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! 

Team Work, Grow!

The garden is a great place to witness team work in action. It is a central location where various plants rely on the same resources for nourishment and growth. At the launch of our garden activity workshop series at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Garden, we wanted to highlight team work and its foundational importance in creating sustainable communities and healthy ecosystems.

We were very fortunate to have a number of creative, spontaneous, and active kids join us in a number of activities that required working together cooperatively. We introduced the kids to the space we would be working with over the course of the summer. The strawberry patch was an amazing teaching point as the growth and spread of strawberries is accomplished through a process of root networks which allow younger, weaker plants to access nutrients from the stronger, more established ones.

The garden is neighbour to the city`s first urban orchard, and there was much weeding to be done. Some of our younger participants contributed to the team effort of beautifying our communal space as they enjoyed weeding the orchard.

Next, we all helped paint our Kids Grow! team banner, demonstrating the beauty of collaborating on a creative project, and the wonder that exceeds the sum total of its parts.

Our snack interlude consisted of the sharing of one, very large watermelon, the partaking of which strengthened our team bond.

Finally, we ended our morning playing some fun games like caterpillar and bug tag, the human root, and cucumber tag.

This was a great kick-off for the summer, and we hope you can join us for our next event!

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!

Kids Grow! Finds a Home

Today was a wonderful day spent working in the garden and meeting lovely people!

In addition to introducing ourselves to the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Garden members, we were able to carve out our own little niche in the 'A' plot near the compost bins. Buff helped with clearing out the strawberries and transplanting them to the newly created strawberry patch which we have also inherited as a project for the Kids Grow! team.

The people at Hillhurst Sunnyside Garden were really supportive of our endeavour to bring kids programming into the garden, and are willing to help out.

Thanks to everyone at the garden for making us feel so welcome, and get ready for some little hands to get happily dirty!

"And This is my Garden" Inspires

St. Pius School in Calgary hosted a screening of "And This is my Garden" at the Dutton Theatre last week at The Calgary Library. The documentary is about a small town in northern Manitoba where a dedicated teacher created a curriculum around gardening that extends through the summer and involves students caring for their own raised beds at their homes.

This film demonstrates the impact dedicated teachers can have on their students' health and sense of empowerment by teaching them the basic skills that will allow them to produce healthy food in an environment increasingly controlled by corporate interests.

St. Pius School is home to one of Calgary's school yard naturalization projects that was initiated by parents 12 years ago. It maintains a beautiful school garden that children, parents, and teachers can be proud of!

If you want to learn more about "And This is my Garden," you can check out a copy from the Calgary Library, or go to this site

Kids Grow! Mission Statement and Description

Kids Grow! is a student directed, volunteer led, pilot project seeking to implement children's community gardening activities into existing Hillhurst and Sunnyside community gardens. Student volunteers, selected by the Centre for Community-Engaged Learning (CCEL) coordinate, promote, and implement child-focused, garden-centred, educational and recreational activities.

The goal of Kids Grow! is to involve children in community gardening, to increase gardening and food production knowledge, and to promote healthy and sustainable food choices.