By Ruth Dutchak in Calgary, Alberta.

It seems remarkable that I ran a Horticultural Therapy (HT) program in a subsidized housing complex this summer.  After all, I had only learned of Horticultural Therapy back in January, 2007.

Learning about Horticultural Therapy came at an important time in my life.  After 30 plus years as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, I was contemplating retirement.  I knew however, that I needed a purpose and something constructive in my life to do in the ensuing years.  Gardening alone would not be enough!  So when a Centre Street Church (CSC) friend and fellow gardener showed me articles about Horticultural Therapy, I was smitten.  This approach would allow me to serve both God and community.

Before I knew it, Christine Pollard’s Home Farm Horticultural Therapy Certificate became available at the Calgary Zoo & Botanical Gardens.  Everything fell into place, including the funds for the program and time off work.

I contacted Centre Street Church Urban Ministries which held a townhouse in a subsidized housing complex for community programming.  Here they offered sewing lessons and ESL to immigrant women, organized game nights, crafts and bible studies for children.  Despite the little I knew, they enthusiastically accepted my proposal to conduct a Horticultural Therapy program for the following summer.

Then it was off to class!  Christine’s classes were intense and I struggled with the assignments as it had been some time since I had to complete homework.  The participants in the class, however, were great and a whole new world opened up for me.

At the beginning of May I started meeting with the children who attended craft night.  Since the ‘craft gals’ were intending to finish their program the middle of May, I naively thought the children would simply follow into the gardening program.  Never try to second guess children! Only three children came and then I had the task of finding other participants.  Gradually more children came and at the end I had about 13 taking part. Their ages ranged from 5-12 years.  They were from a diverse ethnic backgrounds, including Afghanistan, Canada, Colombia, Jamaica and Turkey.  My goal for the summer was to provide the children with some basic horticultural knowledge, fun and an opportunity to create community within their diverse differences.

At times, it seemed chaotic and fast paced.  The children came with great expectations and were often waiting on the front lawn when I arrived (even 30 minutes before starting time).  They would run and greet me, wanting to help carry supplies, questioning me on the planned activity and one eight year old boy never failed to ask what treat I had brought along.  The treats varied from ice cream to cookies, vegetables and ‘dirt’ cake, just to name a few.  We also picked vegetables and made a salad from containers that had been planted earlier.

As with anything we do, there are mistakes made along the way.  And of course, things that went well too.  To say it was a great learning experience would be an understatement.

What didn’t go well?
1. Volunteers
I did not put enough emphasis on volunteers and did not spend enough time recruiting.  Since the program started slowly I thought one volunteer would be enough but this did not allow me to give the children the attention they needed.

2. Planning
For my own sanity, I realized early on that I needed to be even more organized and think further ahead.  With better planning, I would not have felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. Each week was busy preparing for the next activity and getting the necessary supplies organized.

What went well?
1. A good relationship developed between the children and me.  This was made possible by the children’s enthusiasm which was met by my caring and positive manner.

2. Working alone, it was not possible to help each child individually with their activity but this allowed an opportunity for the older children to step in and support the younger ones.

3. Many of the moms stopped by to observe and they would share their own gardening experiences. I enjoyed getting to know them.  My heart was warmed to see the love they had for their children.

4. Most of the activities were successful and the children had great pride in what they accomplished.  I was well prepared each week and had a good variety of activities to offer.

5. When I did assessments, I could see changes more clearly and actually had something positive to report.

This experience was invaluable to my training as a Horticultural Therapy Technician.  I hope to continue this program next year.  In the meantime, I have realized I need more horticultural knowledge and have already enrolled in the Zoo’s horticulture courses.

We closed this season’s program with a party and I was satisfied that the goals had been met.