Six Alberta teens turn job shortage into garden business, secure $21,000 in grants

Six teens in Beaumont, a city on Edmonton's south edge, started a garden business this spring because jobs were hard to find — and they've already lined up $21,000 in grants to expand it next year.

Kiera Lang, 16, runs the youth club called BADAS. "It's hard to find a job here in Beaumont. So we decided to grow our own," she said. The group planted beans, peas, carrots, beets and potatoes, then sold them at the Beaumont Farmers Market.

Weather was brutal: June rains destroyed one of two garden plots. The surviving plot, on higher ground, yielded enough for real sales. "We've still managed to grow something pretty good and make the best of it," Lang said.

Terra Pombert, who co-ordinates the club and owns Sunflowers Urban Farm, secured $16,000 from the Canada Post Community Foundation to develop mentorship, entrepreneur and leadership programs for the group. A second grant of $5,000 from The Dream Community Foundation will fund next year's expansion.

Pombert said farmers are aging, and Alberta needs young people considering vegetable growing as a career. "They think of agriculture as like cows and tractors, which are sort of the dominant commodities," she said. "There are real opportunities in growing vegetables and local food."

Avery Sheppard, 15, the group's vice-president of communications, came in with little gardening knowledge but learned weed types and practical business skills. "The biggest challenges this year were definitely the weather. The rain and the bugs have been so bad," Sheppard said. She now wants to garden in her own backyard when older.

Pombert said 25 per cent of Beaumont's population is under 15, with youth eager for work and new opportunities. The teens built résumés, earned money and made contacts — exactly what a first garden season should deliver.