Fanshawe landscape design students brave the elements during visit to Bruce Botanical Food Gardens

It was cold, windy and rainy - typical Bruce County weather - as 45 second-year landscape design students from Fanshawe College in London, descended on the Bruce Botanical Food Gardens in Ripley, Friday morning.

Their mission was to split into groups and start measuring various sections of the gardens so they can submit their design proposals to executive director Lynne Taylor by the middle of next month.

Supervised by Sara Bellaire, professor of landscape design at Fanshawe, the students focused on five different areas: the circular garden, outdoor classes, D-shaped garden, teepee garden and the forage forest.

Student Ben Malach of Calgary said he's originally from a small town and he has done work in a small town in Nova Scotia, helping build Cabot Cliff.

"We're trying to focus on making this work holistically with nature, while being aware of the importance of food security in the area," he said. "The hardest part is working within a budget. We have to make our design effective and efficient for this type of project. It's easy to get carried away with grand plans and schemes, but here, we have to keep our feet on the ground."

The students will design the five areas of the food gardens and then hand the designs over to Taylor to implement. Their deadline is Nov. 15.

During their tour, the students checked out the new Outdoor Learning Centre which was completed two weeks ago. Taylor said Ontario Power Generation (OPG) funded the stainless steel tables and work stations in the centre.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) provided the funding for the Fanshawe students to travel to the food gardens, said Taylor.

"It's unbelievable to have them here," she said. "This is such a great opportunity for them as designers to have their work showcased here. This is a great partnership, and the development of something like this was all part of the food gardens project since Day 1. It's so exciting to see eight years of planning come to fruition."

She said the students were taking measurements and working in the gardens Friday morning. They stopped for lunch at the Ripley Arena, provided by Nan Grant, using produce from the gardens. And in the afternoon, the students finished up any last-minute measurements and calculations, and then ended their day at the Bruce-Huron Food Auction near Lucknow.