One downtown Trail business owner is remaining optimistic on an edible garden project following vandalism to one of her planters that is set to bear free produce for passersby.
Sabine Mann, owner of Women's Journey To Fitness on Spokane Street, thinks the Communities in Bloom Project needs more of an explanation.
In the meantime she's crafted her own sign asking citizens to leave her edible planters to grow free vegetables for the picking. Now only beets, snap peas and radishes remain.
“I came to work this morning and the planter itself was knocked over so all the seedlings that were coming up just a little bit were buried in the dirt so I salvaged what I could,” said Mann Monday.
She is one of over 50 companies and services committed to nurturing edible gardens instead of seasonal flora in storefront planters this summer, which will be mapped out in a "Green Route" that will guide visitors through the downtown.
Although the incrEDIBLE green route is meant to draw foot traffic through the downtown by inviting people to take a walk and pick free-of-charge produce from planters, the heart of the initiative remains around growing food and supporting local food security and sustainability in the Silver City.
Trail Times circulation manager Michelle Bedford has recycled old Nelson Daily News tubes into planters for herbs — including basil, rosemary, peppermint and sage — as well as a broken Trail Times newspaper coin box to house everbearing strawberries and has transformed a broken West Kootenay Advertiser (WKA) box into a garden for radishes, royal red lettuce and nasturtiums (edible flowers).
“I think it's awesome, I think it's a great idea,” she said Monday. “I just really hope that everybody watches out for them and they don't get vandalized.”
She's keeping the “free” sign on the former WKA box to indicate that the produce is for the taking so long as people allow it time to grow without harm or theft.
The "Explore Our IncrEDIBLE Trail" initiative took root this winter when Trail council granted representatives from Communities in Bloom and 32 downtown businesses to move ahead with their edible landscape idea.