Colony Farm Regional Park, Coquitlam, B.C., Canada

Colony Farm Regional Park is one of those overlooked gems of nature you find tucked away in the urban landscape.

There are 7 acres of community gardens here, all totally organic. Incredible when you see how rich the soil is and the abundance of water, you could feed a lot of people off of this one area. It was very nice and peaceful to see people out digging and planting in their plots of land. I had a nice chat with one of the plot owners who invited me back to photograph any of the new plants and flowers that were springing up. Everyone is so real and friendly.

There are several km's of interconnected trails that are very easy walking. And the Millennium Bridge spans the Coquitlam River that runs through the park.

Lots of critters here. I saw red winged blackbirds and even heard meadowlarks, something I have not heard since I was a child. It sounds exactly like one of those relaxation CD's that you spend a whack of money on, with all the wonderful nature sounds on it. Nothing even comes close to the real thing. The smell of the new earth and spring stirring into life just can't fit on a CD.

There are wide open fields here ... if you squinch your eyes so you don't see the housing development in the background, you would swear you were out in a lush countryside somewhere.

I, for one, will be going back to see how the Farm lives over the summer.