Garden WORKSHOP series
The 2024 Garden Workshop Series returned for the third year in Waterloo Region! Throughout July and August, we held four workshops related to local food, as well as two workshops in October on seed stewardship! Both new and returning food leader facilitators brought an immense amount of knowledge and fun to our Tuesday evenings.
This year’s workshops were meant for youth and adult community members to learn about and engage with our food systems through hands-on learning at community sites across Kitchener and Waterloo. In all, 68 youth participants and 32 adults joined us over the course of the six evenings. Thanks to all who made it out!
Food Producing Garden Design and Build
Date: July 9th, 2024 | Location: Kitchener Waterloo C.I.
Facilitator: Mike Jones
The highlights: This workshop brought educators, students and local community members together to help improve the garden space at KCI and learn how these projects can be accompolished in school gardens accross the region. Over the course of two and a half hours a trellised 8×4 raised garden bed was built and filled with soil. Students and educators learned through this experience that materials can often be refurbished from discarded materials (some of the wood and patio stones were refurbished), and that through a team effort local garden spaces can become more accessible.
Pollinator Walking Tour
Date: July 23rd, 2024 | Location: Cherry Park & the Iron Horse Trail
Facilitator: Ali Dolbec
The highlights: This workshop brought together 22 youth and community members for an evening of learning and exploration. Ali Dolbec a student from the University of Waterloo studying Georgraphy and Environmental Management, guided participants through discussions, hands-on activities and a tour that examined how our local gardens and green spaces interact and are impacted by Pollinators. Students had the opportunity to take some of these activities and the knowledge they gained to benefit their own local gardens and green spaces.
How to Improve Soil Health
Date: August 6th, 2024 | Location: Cameron Heights C.I.
Facilitator: Amanda Hunter
The highlights: This workshop brought 16 community members and students to learn from local youth and experts of soil health. Amanda Hunter guided an engaging discussion on the challenges and opportunities school gardens have to benefit the soil they are placed in and participants explored how soil health success and challenges were being experienced by students who cared for the garden at Cameron Heights C.I. In addition this garden is one of few garden projects in the region that have been entirely guided and designed by local youth and workshop participants learn from these youth about what it took to start this garden.
Food Preservation Skills
Date: August 20th, 2024 | Location: J. Steckle Heritage Farm
Facilitator: Abigail Rempel
The highlights: This workshop brought folks together at the kitchen of Steckle Farm for a fun-filled gathering, where they learned about and practiced techniques to safely prepare and preserve fresh produce with teacher candidate Abigail Rempel. There was dried fruit to snack on, kombucha to taste test, and salsa fresca to eat, showcasing a variety of preservation methods. And, most excitingly, attendees worked to make a batch of red pepper jelly using “imperfect” (second grade) peppers and other locally sourced ingredients.
Seedy Series Pt. 1: Seed Harvesting & Cleaning
Date: October 1st, 2024 | Location: Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate Institute
Facilitator: Nancy Hainsworth
The highlights: At this workshop, we had a blast learning about methods for harvesting and cleaning seeds with Nancy Hainsworth of Nancy’s Creations and Seeds. We also explored the gardens and grounds of KCI to put the lessons learned into practice! We collected seeds from at least a dozen different plants in the garden space; these seeds will be the first to be submitted to the new Inter-School Seed Library (see more about the project here)!
Seedy Series Pt. 2: Seed Sharing & Stewardship
Date: October 15th, 2024 | Location: Seeds of Diversity office
Facilitator: Bob Wildfong
The highlights: During this workshop, our very own Bob Wildfong led an exploration of Seeds of Diversity’s Seed Library. We learned all about how the project began and how the organization manages over 3500 seed varieties!! We then went through the process of cleaning and adding a new entry of Rojo de Seda (Red Silk Beans) to the library and packed many, many seed packets that will be sent out to gardeners across Canada! Finally, started imagining what the Inter-School Seed Library might look like.
Round of applause for our summer workshop facilitators (from left to right): Mike, Ali, Amanda, Abigail, Nancy, and Bob!
Who were these workshops designed for?
As a youth-driven and youth-serving program, most of our work revolves around supporting young people in food literacy and food systems learning. That said, these workshops were for anyone to attend! We know how important adult-youth relationships are, and want to foster an environment in which people of all ages can come together around shared interests.
What did the workshops cost?
Absolutely nothing! The Garden Workshop Series was generously funded by a number of partners and supporters (see below!), which enabled us to offer them free of cost to community members.
All materials and/or tools needed to participate were supplied. Light snacks and refreshments were also supplied.
Youth that identified transportation costs as a barrier to participation were provided bus passes.
Where did the workshops happen?
The workshops took place at various garden and community sites across Kitchener and Waterloo (see above!). All sites were accessible by bus for those who used public transit and will had parking available for those who traveled by car.
What did participants learn?
A better question is what did they want to learn? Each workshop covered a different topic and was facilitated based on its location, food leader facilitator, and participants.
During each workshop there was plenty of time to ask questions and each was designed so that attendees could use what they learned in their own gardens/spaces at home, school, etc.!
Could attendees bring a friend, family member, etc?
They sure could! We asked that each person attending a workshop register at least 24 hours beforehand so we could ensure enough materials and refreshments for all.
Could youth receive community service hours by attending?
They sure could! Students looking for community service hours could bring their school’s volunteer tracking sheet with them to the workshop, or we e-signed or sent volunteer letters upon request.
I'm interested in future workshops!
Amazing to hear! We will be running workshops throughout 2025 and would love to have you join us!
Sign up to receive notification when these workshops go live on Eventbrite!
Thank you to our 2024 funders and charitable partners:
LOOKING BACK…..
Take a look at the fun from 2023 below!
During summer 2023, we continued our garden-based programming for youth to learn about and engage with our food systems through hands-on workshops with local food leaders in Waterloo Region. Throughout July, August, and September, seven workshops were held at school garden sites, in collaboration with Smart Waterloo Region’s Nurture project. Over the course of this workshop series, we welcomed participants to discuss topics including soil health, permaculture, pollinators, seed saving, and more! In all, we had 74 youth & community attendees join us for learning and knowledge sharing.
A huge thank you to our 2023 workshop facilitators:
Bob Wildfong – Pollinators in the Garden
Robby Hoch – Chicken Care
Nancy Hainsworth – Seed Saving
Nikola Barsoum – Permaculture Land Assessment
Joel Knight – Harvesting and Preserving Veggies
Chris Frazer – Composting
Amanda Hunter – Soil Science and Vermicomposting
EVEN FURTHER BACK..
This project piloted in 2022 and featured six workshops collectively attended by 40+ community members. Take a look through the gallery below for some highlights!
Video music credits: Harmony by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Video music credits: Sunshine Day by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Video music credits: Happy Summer by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
We are so grateful to all of our excellent 2022 facilitators who developed interesting and educational workshops and were so generous in sharing their knowledge with others. Thank you to Adam Kramer, Joel Knight, Mike Jones, Sarah Granskou, Katryn de Salaberry, and Nancy Hainsworth for all of their effort!