BGC Dovercourt Club has launched podcast, Horticulture Weekly to keep the community updated about its Teaching Garden. Since its inception in 2017, members have been learning about gardening, agriculture, and environmental science. The Teaching Garden was founded with help and support from The Boulevard Club, Mike and Nicole Tevlin, Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation, United Way, Weston Family Foundation, Second Harvest, and Furlani Foods. This program was created to introduce gardening all year-round to members.

The Teaching Garden has been an integral part of Dovercourt’s programming from summer camp, indoor gardening to annual spring and harvest festivals. Members have grown everything from Basil, Dill, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Spinach, Lavender, Chives, and Kale and have also taken harvest home to prepare delicious meals!

Every season, the Club prepares the Teaching Garden for the unique weather and members’ activities. In Episode 1 of Horticulture Weekly, Teaching Garden Lead Emily Pollock walks us through this preparation specifically the garden’s summer preparation. This required all important plants to be planted like tomatoes, parsley and dill cumbers and making sure soil is amended and watered. The Teaching Garden bloomed with vegetables and fruits which members took home and created salads with!

Since summer, members have been focusing on gardening and agricultural skills like pruning, transplanting, and planting. Members also saw the first sprouts of the Red Russian Kale and planted seeds for Blue Scot Curled Kale. This experience provides members with an opportunity to develop life skills like patience, delicate care, cooperation and having the confidence and ability to stick to projects. These skills are transferrable to school projects, recreational hobbies and more!

In Episode 2 of Horticulture Culture, Emily shares tips on fall preparation, everything from planting cool crops, bolting, and taking care of root vegetables. Members helped prepare for this season by planting autumn crops like peas, squash and carrots, and harvesting hot plants. Hot crops are plants like tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and peppers which thrive in Ontario’s hot summer. “It’s been a joy to work in the garden with the kids and I hope they learned as much from me as I’ve learned from them,” said Pollock.