Children’s Garden Brings 2014 season to an End ; ‘Does the well-used OOE corner have a new purpose?’ organizers ask

Displaying 2014Dec Photo Children's Garden.JPG

Fall was a time of leaves and laughter at the Children’s Garden. Photo by Cynthia Ralickas

As Children’s Garden devotees wrapped up the season with a harvest celebration, they enjoyed great food and beautiful weather, though by the end of the event there was a bite in the air that hinted of something much colder around the corner.

Congratulations to Jocelyne for winning our raffle basket. All prizes were generously donated by local stores: Singing Pebble Books, Cafe Qui Pense, 3 Trees and Watson’s Pharmacy.

We would also like to thank Hall’s Apples, Little Stream Bakery and The Green Door Restaurant for contributing to the event. Your donations were greatly appreciated.

Super thanks to board members Sue McKee, for taking care of the planting days with LE students, and Cynthia Ralickas, for all of the updates and support.

Thanks to our on-the-ground volunteers: Bia Salles, for all of the seedlings she lovingly grew with her daycare children, planting, Facebook updating and hard work she put in to keep the garden looking beautiful, and Pein-Pein, who regularly looked after the compost with great care. Thanks also to all the helpful parents and caregivers who made playgroup very loving, fun and cooperative.

It was a difficult year in many ways, without a coordinator to run the day-to-day operations while trying to maintain a dynamic environment with very few volunteers. It was worth trying, just to see what the needs were, but I look forward to seeing what ideas come forward from the community as I step back to balance out the different areas of my life that need nurturing.

It takes a lot of commitment and energy to run a Children’s Garden. We realize the garden has a much bigger purpose than what we have tapped into so far. That’s why in November, the advisory board is going to meet with some community members for a visioning session.

Where do we want to go and how do we get there? We are looking for committed people, organizations and businesses to take part in the garden’s bigger picture, such as adopting and maintaining a garden bed, and running programs. We would love to create more opportunities to engage and educate youth, especially for those who may not have access to such an experience.

If you would like to take part in the visioning process, have ideas or feedback to share, know connections that we should make, we would love to hear from you.

Please contact us at childrensgarden@sustainablelivingottawaeast.ca

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