The Doncaster garden was a dream for many parents and teachers in our school community over the years. In June 2016 Erin Prescott (PAC treasurer) and Abigail Bigam (teacher) began to make that dream a reality with encouragement from our school community as well as others.

Erin, Abigail and other staff applied for grants (receiving $7,500 over 4 years) as well as funding from Doncaster PAC. They completed a rigorous application for the school district and met many times with LifeCycles representative Matthew, who helped design the garden and taught them how to prepare the soil, beds and when best to plant. Staff and PAC presentations were received with enthusiastic support. After the extended community was informed and a meeting was held to share the plans, Doncaster garden was given the green light. A Staff Garden Committee was created and the school community contributed and gathered donations of garden tools. In the early spring of 2020 the fence and water connection were installed by the district. Our 15 by 7.5 metre garden was ready to go!

Unfortunately, COVID-19 delayed the first spring planting, but in the fall volunteer parents masked up and dug the sod for the students to turn over. There were squeals of delight as huge worms were revealed in the soil. What an excellent spot for our garden! We made an appeal to families for cardboard and the students laid cardboard over the whole garden.

In the spring of 2021 we had beautiful weed and grass-free soil. More parents volunteered to lay out the beds and central gathering area. We created eight beds, including one specifically for Indigenous plants. Hog fuel (wood shavings) was brought in for the paths as well as a layer of compost. It was a big work party!

Finally the garden was ready for classes to plant. Ten classes dug the soil (even more worms!) and participated in the first spring planting and what a harvest it produced! The biggest surprise was when we returned to school in September to see giant sunflowers, beautiful purple cosmos and asters, and buckets of cherry tomatoes for everyone to share. A great success for our first year. Thank you worms! And thank you to the graduating class of 2021 who donated the apple tree in the centre of our gathering circle.

In the fall of 2021 the Doncaster staff had a Professional Day workshop on how best to use the garden. That winter, Lambrick High School carpentry program built the shed and in the spring of 2022 it was installed in the corner of the garden. For a year we kept our tools piled as neatly as we could in the corner and in the spring of 2023 we bought strong shelving and hooks which were installed by a wonderful parent and his kids.

In the spring of 2022 we had a work party to finish the last two beds and spread the rest of the hog fuel in front of the shed. Classes also began to have workshops with the Compost Education Centre.

Doncaster families have helped with watering, weeding and harvesting throughout each summer. They enjoyed gardening with their family and eating some of the yummy harvest. We have had three successful spring and summer seasons of gardening with some kale, broccoli and garlic grown over the winters. This would not have been possible without the dedication of many parents, the PAC, Doncaster staff, students, LifeCycles, donors in our community and beyond, and of course our much loved worms.

Doncaster garden is a community garden which will continue to grow. We hope to donate to Shelbourne Community Kitchen this year and give more opportunities for families to enjoy the garden. We continue to need to have either a fall or spring work party each year and will keep you posted. Thank you to everyone who has given their time to the creation and continued up-keep. We couldn’t have grown without you!

Photos from Summer 2024 (click to enlarge):