Urban Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Pt 2 - Oliver Community Garden

After my visit to Our Urban Eden in Edmonton, I headed over to the Oliver Community Garden in west-centre Edmonton. It's an interesting community because it's has a lively mix of independent businesses, churches, a synagogue, pricey condos, older single family homes and low-cost apartments. (According to the Wikipedia entry on Oliver Community, it's one of the densest neighbourhoods in the city.) It's also one of the areas in Edmonton where newly arrived immigrants tend to settle, so there's a multicultural makeup to the area too.

This particular community garden got its start in 2006, when area residents petitioned the city to develop part of the neglected schoolyard into a community garden. Rather than discouraging foot-traffic through the garden, this community garden's design clearly has a park-style feel to it with an open, inviting design.

I wanted to photograph this community garden, because it's a different look and feel to the other community gardens that just have raised beds and are not really designed to be "parkland." I'm not sure if garden-raiding is higher in a park such as this, but there are always kids and adults just walking through the garden or sitting on the benches whenever I go past. It'll be interesting to see if other park-style community gardens pop up in the city.

The not-so-lovely cracked asphalt school yard. The school is still used, but as a private school for kids with learning disabilities

There's a constant flow of people enjoying the Oliver community garden/park in Edmonton, AlbertaOliver Community Garden functions as a greenspace for many of the area residents who live in apartments or condosRaised beds make it easier for older adults to gardenAgain, old trophies being put into new use as garden art