Acadian Historical Society of West Pubnico, Acadian gardening centres on cultivating complementary shrubs and vegetables together.

Turbide said the Dartmouth garden has four sections: root vegetables, stem vegetables, leaf vegetables and seed vegetables. Herbs grow around the produce section to protect the vegetables from insects, she said.

The Conseil communautaire du Grand-Havre provides all the materials for the garden’s upkeep, and harvested vegetables are donated to the Dartmouth Community Fridge. Volunteers meet Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. to tend the garden, water plants, and harvest produce at the end of the season.

Bruno Coutty volunteers at the garden because of his own love for the activity, but he also enjoys the cultural side of it. 

As a francophone, he appreciates the community built around the Acadian garden. 

“The vocabulary comes more naturally to me,” he said. “And I know the species in French.”

MORE TOP STORIES