My cool good friend Jane Hayes [aka Garden Jane] introduced me to this exciting thing that’s been going on in High Park, just a couple of blocks from my house.
For the last 11 years, what Jane and some of her cohorts did was to establish The Children’s Garden, a program that provides kids and families an opportunity to learn how to grow organic fruits, vegetables and flowers from seed.

And we’re not talking small potatoes. The garden grows 110 fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos, okra and 10 kinds of Latino beans. That’s fantastic in my books.

Last summer harvest

Grand forces of good have also recognized the garden. Last year, the garden won the “David Suzuki Digs my Garden” award, beating out nearly 600 gardens from across the country.

For the last four years, Jane, city staffers Robin Salt and Keely Forth, and devoted volunteers like, Michael Nevin and Frank Iacobucci, have all been lobbying the city for permission to build a teaching kitchen, because they don’t stop at planting, growing and harvesting. There’s a Youth Cooking Program for 11 to 16-year-olds in July, and in August and October the garden hosts a feast bounty from its garden, cooked at the Masaryk-Cowan Centre and then schlepped over to the park and served to the community.

Showing up some tomatillos

This is where the teaching kitchen comes in. Putting it right next to the garden will open up a lot of new opportunities for connecting kids to where their food comes from and what it’s like to grow from seed and what to do with it once it’s ready for picking. It would also help with hosting the community festivals where the food picked from the garden will be cooked and served.
It’s important to note here that extra food harvested in the garden is given to shelters and soup kitchens all over the city.

The building is going to be as eco-positive as possible, beginning with the structure itself, to be made of straw bales, which get plastered and become great insulators. Solar panels will provide heat for water and running energy- efficient appliances and lighting. Fall 2010 is the projected unveiling, but in the meantime, the garden is campaigning for community support with their Adopt a Bale program.

Beautiful spring asparagus

But don’t wait to introduce your kids to the garden. It’s a perfect time to bring them to the park to see the beginning of a magical experience.You cant also check their website for dates and activities.

For all the staff and volunteers it’s like a miracle after all these years. The kitchen is finally opening here!!

Yours from High Park
Carlos

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