Wild Medicine

It is a warm and lovely morning as the kids begin to trickle their way to the garden. Hidden amongst the broad green leaves that continue to sprawl from our garden plot, lay the tasty fruit of our labour. We are so excited to see our garden bloom!

We are lucky today, as we have a very special guest. Kalyn Byrne, a Clinical Herbalist, is here to talk to us about responsible wildcrafting and where to find the abundant medicines in our community. Wildcrafting is a term people use when they talk about collecting wild plants. We learn that it is really important not to take too much of the generous plants around us and to be sure to leave a lot for both the animals that rely on them, and the future generations that may need them for their use. Ethical wildcrafting is based on the belief that we as humans are stewards of the earth, and we must protect and encourage the growth of wild medicines rather than exploit and monopolize them for our own selfish desires.

Kalyn has brought some special frames with her for us to create our own plant part collage. After receiving the rules about ethical wildcrafting, we set out to find pieces of plants to decorate our picture. Not only will these plant pieces contribute to a beautiful work of art, but they will help remind us of the plants we sourced, and their magical benefits.

The kids immediately dart off to find interesting shapes of leaves and colourful flower petals, while some of the parents pick Kalyn's brain about the properties and uses of some of the wild herbs we are discovering in and around the orchard. We learn that strawberry leaves contain high amounts of vitamin C, and that every part of the dandelion plant can be used as an effective medicine for our well being.

In a small area by the side of the gravelly road we find a variety of plants, all of which can be used as medicine. What many people see as weeds are, in actual fact, very powerful medicines over which we tread every day.

Finally, we finish collecting our plant pieces and begin to construct our collages. The kids focus on making excellent works of art that they can hang in their rooms and remember the plants they used.

Once we thank Kalyn for her generosity of knowledge, we decide it's a good time to enjoy a snack of sliced cucumbers and grape tomatoes. Then we have a fallen apple collection race, and everyone returns with a ton of apples. Everyone is a winner when we tell them what we will be doing with the bounty of fruit. Apple butter will be on the menu at our harvest picnic!

One more surprise is on the itinerary today, as it is International Day of Dancing! Everone gets on the dance-orchard floor and busts a move in a game of freeze dance. What a way to start the week-end!

Tree Pose

What does yoga have to do with gardening? Well, it actually has a lot to do with gardening. We garden because we want to grow nutritious food for our minds and bodies. We also garden to take part in a community of people who value taking care of the earth and each other. Yoga helps us attain both of these things as well.

Yoga asana is the practice of different postures that can help balance the body and mind. Asana can help improve our strength, flexibility, and stamina. Anyone can practice yoga and our group of Kids Grow! participants proved just that.

Abbie Gardiner, a wonderful yoga instructor from The Yoga Shala guided us through a fun practice which incorporated breathing and postures that resembled various things we would find in nature. Each of us received a flower to remind us to breathe deeply, as if inhaling an aromatic bouquet, while practicing yoga. We became lions and butterflies, dragonflies and bees, and by the end of the practice we lay still under the warm sun and allowed our bodies to completely relax.

The focused attention required to practice yoga helps to cultivate a deep sense of awareness. This awareness can help us make better choices in life. It is often when we are not aware that we make bad choices about the things we say or do. When we don't pay attention, it becomes easy to treat our minds and bodies poorly. We may choose to eat something that might taste good at the moment, but will hurt our bodies and communities in the long run.

Practicing yoga can be an excellent tool young people cab use to develope focus and confidence. The constant bombardment of media, advertising, and technological stimulation can have detrimetal affects on young minds. Yoga is an effective way for kids to unplug, and restore.

Yoga can also be a great activity to share with family and friends, strengthen bonds, and build conscious communities.  

The Do's and Don'ts of Compost

Did you know that you can compost lint but you can't compost brains? We learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of compost last Saturday, and we even got a chance to mix up our own compost too!

Compost is the remains of decomposed organic matter that can be used in gardens to enrich the soil. It is full of nutrients and good bugs that help make plants grow healthier and stronger. We can make good compost out of a number of things including fruit and vegetable scraps, cow manure, dead leaves and twigs, and even egg shells. Composting is a way to help the earth by honouring and contributing to essential life cycles that feed and nurture all living things on the planet. By feeding the earth we are also feeding ourselves, and other beings that depend on good soil for sustenance.

