CBC Features Calgary’s Edible Schoolyard
They grow their soup and eat it too. A CBC crew arrived at Altadore School in Calgary during Farm to School Month to film the city’s first large-scale, Edible Schoolyard. The organic, ecological garden is located on a quarter-acre of public school land and includes raised-bed seed-to-table food gardening for 16 school classes, 32 community gardeners, and many common-garden areas including a large for-charity food garden, small fruit beds, orchard, herbs spirals, pollinator and perennial edible gardens, model food forests and two outdoor classrooms.
“We are almost at the end of our first, incredible learning and growing season, and are closer to realizing our goal of becoming an accessible, intergenerational community hub for hands-on edible education, localization, environmental and social stewardship; and a model for replication throughout Calgary and Alberta schools and communities”, says Andrea Toth, edible schoolyard garden lead.
In the last 6 months, the garden engaged 402 Altadore School students in hands-on planting, growing and eating, educated 21 teachers, benefitted from more than 100 volunteers giving thousands of hours in stewardship, educated and engaged 62 community gardeners and families, donated over 600 pounds of food to local charities, entertained over 275 visitors of all ages, and mentored two local school organizations in similar projects.
To celebrate the end of the first season and official Grand opening, the school hosted grantors, gardeners, volunteers, school and community members to a Grand Opening Harvest Festival event on October 13, to a “share the harvest” event.
“We served over 600 bowls of garden-grown soup, a recipe researched and chosen by our grade 6 leadership students. The event raised awareness about the educational, ecological and environmental parts of the garden, while raising money for a local charity”, says Toth.
CBC STORY HERE:
