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WestShore Teaching Garden
The Vision
The WestShore Teaching Garden is a place where school age youth and community members of all ages can learn sustainable gardening practices through hands-on lessons and projects, throughout the year. It will integrate a blend of learning opportunities and interests including organic gardening, landscape design, carpentry, media arts and fine arts for youth and adults. By involving various WestShore community organizations and businesses committed to sustainability, the Teaching Garden will become a venue to educate and involve both the local community and our youth in sustainable practices.
As you drive along Sooke Road, look for the blooms.
About the Teaching Garden
The WestShore Teaching Garden started in September 2008 as a barren patch of school yard.
Thanks to the many volunteers and supporters, one year later, the Teaching Garden has an orchard of heritage apple trees, six large raised garden beds for school and youth groups to learn about vegetable and herb gardening, a three bin composter, a propagation cupboard to start flower and vegetable seedlings, herb beds, a large and flourishing perennial garden, a potting bench, a welcoming cedar garden entrance and gates and a productive vegetable garden.
This past spring, the second group of young people (ages 14 to 25) taking the Sustainable Resources - Agriculture, a grade 12 Ministry of Education course:
- Started a selection of seedlings in the propagation cupboard, including kale, chard, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins & various varieties of squash
- Turned, mulched and prepared the soil in the 50 by 50 vegetable garden plot
- Applied organic soil amendments and learned why these are necessary for healthy plant and food growth
- Planned the crops to be planted, the best times and location for the most productive growth
- Planted the seedlings started in the propagation cupboard, as well as carrots, potatoes, beets, radishes, spinach, lettuce, beans and scarlet runner beans
- Installed the irrigation lines for the vegetable garden and the garden boxes
- Mulched and weeded the vegetable garden and perennial garden
- Planted raspberry and strawberry bushes
Between May and June, classes from Colwood Elementary and a Leadership program group from Belmont Secondary planted in their raised garden boxes. Plants included a variety of edible flowers and vegetables including lettuce, herbs, peas, spinach and pumpkins. The students harvested the radishes and lettuces before the school year was completed.
Young Garden Marketers
From mid June to mid September, three WestShore students interested in gardening and gaining some part-time summer work, helped in the garden. These young people worked with Candace Thompson, organic farmer and consultant, and Mike Huck, project coordinator, to weed, tend, harvest and sell the food planted by the elementary and secondary students during the spring school session. They learned how to trim the tomato plants, hill potatoes and how to pick and package mixed and braising greens, including spinach, kale, chard and lettuces. They learned to identify produce they were previously unfamiliar with, its nutritional value, when it was ready to pick for market and how to prepare the produce. They learned how to wash, weigh and package each type of produce. Each week one student would take the produce to the Colwood Farmer's Market to sell. They learned the value of the food they had picked and packaged and were able to provide explanations about the food they sold to their customers. In support of the Teaching Garden, the fresh-picked organic produce not sold at the market was purchased by Smoken Bones Cookshack. Between July 1 to Sept 16, over $2400 was raised from the sale of vegetables grown at the Teaching Garden. The three students gained valuable experience and knowledge and shared in some of the profits for their work.
In September, a new group of 17 young people started the Grade 12 Sustainable Resources – Agriculture course. Taking a hands-on approach, they will learn about organic food growing practices, the composition of soil, composting, gardening, food preparation, and agriculture in BC. One of their first lessons was to harvest the remaining fall vegetables in the garden and to prepare this produce for a Harvest Celebration on September 25.
Sustainable Resources - a grade 12 agriculture course
In September, a new group of 17 young people started the Grade 12 Sustainable Resources - Agriculture course. Taking a hands-on approach, they will learn about organic food growing practices, the composition of soil, composting, gardening, food preparation, and agriculture in BC. One of their first lessons was to harvest the remaining fall vegetables in the garden and to prepare this produce for a Harvest Celebration on September 25.
Harvest Celebration
On Friday, September 25, the community, garden supporters, volunteers and Westshore and Colwood Elementary students shared a lunch time feast. Staff and students prepared potato salad, carrots, beans, cherry tomatoes with dip, a tasty salsa, pesto, apple crisps with blackberries or rhubarb and pumpkin pies. The Sustainable Resources students provided tours of the garden and shucked swiss chard seeds grown in the Teaching Garden, providing packets of these seeds from the garden for the elementary students.
