Thorncliffe Park Urban Farmers (TPUF): Remembering the 2024 Summer Season While it Snows in Spring
Author: Asma Riaz
As it continues to snow early into April, let's take a moment and preferably a cup of hot cocoa, to look back at our most fond memories of our 2024 summer season spent in and around our gardens.
Although we hosted numerous workshops and events for bringing our TPUF community together, here are some of our most memorable moments from the summer:
- Harvest Party by the Children's Garden Club for Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy (FMELA)
- Annual Harvest Party
- TPUF's Art & Stories Show at Evergreen Brick Works
- Planting a Pollinator Garden at 53 Division
- Green Team Leaders Annual Celebration Day
Harvest Party by the Children's Garden Club for Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy (FMELA)
Our Children's Garden Club hosted a Harvest Party for the kindergarten students of Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy (FMELA) on June 20th to celebrate the completion of their kinder learning program. Through running bi-weekly sessions from early January to June, the program aims to provide environmental education and awareness to local children through practical activities while touring our garden at 53 Thorncliffe Park Drive.
TPUF co-leads and educators Joanne Laine-Gossin and Shona Farrelly welcomed over 50 attendees with the help of our youth volunteers, the Green Team Leaders, to enjoy a morning filled with nature crafts, educational tours and harvesting. FMELA's principal Barbara Sandler, the school's teachers, staff members, and the children's families thanked TPUF for the opportunities and garden space they provide for the program's success.
Our Annual Harvest Party
On August 24th, we invited the residents of Thorncliffe Park to our garden behind 53 TPD for our Annual Harvest Party and to mark the end of summer vacation. Among the 130 attendees present, notable guests included the MP for Don Valley West Robert Oliphant, city councillor candidate for Ward 15 Lesley Stoyan and environmental activist Floyd Ruskin. Various stations were set up for the participation of children and adults that involved making pine cone bird feeders, clay leaf prints and custom pizzas from the fresh ingredients grown in our garden.
The Green Team Leaders diligently volunteered their time in managing the event. Bags of harvested produce were distributed amongst families, and several lucky winners received gift card and travel tumbler prizes as part of the raffle draw.
TPUF's Art & Stories Show at the Evergreen Brickworks
We partnered with the Evergreen Brick Works to host our very first "Art & Stories Show" for the month of September to showcase the artwork and writing by youth and adult creatives from Thorncliffe Park. On September 7th, we hosted a booth at Evergreen's Saturday Farmers Market for an opportunity for visitors to meet with some of the talented artists and writers whose work was displayed on site, and to learn more about TPUF's community initiatives.
Throughout the summer, Nadia Shahbaz, writer for Dormer Window Studio, facilitated 7 art and writing workshops in connection to nature for TPUF in our 53 TPD garden. The photographs, paintings, poems and prose by local residents attending these workshops were displayed on A-frame signs around Brick Works and can now be viewed on our website.
Planting a Pollinator Garden at 53 Division
On September 14th, TPUF's adult volunteers and Green Team Leaders gathered at 53 Division to convert the building's raised beds into pollinator-friendly habitats and to say farewell to Constables Viktor Sarudi and Farhan Ali, who had previously served as Thorncliffe Park's Neighbourhood Community Officers (NCOs). For the past 4 years, we partnered with the NCOs for conducting woodworking workshops in our gardens as part of Project Bloom.
As a token of appreciation, we planted a pollinator garden alongside the police station to recognize the long-standing relationship between the Toronto Police Service and TPUF. A celebratory barbecue lunch was organized by 53 Division for TPUF's volunteers to enjoy following their hard work planting that morning.
Green Team Leaders Annual Celebration Day
To acknowledge the work, effort and time spent by youth volunteering in our gardens from early May to late October, we hosted our Annual Celebration Day for the Green Team Leaders and their families on November 3rd. The Green Team Leaders program is open to youth volunteers ranging from middle school to university-age students who participate in our art, writing, cooking, woodworking and composting initiatives with regular gardening duties.
Project Lead Manager Michelle Delaney, Project Co-Lead Najeeb Siddiqui and MPP for Don Valley West Stephanie Bowman distributed certificates and gift cards amongst the 40 youth present at the event, out of a total of 72 who registered. Despite it being a slightly chilly morning, we had 60 attendees show up to our 53 TPD garden who enjoyed a pizza lunch and hot tea brewed outdoors before TPUF officially closed the gardens for the 2024 season.
Although irregular snowfall and frost continue to coat our gardens, they stand as testaments of the possibilities that emerge when community members work together. We hope our upcoming season this year will bring with it more opportunity, success—and of course, lots of sunshine!