Hummingbird garden sees continuous growth

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2025 (312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jeanne Armstrong, 92, wields a stone. She raises the rock and hammers down, pounding a wooden stake into her garden until it stands firmly on its own.

Armstrong stands up, turns her palm forward and shows the rock in her hand. A circular indent catches the sun, and she explains the rock has been hammered in that spot over and over again to pound stakes.

The senior may be the perfect testament to the success of the Hummingbird Community Garden, a project launched to promote healthy activity and prevent chronic disease, partly by offering light, low-impact exercise for residents.

Screws in her back have triggered metal detectors ever since she had surgery in 1968, but Armstrong bends to the ground for hours every week to take care of her garden. She described the community garden at the corner of Maryland Avenue and 26th Street as a core part of her routine, something that keeps her busy and active.

“By the time I put in an hour and a half, and walking home, I’m ready to sit for a while,” she told the Sun. “As long as I can do it, I really enjoy it … I was here in ’07, the very first year when it started.”

Armstrong gardens for about six or seven hours per week. The task of gardening without any chemicals challenges her, and that keeps her coming back, she said, sometimes twice a day, for manual jobs.

“You’ve got to get ahead of the weeds,” she said, and pointed to the ground. “I see one there and it’s gonna bother me before I go home. I’m gonna have to pull it.”

Her garden is made up of peas, carrots, beats, beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, cantaloupe, onions and parsnip.

The project is popular with seniors, said Prairie Mountain Health community liaison Melanie Hellyer. The community garden has been at maximum capacity for about five years now, with roughly 420 individual plots making up the whole.

Hellyer, through her role at PMH, is responsible for helping new gardeners register. The agency jointly launched the garden along with the City of Brandon and Samaritan House Ministries as a community health project, which now is categorized under food security.

Since its launch, there has been continued growth, said Hellyer.

“We’ve done an expansion, it looks like, every year since 2008,” she said.

Volunteer co-ordinator Brian Fowell said the city’s contribution has been massive, as well as donations from businesses around the community. He said the City of Brandon installed water service to the property, provides compost at the start of the season, and collects garbage from the roughly 10 green bins and eight black bins on the property on a regular basis.

The support has helped build something positive in the community, he said. He told the Sun that the project is more impactful than growing vegetables.

“This isn’t just for growing a garden,” said Fowell. “People come here to visit, for exercise and fresh air … It’s a happy place. I wish the world would go that way.”

The community has a potluck every season, scheduled for September this year, he said. The community boils a large soup, contributing something each gardener grew during the season. He said that’s a chance for people to connect and build community.

The garden is hosting an open house on July 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com