The We Dig Food Therapeutic Market Garden had a successful first growing season in 2014. Our fall harvest celebration included a wide selection of our vegetables and herbs. To this we added locally sourced sausage and cheese for our “hand-made-by-us” pizza party at the Blockhouse School kitchen. This delicious meal was topped off with late season local strawberries and chocolate zucchini cake.

With the help of community volunteers and Hinchinbrook participants, we turned the abandoned playground at the old Blockhouse School into an edible and sensory gardening area with 6 raised beds and a series of smaller container gardens plus an area for squash and sunflowers. From the bare ground to the peak of our growing season, this space became a popular extension of the natural and sensory activities for Hinchinbrook participants and their families.

We had a weekly presence of participants, volunteers (accompanied by their therapy horses, goats and dogs) building, planting, watering, tending and harvesting to share both with their families and Farmers’ Market customers. This generated amazing results and personal growth for participants. The positive results are not measured solely by the number of participants – but the individual and shared goals and efforts realized by all who took part, and the changes in their lives.