Withrow Avenue "Spiderweb" Food Garden

The Withrow school "Spiderweb" food garden involves students from all grades - kindergarten to grade 6 - in its activities. In the spring and fall, Withrow has a School Garden Educator.  In the garden, younger students discover the garden using their five senses, planting seedlings, and going on scavenger hunts. Older students discover compost critters, pollinators, soil, invasive species, biodiversity, plant life cycles, seed saving, and get to put their math skills to use to find the perimeter and area of garden plots. Students also have the chance to do some harvesting and some simple in-class cooking, making kale chips, having tea parties, making salad burritos, and "Scissor Salsa". In class, students learn about plant parts, do some taste testing, learn about food miles and where their food comes from, garden habitats and food chains, and lots more.

As Withrow has a French Immersion programme, garden lessons are taught in both English and French, depending on the class.

Students can also sign up to take part in the weekly lunchtime Garden Club, where they get to really get their hands dirty, doing some weeding, watering, compost sifting, digging for sunchokes... And of course, get rewarded by getting to taste some chives, salad greens, mint...