Summer is in full swing and community gardens across the country are bursting with fresh produce. The Emmett Avenue Community Garden in Eglinton Flats Park is a unique green space where community members from the Weston-Mount Dennis community join together to grow, learn and share the fruits (and vegetables!) of their labour.

At Emmett Ave, there are about 40 plots that are stewarded by individuals and/or community groups. These plots engage more than 150 community members, including friends and family, who take part in weekly garden programming. Community garden members are involved in the process from start to finish—from making compost and planning their plots, to planting and harvesting, and finally, putting their gardens to bed. The result: a bounty of fresh, organic vegetables every week.

One of the fantastic events that the Emmett Ave gardeners host is the annual potluck, which was extremely successful this year. On the evening of July 14, Emmett Ave Community gardeners, members of the Weston-Mount Dennis community, and Evergreen staff and volunteers came together to share fresh, organic food from the garden. Evergreen staff member Aimee Carson commented, “the potluck was a big success. Upwards of 40 community members from the Weston Mt. Dennis neighbourhood came out to enjoy a beautiful night of gardening and locally grown food.”

TVO also came down and shot footage for their Get Involved! program, which showcases intimate documentary portraits that inspire people to get involved and demonstrate the value of an active, engaged citizenry.

The community garden members all live within a two to three kilometer radius of the garden, and many live in the two high rise buildings nearby, with limited access to outdoor space at their own homes. For this diverse group (from age 5 to seniors, and encompassing varying cultures and backgrounds), the Emmett Ave Community Garden is an opportunity to share knowledge about indigenous food cultures and food growing techniques, and to learn from one another. While our mother tongues may differ, communicating through food is a universal language.

To learn more and find a community garden in your area, check out the Toronto Community Garden Network.

To learn about Evergreen’s connection to community gardens, see our website.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 10:25 am and is filed under Food, Gardening, Stewardship and Planting, Toronto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.