Co-op reorganized and renamed

The Point Roberts HomeGrown Co-op has reorganized into a community garden, taking the name of Benson Road HomeGrown Gardens (BRHGG) and is thriving once again. The property at 1702 Benson Road belongs to Dr. Petra Selke, a Vancouver OB/GYN who operates a horse rescue on the northern portion of the five acres. Dr. Selke has generously continued her patronage by supporting the use of a portion of the property in cooperation with BRHGG.

BRHGG organized over the winter as a simple community garden, electing a new board of directors which spent many hours assessing challenges and opportunities in collaboration with interested co-op members. Collectively, it was decided that we would operate on a “work for food” volunteer basis and there are currently about 15 active volunteers. Board directors conferred with Point Roberts port director Brad Denson about Canadian volunteers and structured ourselves accordingly so that our “cottagers” can volunteer without concern about issues at the border.

Greenhouses and raised beds are gardened organically and we are currently harvesting lettuce, kale, radishes, spinach and garlic scapes. Our pollinator garden is looking beautiful with several shades of lupine and the daisies are, of course, prolific and the two make gorgeous bouquets. In the ground and growing rapidly we have many varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, summer and winter squashes, Japanese eggplant, cucumbers, basil, beets, carrots, many types of lettuces, Swiss chard, bush beans, and lots of different herbs.

If you would like to join us, even if you know nothing about vegetable gardening, please contact us on homegrown@whidbey.com to join our mailing list or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/prhomegrowncoop/. We typically have work parties on Wednesday and Saturdays, 10 or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. so bring a pair of gloves, a hat, some water and your favorite gardening tools and join us during that time and we will introduce you to some of the nicest people ever and put you to work growing your own food!