Project Swallowtail aims to create urban habitat for wildlife by empowering people ( Seed-sitters) to grow native plants from seed and share them in their community. Seed-sitters keep half the seedlings they grow for themselves and share the other half. As our seedlings start to grow up, I’d like to tell you about different ways these seedlings can be shared and creating school gardens is one way.
Project: Brimwood Blvd. Jr. Public School
In March 2022, as part of Toronto’s Seedy Saturday, I led two online talks. It was at one of those talks that I met Susan, a passionate primary school teacher at Brimwood Blvd. Jr. Public School. I gave Susan the seeds I had germinated for that online workshop and she created a really fun and engaging activity with her third grade students.
We also began discussing the possibility of revitalizing a native plant garden that had been created at the school years ago. I went to see the garden in early June and was delighted to see that there were several mature trees already on site including Oak, Serviceberry and red Maple. There were also healthy patches of common milkweed, Canada goldenrod and bushes of St. John’s Wort and bush honeysuckle.
We put down landscape fabric and covered it with mulch as a first step to make the interior of the garden accessible for the children. This will allow them to begin exploring and weeding the garden in preparation for plantings this fall.
The school will be getting soil and mulch from TDSB and using a cardboard mulching method, create fresh garden beds to be planted with seedlings grown by our Underhill Seedsitting Group.
If you have ideas for projects, please reach out to me so we can begin planning it together!
