Garden Route Therapy

Last week with the Children’s Garden and Exploring Toronto Programs was all about seeds as we spouted in jars and egg carton cups, scavenged for seeds in the garden and shook our seed shakers.  Ruth Heller’s book The Reason for a Flower was certainly a helpful tool with the colorful illustrations to guide us through [...]

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Since returning to work I have been loading up my bicycle with supplies and heading to different City of Toronto community centers to deliver garden/nature activities to camp children.  Together we’ve been mixing seedballs and compost tea, sprouting snacks, learning about red wigglers, transforming into butterflies, playing fancy flower bingo and carefully observing pollinators at [...]

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The Bosnian gardeners invite the community to Children’s Day at their New Horizons garden.
This Saturday July 25th from 4-6 p.m.
See flyer for full details.
Come see what happened to the Three Sisters Garden planted in the spring…

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“If children were unionized they would surely organize walkout and strikes against such atrocious working conditions…The fact that they are still prevalent in the majority of schools, where supposedly children should learn understanding and respect for their surrounding, it a measure of adults’ disregard for children’s basic right to a safe environment, and one that [...]

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Somehow this spring seemed to pass like a flash, perhaps due to the flurry of my activity, from moving to High Park to starting a brand new job with the City of Toronto, Parks Forestry & Recreation.  In the role of Expansion Assistant, with the Children’s Garden & Exploring Toronto Programs, I have the great [...]

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We celebrated Earth Day at the GET HONEST:  Our Youth Matter event in York Region, which brought together decision makers, front line workers, educators, community groups, funders and youth, to explore local collaborations around youth initiatives.
The event was hosted by the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness in partnerhsip with Street Kids International, as part [...]

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We had an exciting kick-off to spring at the H.O.P.E. Community Garden in Parkdale with outdoor nature activities for kids during March Break.  Children and parents biked, walked, took the TTC and in one case, drove all the way from Scarborough to join us on the blue tarp at Masaryk Park.  We had beautiful spring [...]

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This is Tamara Green, another gardening education enthusiast, on a site visit at the H.O.P.E. Community Garden.  We are currently working together as a Garden Jane Interns & have the exciting opportunity to organize outdoor nature programing for children during March Break.  On the day that we toured, the snow covered space challenged us to [...]

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This month saw the presentation of the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds “All Hands in the Dirt:  A Forum on the Design of Children’s Outdoor Spaces”.  It was the first year that Evergreen opened the event to the public and I was privileged to be able to volunteer and participate.  Clearly the timing is right to [...]

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As of August, the Alberta Children’s Hospital has hired my fellow classmate, from the Home Farm Horticultural Therapy Certificate, Rebecca Feasby, as a horticultural therapist.  Rebecca is currently working with the Impatient Group Program, Nephrology Clinic and the Dr. Gordon Townsend School on site. The work is part of a larger Therapeutic Arts Program that [...]

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