What's Next!
Thank you to the community for their support with over $500 worth of donations for the perennials and shrubs sold at the Fall Plant Sale. This money will help to go towards the cost of materials for the construction of the community garden boxes. This fall, the Westshore Teaching Garden has added 7 more garden boxes, each providing 7 feet by 3 feet worth of gardening space to grow food. These garden boxes are being made available to young families, seniors and individuals living in the community in exchange for their time helping out in the garden, weeding, trimming, and mulching. No gardening experience is required. Participants will have the opportunity to join in various gardening workshops offered through Community Education during the fall and spring. The garden also continues to seek volunteers who may not be able to help with the physical work but are willing to share their expertise and knowledge with school students and the community volunteers. Soon the garden will have an Information Board where gardening hints and highlights will be posted for both school and community groups. All are welcome to take a stroll through the garden this fall.
Supporters, Grants and Volunteers
The WestShore Teaching Garden is now underway. It is through the support of numerous organizations, businesses and individuals that our garden will grow into a welcoming place for youth and the community.
Thanks to the support of the Union of BC Municipalities, our garden has received a Community School Connections grant to install an irrigation system. This will solve the watering issue that is often a challenge for school gardens. The grant also will allow our construction class to build a potting bench and propagation cabinet.
An Evergreen Toyota Ground Greening project grant will provide the funds for our garden to purchase 11 heritage apple trees as well as construct arbours and an information board. The presentation of the cheque and planting of the apple trees will happen on Wed April 1 at 1:00 pm.
The Teaching Garden has also received funds from Island Chef's Collaborative to complete the fencing around our grounds. The Sooke School District will be installing this in the coming months.
In September 2008, the Garden received a donation of hundreds of shrubs, perennials and bulbs from Dick Gibson who had just sold his nursery (Garden Connections). The School District 62 facilities department kindly picked up the numerous truckloads of plants and later in the fall dropped loads of leaves for mulching the gardens. Over the months, the City of Colwood, PND Soil and Gravel Mart, Johal Trucking and Alpine Group have donated loads of soil to build up the garden grounds.
Other donations of tools, materials, vegetables, soil amendments, seeds and peat pots have been provided by Integrity Sales and Distributors, Westhills Corporation, Lee Valley Tools, Stellar Seeds , McKenzie Seeds, GardenWorks, R & R Enterprises and members of the community, including Mayor David Saunders and Andree Labossiere. Rona and Slegg Lumber have provided support with the purchase of many items for the garden and carpentry programs.
Alan McDonald of Al-Lyn Irrigation has provided
his expertise for getting our irrigation system
implemented, and the Sooke School District will
provide the installation of the system this spring.
Cindy Moyer of Moyer
Creative Group, the Colwood
Farmer's Market and Luxton
Station Market and Capital
Families have all helped to support the development
of the Teaching Garden and the programs being offered.
Local farmers, including Ian King, Peter Jenkins,
and Theresa Willman with farm apprentices, have
pitched in with WestShore teachers and students
to move soil, mulch and plant.
Thanks to Fiona and Judy. We look forward to seeing everyone again on March 12.
Special thanks goes to Candace Thompson of Eagle Paws Organics. Without Candace's energy and expertise, our garden would still be a piece of barren ground.
Thank you to everyone.
We look forward expanding our program for 2011.
How Can You Help Support the Teaching Garden?
Volunteers and Garden Assistants
We are looking for people to help tend the garden beds, weed the perennial and flower beds, trim grass, water, mulch and clean up. We are also looking for those who would like to share their knowledge with youth and others who are just learning. If you would like to lend a helping hand, or have a green thumb, call Bonnie at 250-391-9002.
For more information, download the Garden Helper Information brochure and a Garden Helper application.
Community Garden Boxes available for Volunteers
The WestShore Teaching Garden will make six garden boxes available on our garden site, for members of the community who looking for a place to grow their own food. The garden box with soil, water and mulch are available with other things such as a potting bench, hoses and wheelbarrows accessible. In exchange, garden box users would spend eight hours per month helping out in the main teaching garden, or sharing their expertise with youth groups in the garden. Interested? Call Bonnie at 250-391-9002 or email: learnforlife@sd62.bc.ca
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