Virginie Gysel joins us to talk about transforming the grounds of a neighbourhood church into an orchard and food garden.
It started when she approached the church about growing vegetables on the property in exchange for looking after the flower gardens. She didn’t have anywhere sunny to grow tomatoes in her own yard.
It led to an orchard on a south-facing hill and lots of community engagement. She gives bags of produce to church members, donates the harvest to those in need, as well as sharing the harvest amongst volunteers.
Gysel founded the volunteer-run project TreeMobile that supplies food-bearing trees and shrubs at a low cost to home gardeners.
Gysel says that this self-supporting program also gives grants to schools, church groups, and community groups.
“I just realized this is the most amazing job in the world.”