Over a dozen children gathered in a local park in Charlottetown Saturday to learn about container gardening.
It was part of a free city event led by The Burly Farmer, two part-time farmers who specialize in high-density urban agriculture.
This means that they grow fruits and vegetables in small areas.
On Saturday, the duo let children between the ages of six and ten start taking vegetables home in plastic buckets. The group also planted vegetables in the communal garden in Orlebar Park.
The Burley Farmer is planning five more workshops over the summer, aimed at those interested in horticulture who are a little older, says co-owner Tom Lund. (Tony Davis / CBC)
“We had a great opportunity to teach a few youngsters how to grow vegetables, a little about container gardening,” said Tom Lund, co-owner of The Burly Farmer.
The company donated the plants so that the event could be held free of charge.
“They had a lot of fun and it’s great to see the kids getting involved in something like this. It’s really important to try to involve children in growing food. “
Seven-year-old Sukriti Alchuru says she wants to learn more about gardening and hopes to attend other gardening events in the future. (Tony Davis / CBC)
Seven-year-old Sukriti Alchuru planted lettuce and cherry tomatoes in a container to take home.
“I like her,” she said. “I did this at home … I planted peas and beans,” she said.
Alchuru said she would like to learn more about gardening and would come back if more events were held.
Gia McCormick was another of the children who gardened at Orlebar Park.
“I just grew vegetables and grew some broccoli and some tomatoes too,” she said, noting that carrots are her favorite.
Gia McCormick says she’ll be back to check out some of the plants she put in the community garden and maybe even take some veggies for herself. (Tony Davis / CBC)
McCormick doesn’t have a garden at home but said she “loved” the experience.
“Maybe I can just make my own garden,” she said.
McCormick said she’ll be back to check out some of the plants she put in the community garden and could even take some veggies for herself.
The workshop also included stuffing four community vegetables grown in Orlebar Park.
Ankush Gowda decided to plant carrots in a container to take home. (Tony Davis / CBC)
Ankush Gowda, 10, said he took a liking to gardening when he started helping his parents with it at the age of six.
Gowda said he planted all kinds of vegetables in the community garden for people to harvest.
He decided to plant carrots in a container to take home.
“I planted carrot seeds, you can’t see them because the seeds are really, really small,” he said. “I chose carrots because, like at home, I have tomatoes, lettuce and all the other options.”
Gowda said he has a huge garden at home. Broccoli was a planting option too, but he said he didn’t plant one to take home because he doesn’t like it.
According to Lund, The Burly Farmer is planning five more workshops over the summer, aimed at people who are interested in gardening in a small space and who are a little older.
