A little goodbye (for now)....

A photo of Orleans Childcare Centre garden. Boy, is it ever growing!

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In the span of 7 weeks, it is a little crazy to think of what has transpired. 

As a community, in 7 weeks, we’ve worked with 9 different schools to expand and build food gardens. 

We resurrected 12 garden beds from the previous year and created an additional 20  spaces designated for the purpose of growing food. 

Furthermore, we’ve worked with close to 100 kids and a few dozen community members including parents, neighbours, and Bridgehead staff.

 

That said, like our old friend Albert Einstein notes, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” Indeed, I cannot count the number of smiles, 

the number of times kids were amazed to see roots,

nor the number of times I had to tell kids (and adults!) that cutting a worm in half does not make two worms but rather just a dead one. One. 

I cannot enumerate the number of emails that helped to conspire and inspire new thoughts and ideas, the amount of coffee I drank, 

the number of handshakes, 

the number of helping hands along the way, 

nor the number of times when simple words of encourage kept the fire going.

Speaking of keeping the fire going, our dearest Tracey Guptil has signed on to continue with the programming aspect of the food gardens for the remainder of the summer and into the fall. She'll be working with each garden to bring out their potential as a community space. Yeah!!!

As I reflect about my time working with GUO, I realize that there are many things that could have been done differently, perhaps better. Still, I believe it was a perfect place to walk the talk, even if you first have to learn how to crawl. For me, it was a perfect place to unearth some real gems in people, places and communities. Moreover, it was a perfect place to learn that with every seed comes the promise of a flower. 

Thank-you to everyone who came out and shared their time with us. Until we meet again, take care.

Sincerely, 

Minh