Hay River Community Garden gets $40,000 injection to expand operations
Published 4:05 pm Thursday, April 23, 2026
The Hay River Community Garden has itself some money to spend and it has big plans for the garden in 2026.
Community garden organizers met with town council during a standing committee meeting at town hall on April 13 to discuss recent developments and future plans for the garden.
Megan Russell, president of the Hay River Community Garden Society, told councillors there’s lots happening right now with the garden.
The group was notified in December 2025 that they would receive a Farm Credit Canada grant in the amount of $25,000 and a Field Law Fund grant for $15,000.
Those funds will go towards purchasing a new greenhouse, which includes the construction of a new greenhouse foundation, according to Russell.
Russell also said the group is eager to establish on-site electricity, which they hope will come from solar sources with the goal being to generate enough electricity to power the greenhouse’s ventilation fans, lights, and motorized roll-ups, which will hopefully extend the growing season.
“That’s really what our next step is, and so we continue to fundraise, fundraise, fundraise,” she said.
The group started up in 2012 and is currently governed by a board of 10 members. It has a total of 56 outdoor plots and 20 greenhouse plots.
According to Russell, the initiative’s membership is predominantly women, young families, and new Northerners.
She said the space they had available in 2012 was very large, and the group’s membership was very small, but as the group slowly grew its membership, so too did it its funding grow.
Initial funds raised allowed the group to create a logo, establish branding, and repair existing garden structures that were in a state of disrepair.
“But really, the pivotal moment was in 2021 when we hosted the duck race,” said Russell.
She said the event raised roughly $10,000, which allowed the group to access bigger grants that were only available to organizations with banked funds.
In 2024, the group was able to gain access to the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) program, which allowed the organization to put $50,000 into the community garden site. That money went toward building a gravel pad, securing the area with a fence, and building new garden beds.
“It’s looking really good over there,” said Russell. “With this new development, there’s been a big renewal of interest in the garden.”
In 2025, the garden acquired a chicken coop along with 14 hens.
Simone Clark, a director with the society, said the hens stayed with the group over the winter and are continuing to do “incredibly well.”
Russell said the ultimate goal for the garden is to create multiple means of production that would provide financial stability.
She said this year, the group is looking into establishing a plum orchard, which would allow the sale of plums, jams, syrups, and more.
“It would allow for continued operational expansion of the garden, and would also give us the ability to fund initiatives that address food insecurity and anti-poverty within our community,” said Russell. “Producing food on a larger scale could potentially even provide seasonal employment for somebody.”
“We look to be a place for people to gather, and learn, and grow together, and share skills and knowledge, and bring a community of like-minded people together to learn,” added Clark.
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