STOP SPAMMING MY EMAIL ADDRESS. DID NOT REQUEST EMAILS MR64 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org Sent: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 6:18 PM Subject: [Community_garden] Toronto, CA: Community Garden for the Homeless
Gardening `builds community' for homeless Oct. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM ELAINE CAREY Gardens mean many things to many people. For Thanksgiving, we decided to do something a little different and look at what a garden means to a group of homeless and low-income people in downtown Toronto. "Gardening kind of assumes you have a home, but for the homeless, there's nil," explains Carol Watson of the Fred Victor Centre, which works with homeless and low-income adults. The centre began community gardening in 1998 when it teamed with a local church to create a garden behind rooming houses at the corner of Dundas and Sherbourne Sts. The area had been overrun by weeds and was a busy spot for drug trafficking. So the centre brought together a group of homeless people called the Garden Angels, pulled the weeds, planted some flowers and literally transformed the neighbourhood. Two years later, the centre launched a kitchen garden in Moss Park at Queen and Jarvis Sts. as part of the park's millennium project and about a dozen homeless people, with the help of centre workers, have lovingly maintained it ever since. "It's a wonderful way to learn and engage in food and gardening," said Enza Trentadue, project co-ordinator at the centre. "It builds community for people who are isolated. The garden becomes a mediator for communicating while weeding, watering and planting." The gardeners meet every Wednesday at the park where they grow vegetables and herbs and sunflowers. Marigolds fend off bugs without pesticides. They can take some of the produce home and it is also used in a program that teaches basic nutrition and cooking skills at the centre. When there's a real bounty, it is shared with others at the centre's afternoon drop-in program. Everybody who comes to the garden has a story to tell. "I gardened when I was a little boy living in the suburbs and I never did it again until I was 41," said Kenny. "It puts me back in that space with my father. I feel very calm and connected to him." Adds Monty: "It reminds me of when I was young and coming home from school and planting. It teaches you to survive." For Tom, being in the garden means "I forget my problems for awhile. I also meet new people and build friendships." "The smell of a garden reminds me of a nice life, natural ground," said Mark. As far as they know, it is the only garden for the homeless in Toronto and Watson says they dream of having a greenhouse where they could keep it going all year round. The centre gets 80 per cent of its food from the Daily Bread Food Bank and in winter, it's very difficult to get fresh vegetables and herbs. To celebrate the harvest this year, the gardeners and other centre users took pictures of the garden and produced a calendar, which also features their soup recipes based on the produce they grow. "It's not a big garden but it really does engage people," Watson says. If you have an interesting landscape project, email ecarey at thestar.ca. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20061011/7edb987e/attachment.html _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20061013/b55b6a7f/attachment.html
