By: Donna Lang
This year the Islamic Foundation of Toronto created a vegetable garden on their front and side lawns. They very much enjoyed planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting the fruits of their labour. The garden was funded by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. Scotts Canada donated the soil. The grant was coordinated by Faith & the Common Good.
On September 10, 2020,the Islamic Foundation of Toronto held a picnic at Milliken Park, in Scarborough, in order to celebrate their very first vegetable garden. They used peppers from their garden to make spicy pickles, and they also made pasta sauce from the tomatoes they grew. 35 seniors attended. Sajeda Khan (Social Services and Senior's Program Coordinator, at IFT) gave a brief talk about the benefit of native plants and pollinators, and also the fact that less water is needed. Here is their gardening story:
Donna Lang from Faith & the Common Good, Toronto chapter, helped with the project management and procurement of the soil and plants. There were 3 other gardens as part of the TD FEF grant; Holy Cross Parish, Shaarei Shomayim Congregation and Eglinton St. Georges United. Donna asked the garden leaders if Covid affected their gardens, and she was told " Not really. It meant that we had to stagger volunteers on planting day, and thus the planting took a bit longer, but the long hot summer and enthusiasm for gardening this year, more than compensated for this".
Next year, IFT plans to expand their gardens.