There is a very special book at the heart of this camp and we invite you to come and join us as we turn each page. Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman tells the story of a young girl, 6 lima beans, and a vacant lot in the port city of Cleveland. Through her faith that something beautiful will sprout in honour of her grandfather’s homeland, this girl ends up with far more than she bargained for -- with the growth of her seeds came the spread of a community she never knew existed.

 

We’re going to take Fleischman’s novella and use it to harness the power of our own community. The group will visit the Lyceum’s new garden beds at West 10th Ave and Tolmie St to explore how a real-world example can provide enough inspiration to fuel a week-long camp. 

Christianne will guide the group through reading each day, concentrating on and emphasizing the ability of our city’s community gardens to heal emerging cracks and inspire connection. We’ll brainstorm ideas and identify a ‘need of the garden’, whether it’s a system designed to water plants while people are away on vacation, a guide to the best plants to attract pollinators, an inter-garden herb/plant sharing system or a friendly way to discourage vegetable theft, we’ll leave our mark of ‘caring’.

 

*We hope to squeeze in a visit to Christianne’s family beehive where we will also collect blossoms to use in making flower-transfer cotton hankies.