Updates on KidsGrow! activity

After taking into careful consideration the current situation in Hillhurst Sunnyside, the KidsGrow! team has come to decision to postpone activity in the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Garden until further notice. Once we can guarantee that the area is safe for kids to be playing and working in, we will begin to resume work in the garden, and we will announce the next KidsGrow! date for Hillhurst Sunnyside. 

In the meantime, everyone is invited to the Silver Springs location, where some tasty looking veggies are starting to sprout up.  Join us this Saturday at our Silver Springs location for some fun activities and a supportive atmosphere. We hope to see you there!

Our Silver Springs location looks great,
and would love some more helpers for weeding!

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Please know that the KidsGrow! community is here to support the community in whatever ways we can, and we hope to resume work in Hillhurst Sunnyside as soon as we can. 

Help support the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community

Over the past few days, areas of Southern Alberta including the city of Calgary have experienced unprecedented damage due to extensive flooding. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected, and many communities have been affected. Among these communities include Hillhurst Sunnyside, the location of one of the gardens that KidsGrow! operates out of. 

The KidsGrow! team is heartbroken over the damage to the community, and we want to help in any way that we can. If you are interested in helping the Hillhurst Sunnyside community, the Hilhurst Sunnyside Community Association Facebook page will be acting as a source of updates and an area to coordinate volunteers. If you do not have Facebook, please contact Quentin Sinclair (the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association's Executive Director) at volunteer@hillhurstsunnyside.org to learn more about how you can help the Hillhurst Sunnyside community. 

In times like these, we are all reminded of what truly brings Calgarians together; our incredible sense of community. Over the next several days, weeks, and months, our sense of community can only grow as we work together to rebuild our city and our province. Please stand with the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community as we all work together to grow stronger. 

Stay Safe, Stay Strong

Due to the extensive flooding that Calgary and surrounding areas are currently experiencing, all KidsGrow! programming is cancelled for Saturday, June 22nd, 2013. Our thoughts are with all of those in the affected areas, and our hearts go out to everyone who has been forced to evacuate. Please listen carefully for updates on the radio and on the Calgary City News Blog for instructions and recommendations. Safety is our number one priority, and we hope that everyone stays safe and strong during these difficult times.

We would like to offer some resources to everyone, including;

A guide to flood information

• This link will bring you to guidelines for flood evacuation, as well as tips, information and further resources            

Sesame Street Hurricane Tool Kit for Parents and Children

• Although catered to dealing with hurricanes, this toolkit includes tips and information useful for helping children deal with the effects of any natural disaster
• The printable activities offered through the toolkit maybe particularly useful to help keep kids happy and occupied

Get Prepared campaign

• This campaign is helping Canadians prepare for the first 72 hours of an emergency

Plan for caring for pets during an emergency

• This is a difficult time for people and their pets, and this FEMA link can helpful in successfully transitioning pets during an evacuation

Before, During and After Flooding in Calgary: Your Guide to Protecting Family and Property

• This extensive guide contains detailed plans and tips both during and after flooding

Calgary Flood Donation Drop Off Points and Wish Lists

• For those who are able to donate to those affected, this is a great resource on what is needed most and where donations are being accepted

The City of Calgary Youtube Channel

• Updates on the important information about Calgary's condition (featuring Mayor Nenshi) are posted here, making it easy to access in depth updates on important events

Please stay safe and dry, everyone!

A day of friendship and family

Our day started off sunny and clear, with lots of sun (and lots of mosquitoes!) to greet us at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Garden. Everyone met up in the orchard and we started out with some great sidewalk chalk drawings to help advertise KidsGrow and get everyone thinking about gardening and plants.

After finishing up our sidewalk masterpieces, we played a few games of 'Magic Garden' and 'Aphid Tag' to get everyone excited and burn off some energy.

We were very tired out after all that running around, so we then headed over to the picnic table to start in on the day's activity! A big part of gardening is celebrating the beauty of nature and the outdoors with the people you love, so our theme of the day was focusing on friendship and family. The kids got to get creative decorating a gift for a friend or family member: pots with a strawberry plant inside! Our young artists did a spectacular job making their plain pots dazzling with stickers and drawings. After finishing up, everyone headed over to the garden to fill their beautiful pots with the strawberry plants!

