Plains Midstream has agreed to delay construction of a pipeline through a community garden in northeast Edmonton until Oct. 1.

The decision was announced Wednesday, one day after gardeners held a rally about how they were forced harvest weeks earlier than planned because construction starting this week.

Although the gardeners have tended this section of provincial land for 20 years, they say the government only told them about the pipeline two weeks ago.

If they had known about the plan in the spring, NDP MLA Deron Bilous says they wouldn't have planted a crop.

"My frustration is how these people are being treated and that clearly for the government, they're not important," Bilous said at Tuesday's rally. "And if they were, the government would have negotiated with the pipeline company to delay."

The gardeners wanted the government to delay the start of the pipeline by four to six weeks so they could complete their harvest.

Some of them are new Canadians who use the harvest to supplement their diets. The volunteers also donate produce to the Edmonton Food Bank.