Anisha helped us learn more about composting by setting up a chart and going through a list of obvious and not so obvious compostable items.The kids learned a lot and laughed a lot, especially when Anisha asked us if we could compost a telephone.

Next, we got to mix up our own compost soup with some fruit and vegetable scraps, paper, lint, and egg carton bits. It was slimy and yucky, but the kids loved it! After mixing our own individual bowls of compost, we brought them to the main compost bin in the garden ( a feature every garden would greatly benefit from having), and dumped the contents in.

The Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Garden has a three stage system compost where there are three compost bins side by side. After filling up the first bin, you move the contents to the second bin and start to fill up the first bin again. When the first bin is full, you move the contents of the second bin to the third bin, and the contents of the first to the second bin. And finally, when you fill up the first bin again, you move all the contents over one bin, and the last bin is rich with dark compost material that can be added to the garden soil. This process involves the turning and mixing of compost to provide aeration required for decomposing bacteria. All the kids had a chance to turn the compost and experience the stench that is decomposing organic matter. Despite the grossness we had a marvelous time!

The Wonder of Worms

It was a wriggly, wet adventure this morning as we learned about the importance of worms in the garden.

There was a mild drizzle of rain which made for excellent worm detecting conditions. We discovered that worms can be found in the dirt, and many like to hide beneath large stones surrounding the flower beds in the orchard. The children had no qualms about getting their hands dirty, as they dug into the mud to find the squiggly bugs.

We learned that worms have no eyes to see and when it's raining they often squirm to the surface and lose themselves on sidewalks where they might get stepped on. The children vowed to rescue worms whenever they were in distress, returning them to their home, the dirty mud, and saving them from the threat of heavy footsteps.


Worms transform rotting food into mineral rich castings that can help feed the plants in the garden. They are one of the many good bugs found in our environment who make up an integral part of the amazing circle of life.

To learn what it's like to be a worm we played a game called "The Worm and the Apple". We selected one person to be the worm and covered their eyes with a blind fold. The rest of us formed a circle around the "worm" and hid an apple for her to find. Sometimes the person closest to the apple would make a sound to help the worm find her way. The kids really enjoyed this game, and it allowed them to understand the importance being helpful to those in need, just like how the worms are helpful to the plants in the garden.

The kids also got their hearts pumping with a game of Squirmy Wormy Jump Rope where they had to leap over a skipping rope being agitated by two people on either end.

 Afterwards we listened to a story about Strega Nona's harvest while having some tasty mandarins.

Join us next week when we decorate our garden!

Building Community and Growing Stronger!

Today we saw some familiar faces and some new faces at the garden! Thank you to everyone that came out and helped us plant the garden!

Ted Bahr from Prairie Sage Permaculture taught the kids about the teams of plants that grow best together and help each other to grow stronger.

Team 1 was beans, corn and squash while Team 2 was radish, peas and greens. The kids learned that the beans and the peas, “the chefs”, fix the nitrogen in the soil while the squash and greens, “homemaker”, shelter the soil. The corn, “lifter”, helps the beans lift off the ground while the radish “guard/miner”, guards against pests and digs for nutrients.

Just like the plants that work together, the kids also worked together to plant all the seeds and set up tepees for the pea plants…

It was a wonderful Saturday morning with all the garden friends, make sure to come out next week to see how far the plants have grown! 

June Calender of Events

All events are free and everyone is invited (recommended age 6 and up). All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Saturday June 2, 2012
Kids Grow! Meet and Greet
Learn about the trees in the orchard and get a tour of the garden. Help us make a banner for Kids Grow! and participate in other fun activities.

Saturday June 9, 2012
Permaculture Workshop
Help design our garden with Ted Bahr from Prairie Sage Permaculture.

Saturday June 16, 2012
Good Bugs
Learn about the various bugs that help our gardens grow while enjoying some fun, creative projects and activities along the way.

Saturday June 23, 2012
Bad Bugs
Find out about bugs and birds that can eat plants and learn how to keep them out naturally. Make a pinwheel and scarecrow to protect our garden space.

All events run from 10am -12 pm at Sunnyside Hillhurst Community Garden/Orchard. Our garden is located in the northeast "corner" of Sunnyside at Sunnyhill Lane and 9 Avenue NW. It's just below Mchugh Bluff to the east of 4A Street NW. See you soon!