Colony Farm Community Gardens is no more.
Instead, the 650 garden plots at the ƛéxǝtǝm Regional Park (formerly known as Colony Farm) are now located in the re-christened Coquitlam River Community Garden.
The name change for the garden and its society comes after a resolution at the club’s annual general meeting and in consultation with the neighbouring kwikwəƛə̓m (Kwikwetlem) First Nation.
Past president Virginia Wilson said the name change respects the park name change made last July by Metro Vancouver: ƛéxǝtǝm means “to be invited.”
In January, she said, members came up with a list of 50 new names, but settled on Coquitlam River Community Garden to refer to its time and place; the name change was made official on Jan. 29 through the Societies Registry of BC.
"'Coquitlam' is the anglicized spelling derived from kwikwəƛə̓m," she said in a release.
"'Coquitlam' connects us with the river, the place and our neighbours who belong to the land. We acknowledge that we garden on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the kwikwəƛə̓m. We thank the kwikwəƛə̓m who have cared for these lands and all that is above and below."
The society will reach out to its food bank partners such as SHARE and The People’s Pantry to notify them of the name change.
As for this spring, she said the 300+ member gardeners will start planting and getting visits from wildlife such as the deer "Bucky."
