Welcome

Sometimes referred to just as Park Oven or PACO, the Park Avenue Community Oven is perhaps our most well-known initiative and opened in September 2012. The Park Oven is an outdoor, wood-fired, community oven that is located inside a custom built structure that transforms into a food preparation area when opened. Community members are able to cook or bake food in the oven through two unique offerings; Open Ovens and Bookings.

Open Ovens

12-2pm every Saturday throughout the summer months, volunteers host the Open Ovens. This is a time when community members & groups can just drop in with food to cook and enjoy a picnic in the beautiful Leighton Dillman Park. Since 2016, the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission has loaned the Park Oven a summer student to also run Open Ovens 12-3pm every Thursday from in July and August.

Community Orchard

The Community Orchard first started in October 2014 by organisers of the Park Oven in cooperation with a number of local organisations and HRM. It contains a wide variety of bushes and trees that produce eatable fruits and vegetables. The orchard is now managed by HRM.

Community Garden

Founded by Billy Lewis, the Community Garden is our oldest initiative and dates back to the 1990’s. The Community Garden offers plots for citizens to grow their own fruits, vegetables or flowers. In 2016, thanks to a grant from the Dartmouth Community Health Board, the garden expanded to include a number of barrier-free, accessible garden beds.