Dec 2, 20242 min read

Sprucecourt PS Garden Program 2024

by Tristan Andrews and Sunday Harrison

From March through November, we ran 39 programs, which created 650 participant opportunities for students, mostly in primary grades at Sprucecourt PS.

This year at Green Thumbs we utilized our Sprucecourt PS garden space to offer a variety of garden-based learning experiences. From plant identification to cooking workshops, our Sprucecourt location provides opportunities for participants to experience urban gardening.

In the spring, participants learned about the history of Kentucky Coffee Trees (KCT) and their importance in nature because of their ability to naturally purify the air from pollutants. KCTs were historically partnered with the Mastodon (photo that Ella is holding, right), who ate the seed, pooped it out and thus more trees grew. After the Mastodon went extinct, the trees were cultivated by Indigenous people of the Americas. The tree is hardy only up to the northern border of the GTA, but is planted in downtown Toronto as it is extremely urban tolerant. Our programs include growing it from seed.

In April, participants made soil snail rolls with sunflower sprouts. This was a cool idea we got from Instagram. Our timing was off, though, so these sunflowers grew too tall before being transplanted and didn’t survive. The roll is untreated canvas. There’s always next year!

In June, we began our Garden Club, where we taught participants about compost management. The food waste from the lunchroom and also from supportive neighbours is covered with leaves and straw, to break down into fresh healthy soil. This pairs nicely with our Worm Bin activities, which include holding a worm.

In our summer garden programs, participants explored the garden to observe bugs and plants using magnifying glasses. Next they made botanical drawings of things they observed in the garden. In July, students from Toronto Kiwanis Boys & Girls Club (K-Club) made garden salads using produce grown in the garden. The K-Club is so close and many of the summer campers are students here during the school year, so it’s great that they can participate in the whole season.

In August, K-Club students made rice paper garden wraps that included produce grown in the garden. Some people like to stuff a lot of greens into their wrap!

In September, participants toured the garden space to harvest tomatoes, various types of kale, nasturtium petals, and cucamelons. They also tried watermelon grown in the garden.

In October and November, participants pulled out drying plants and planted garlic to grow over the winter, then covered the garden beds with a layer of soil and leaves. As students collected leaves to cover the soil, they also learned to identify the trees by their leaves.