Talk:Toronto, Ontario Children's Garden Program

About the Children's Gardens
Our gardens are grown organically, which means that we do not use any chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Instead, we try to work with nature by using companion plants and natural sprays to control pests and by using compost for fertilizer.

Some of the vegetables grown at the gardens are harvested and eaten by children during our summer programs. The rest is cooked and prepared for our summer Sunday events to provide a yummy organic, vegetarian lunch for the community. Any extra vegetables that cannot be used are given to local soup kitchens and food banks.

The High Park Children's Garden

• The High Park Children's Garden was created in 1998 on what used to be a parking lot. It features colourful raised beds in the shape of the letters A,B,C.
• The garden features a large compost demonstration site with a variety of composters. All of the organic waste produced at the garden goes into the composters and then back into the soil to feed the plants. We also have a worm composter which is featured in our programming. The worms are a big hit with the kids and help make the compost even better!!
• We grow a wide variety of annual vegetables and flowers including tomatillos, corn, okra, cucumbers, marigolds, sunflowers and much more. Perennial features include a hillside of native wildflowers and grasses, a culinary and medicinal herb bed and a new permaculture bed with an herb spiral and a fedge (or food-bearing hedge) with various berry and fruit plants.
• The High Park site also features a sandbox, birdhouse trellis, picnic shelter, tool shed and two rain barrels.

The Waterfront Children's Garden

• The Waterfront Garden was created in 1999, at the same time as the adjacent Toronto Music Garden.
• The site features a butterfly garden with a six-foot caterpillar topiary, a three-bin composter and a vegetable and herb garden.
• As it is very hot and dry at this location, we try to place heat-loving vegetables including hot peppers, tomatillos, okra, eggplants and herbs like basil and oregano.
• The children and youth from the Harbourfront Community Centre help to plant and care for this garden throughout the spring and summer.