"Needs more stickers!"

Reading 'Compost Stew'

Once the plants were safely tucked away, we got to weeding and watering our garden to help it grow strong and healthy. We made some new friends as we got to see a beetle and LOTS of wriggly worms! Once our work in the garden was finished, everyone headed back to the orchard for a healthy snack of red grapes, and a game of 'Chipmunk cheeks' to see who could fit the most grapes in their mouth! We wrapped up the morning with story time, and we got to enjoy 'Compost Stew' by Mary McKenna Siddals and 'Growing Vegetable Soup' by Lois Ehlert. It was a gorgeous morning to celebrate the people we love!

After some frightful weather in the afternoon, we had a somewhat damp start at the Silver Springs Edible Garden. Luckily, the sky cleared up, and the ominous clouds were replaced by clear blue skies. We started off our activities making 'coupons' for someone special. The idea is that you write out an outdoor activity you wish to do with someone special and the person you want to spend some time with, and presto! you have a wonderful gift. We moved on to checking out how our garden is growing. We spotted some radishes and onions starting to sprout, as well as our herbs and seedlings starting to grow. The kids were especially interested in trying some of the herbs that we had planted, and we soon discovered that mint and parsley were the fan favourites. We can't wait to see what sprouts up next week! After taking inventory of the garden, we decorated our pots and transplanted some sunflowers and bean seeds into the pots. While waiting for the decorations to dry on the pots, we played a few games of 'Magic Garden' and played on the nearby playground, ending the day's activities with a sharing circle. 

We had a wonderful time today, and we were so glad to spend some time with our friends. We wish everyone a great weekend and a happy Father's day! Families of all different shapes and sizes are beautiful things, and we hope you take some time out to remember the importance of family and friendship. Maybe you can spend some time outside with the people you love, going on a walk, or tending to a garden!

To see more pictures from Saturday's event, check out our Facebook page

See you next week!

Let's get digging: Our first day of KidsGrow!

We had a great start to this year's KidsGrow program! Here are some pictures from our Hillhurst Sunnyside location. Many thanks to Christy for taking these gorgeous photos, it is much appreciated. Next week, we hope to have more pictures from both our locations!

See you this Saturday!

Check out some of the gorgeous art of our very own Erika Friebe!

What shall we grow today...?

Today was the first day of the 2013 KidsGrow season, and what an exciting day it was!

The day started off warm and beautiful, the perfect weather for planting a new garden. We first visited the Hillhurst Sunnyside community garden, and we worked hard to prepare soil for our new plants. That meant weeding and aerating the soil so our plants' roots would have room to grow. We then got to flex our artistic muscles as we moved on to planning the garden. Everyone had a great time drawing out what our garden will look like, and what plants and animals we expect to find in there! After some snap peas and carrots to fuel all our young gardeners' hard work, we headed back to the garden to start planting. Sunflowers, beans, zucchini, radishes, peas, and beets were among the kids' favourite things to plant, and should look amazing once they start growing! A good watering and a sprinkle of compost finished our work off, and everyone started to say their goodbyes. A big thanks to all the little gardeners and parents who came out! Without you, the day would not have been possible!


During the afternoon, we had our first ever KidsGrow program at the Edible Garden in Silver Springs! After a bit of a slow start, we had lots of new friends come and help us plan and plant our garden. We learned some great lessons from the kids on how to dig a proper hole, and how to 'tickle' the roots of a plant you are moving into the garden to help gently separate the roots. An important part of the day was learning about respect for others, and that making rules for our garden helps keep everyone safe and having fun. After munching on some healthy snacks, we ended the day with a few games of 'Magic Garden', and a sharing circle to talk about what we learned.

Many thanks to everyone who came out, and to the members of the community who helped us get started and feel welcome. We could not have done it without you!

Stay tuned for next week, where we'll talk about what we have learned during our second day of KidsGrow!