A garden by children for all to enjoy

Big-name CEOs are set to help a group of pre-teens turn a nondescript park into a colourful garden, writes Hattie Klotz.

 

Ottawa Citizen

 

Sunday, September 21, 2008

 

OTTAWA-The busy intersection at Main and Clegg streets is an unlikely spot for Ottawa's first Children's Garden, but by lunchtime Monday, this former small city park will have been transformed into a Community Children's Garden.

 

At 9 a.m., 12 students from Lady Evelyn Alternative School were to lead more than 100 volunteers, including the CEOs of some of Canada's biggest companies, such as The Home Depot and UPS Canada, directing them as they build fences, lay pathways, construct an amphitheatre and dig flower beds.

 

They'll be converting a half-acre underused patch of city grass called Robert Legget Park into an interactive, instructional, engaging organic garden designed to educate the senses of the children who will use it.

 

"I'm really looking forward to contributing and making a really positive influence in the community," says Gavin Thompson, the director of corporate citizenship with Microsoft Canada, who will be getting his hands dirty this morning. Mr. Thompson is one of the corporate volunteers taking part in Volunteer Canada's annual Corporate Council Volunteering Day, which has chosen the Children's Garden as its project for the year.

 

The Old Ottawa East Children's Garden is the brainchild of Sustainable Living Ottawa East, a community group that has brought together many partners, including students and teachers from Lady Evelyn, to create the garden. The Ottawa Community Foundation and the Evergreen Foundation provided financial support, while The Home Depot, through its Woodroffe store, provided practical help, creating more than 300 pickets for a fence.

 

"There's a lot of positive energy in the community right now and a sense of optimism," says Rebecca Aird, chairwoman of Sustainable Living.

 

Children from Lady Evelyn, which is a few blocks up Main Street from the garden, have been deeply involved with the project from the start. Annette Hegel, whose son attends Lady Evelyn and who is one of the driving forces behind the garden, says each child at the school has painted a picket for the fence.

 

It's a child-driven garden, she says, "and they have very strong feelings about it. They had lots of ideas of what they wanted to do, but they didn't know how to do it, so we organized people to come to talk to them about plants, gardening and what might work well here."

 

Ms. Hegel signed a five-year, $1 lease for the land on May 31, with an option for another five years. Despite a late start to this planting season, the garden is already producing a generous crop of tomatoes, beans and herbs. Corn stalks flutter

 

in the breeze, while signs label peppers, zucchini and squash. The food grown in the garden is picked by neighbourhood children and taken home, given to the kitchen of Operation Go Home or cooked for those working on the site.

 

"We are saving the not-so perishables (squashes and corn mainly) to have a big feast that we'll cook at the garden in a couple of weeks," says Ms. Hegel.

 

Area residents have embraced the garden, "and neighbours keep showing up with plants," she says, pointing to a red currant bush that was recently donated.

 

When finished, the garden will be wheelchair-accessible with some raised beds. There will also be a grassy bench, a small amphitheatre, a wet garden with solar-powered pump, cranberries and wild rice, native trees and perennials, a composter and two potting tables.

 

Ms. Hegel and the garden committee are planning tohold workshops and programming in the garden next season as well as a roaming gardener, there to answer questions and guide children and adults who may visit the open-access garden. It has already provided lots of learning opportunity for children in Grades 4, 5 and 6 at Lady Evelyn.

 

"I've used it for math, tying the curriculum to a hands-on activity for measurements, volume and to explain concepts in an applicable, realistic manner. I can tie it in to any part of the curriculum," says teacher Jennifer Dawson. "The children love this project and they've started it and they're going to finish it. There's a real sense of pride and ownership and they're all excited."

 

For Zachary Nevin, 11, and Jordan Sneyd-Dewar, 9, it's been a big project.

 

"I've spent time on the computer, learning what plants attract what animals," says Zachary. "And I live near the garden and have liked to see the garden starting to grow," says Jordan.

 

While the space has been billed as a Children's Garden, Ms. Hegel says it's for the community. "It's a public garden, and we feel very strongly that anybody who is interested can visit."