how does your garden grow?

8/29/2019

how does your garden grow?

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how does your garden grow?

kind krafts supports Prescott's gardening program for adults with intellectual challenge in Halifax.

by: hannah baillie, prescott summer student

Prescott’s “We can, I can” motto was on full display this summer as we enhanced our partnership with the Prescott Street Community Garden Society.

This partnership has also inspired Prescott’s work with kind krafts. As kind kraft’s current cause, Prescott will receive funds they raise to support our community garden programming.

Here at Prescott, we support 160+ adults with an intellectual challenge through the development of work and life skills. We also manage four social enterprises (businesses for a social good): Prescott Bakery, Prescott Custom Bags, Prescott Mailing Services and Prescott Online Auction.

The newest skill we’ve added to our repertoire is gardening!

The idea came about last winter. Life Skills program instructor, Sarah Nartiss, immediately jumped on the opportunity to become a part of the Prescott Street Community Garden Society.

Instructor Neala and client Andrew enjoying the garden

“I liked the idea of gardening because it was accessible to everyone,” said Sarah. “We started from seeds, so even those who couldn’t work outside were able to take part.” She also noted that it was a good continuation from other Life Skills sessions on healthy eating and food prep. “I wanted to show the clients where food comes from and how it’s grown. They were more willing to eat fruits and vegetables if they grew them themselves.”

In addition to Sarah’s gardening sessions, various community members have also volunteered to teach our clients new skills. “It reflects our values of community engagement” said Sarah, recalling sessions where other gardeners stepped in to demonstrate how potatoes, carrots and tomatoes are grown.

Prescott clients Martin, Trevor and Shawn watering the garden

This year’s harvest includes over 14 different varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. “I learned about tomatoes, chives, potatoes, and cabbage,” said Jessica Watson, a client at Prescott Bakery.

In addition to being a fun activity, gardening has furthered the discussion around healthy eating – especially in Prescott Bakery. After harvesting an abundance of beans, beets, and zucchini, our bakery has been able to incorporate these vegetables into their products.

“I grated zucchini to make muffins and loaves,” said Jessica, adding “I like using garden stuff in the bakery.” In addition to baked goods, the bakery has been pickling vegetables like beets and beans for Prescott’s 18th Annual Christmas Tea and Sale coming up on November 16, 2019.

Even though there are many vegetables still to be harvested from our plot this fall, one thing is certain: this will not be the end of our partnership with the Prescott Street Community Garden Society. Thanks to generous donations of microgreens and terrariums from fellow gardeners, our project will continue throughout the winter and into the next season, with new varieties of fruits and vegetables to grow and taste – we can’t wait!