You’re never too young to dig into horticulture!

By Carolina Saenz

The time to garden and enjoy the warmth outdoors is here, and it is never too early to start learning about plants and nature. The Equal Ground Community Gardens (EGCG) group is launching a brand new program for children to do just that. The Earl Haig Little Gardeners program is a free drop-in opportunity for children and their adults to learn all about plants, seeds, compost, soil, worms, vegetables, and much more Taylor Edwards, Greenhouse and Learning Centre Coordinator at EGCG, shares everything you need to know about this exciting new addition! While EGCG has previously run children’s programs through the Grand River Community Health Centre, this year is the first time they are running their own independent program at the Earl Haig Community Garden (located at 101 Market St S, Brantford). The facilitator for this is Giovanna Rose-Grande, who ran a similar program at the Warwick OCC Community Garden in Burlington Her experience and education in environmental science, teaching, and psychology, are definite assets to her leading this new venture.

“She is passionate about giving children the opportunity and green space to explore nature and growing your own food. When Giovanna approached the organization, it was a no brainer! We're grateful to have her on board,” writes Edwards.

The program is free and drop-in, only requiring participants to register once through the website wwwegcgbrant ca or at 519-761-9467 It will run every Tuesday from May 16th to September 26th from 5 pm to 6 pm at the Earl Haig Community Garden. It is recommended for ages 2 to 12 years old, and siblings, grandparents, and related adults are all welcome to join. Please note that all children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

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“Attendees will learn about soil, insects, sunlight, water, shadows, growing their own food, food variety, harvesting, among many other topics. Attendees will regularly have harvest to take home!”, explains Edwards. This program is casual and attendees are encouraged to get dirty, ask questions, and explore nature. At the end of the season, students will be provided with a booklet that recaps the season including lessons learned and photos. On the very first week of May 16th, children were visited by a little friend and learned that it was a toad!

The EGCG is wonderful group that offers a variety of programs for all to enjoy. Their community gardens and host garden programs run every year. This year, there are 46 host gardeners registered, who get support from EGCG to get their backyard gardens started with seeds, soil, compost, and in return, they donate 20% of their harvest to the community The Garden Planning Series was just wrapped up, helping participants get their gardens running for the season. To run successfully, EGCG relies on their volunteers, and being such a busy organization, they are always looking for more volunteers to get involved and support them through events, fundraising, and marketing

“Community members are welcome to fill out of volunteer form on our website or reach out if they're unsure of how they want to get involved EGCG relies on community partnerships to get our momentum going. Any interested parties, whether that be for classes, workshops, donate plants or supplied, etc are always welcome to reach out!”, writes Edwards.