A volunteer-run garden that feeds Edmontonians in need also supports the growth of its tenders – and now it’s looking for support of its own. Lady Flower Gardens sits on a one-acre private plot of land on the northeast edge of the city. It was donated to organizers with the goal of supplying to Edmonton’s Food Bank and helping local addictions recovery programs. Last year, it donated about 25,000 pounds of produce. Leslie Batonyi, who has helped tend the crops for two seasons now, says the garden was a vital part of his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. “It changed the way I look at life, and the way I look at what I can do for others,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. Now 605 days sober, Batonyi credits the garden as “mind and soul” nourishment. “It’s like night and day, being a city boy all my life, and working an industrial job for three decades,” he said. “Getting out in the country is a brand new happy place for me. I enjoy every minute I’m out here. If I’ve got to swat a couple mosquitoes to gain some serenity, it’s not a big deal.” But changes are in store for the gardens. Managing director Kelly Mills is shifting her focus as the owner who first donated the land, Doug Visser, ages out of being able to care for it. Visser facilitated Mills’ dream of a mental health and wellness garden nearly 15 years ago after overhearing her speak about it during an organic agricultural tour of Cuba. “He started this when he was 60, and now he’s going to be turning 74,” she explained. The garden utilizes about 100 volunteers to keep it going. Mills herself is a dental hygienist by trade. “(Visser’s) family has been involved in social justice for decades,” though, meaning the partnerships with inner city agencies and programming through the years came naturally to them, she added. Mills is now looking for homeowners in northeast Edmonton who’d be willing to donate their front yard to charitable gardening. Her pitch hinges on what grows out of the program – both edible and non. “You can learn and learn and get better and better at it. People have that resource right at their front step. They can help themselves and others,” she said. The non-profit also wants to bring physical gardens even closer to recovery programs like the one Batonyi graduated from. Batonyi himself says whatever form the garden takes next year, he’ll be part of. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg
