Community Garden Case STudies
The Growing Connection is proud to showcase the variety of ways we can help groups, organizations, schools, businesses, and institutions incorporate health and taste into their daily activities. Read more about the various projects we’ve been a part of.
As one part of the neighbourhood revitalization process, The Growing Connection partnered with the Regent Park Community Food Centre and Daniel’s Corporation in developing popup gardens in public spaces to showcase sustainable food production even in challenging growing environments.
High in the Sierra Madre mountains in west-central Mexico, the local village women were trained in innovative, low-input vegetable production, utilizing the Cajas to reduce the workload of carrying buckets of water from a distant water source.
On the outskirts of Guadalajara, Cajas were used to create tranquil space and provide life-skills training to children (and families) who are exposed, on a daily basis, to severe poverty, violence and substance abuse. This eventually led to concentrated food production to sell at local restaurants and markets.
This meal delivery program that prepares and delivers fresh cooked meals, from scratch, to over 800 individuals and families who are homebound with acute, life-threatening illnesses. With the Caja, growing in a limited space and incorporating fresh herbs made a tremendous difference to inspiring to motivate clients to regain strength and use fresh food to aid in their nutrition and recovery.
Working with Action Against Hunger’s Generation Nutrition program, an isolated “fly-in” community in North West Ontario chose the Caja to overcome poor local soil fertility, extreme climate, and transportation logistics to create a sustainable, organic vegetable garden.
Corporate Garden Case STudies
Corporate gardens provide tremendous short and long-term benefits, including increased employee productivity and attention span, decreases in insurance and health care costs, and improved morale and stronger teamwork.
Agnora expanded its commitment to employee wellness with a Caja garden, growing indoors in early Spring and educating employees on nutrition and conscious eating. The garden serves as a respite from busy and stressful days and for employee to come together in a peaceful setting.
A boutique PR company used an opportunity to take an unused and barren rooftop space and convert it into a thriving garden for account reps to mete with clients, conduct team meetings, and plan social events for staff and visitors
A large terrace garden was installed on the 3rd floor in Stamford Connecticut, looking out directly onto the Atlantic Ocean. With hurricanes approaching, the garden was temporarily moved indoors to wait out the storm and then moved back out to continue growing.
A previously off limits courtyard was reanimated and activated with the help of a Caja garden, using the containers to block off access to the river rock area that was causing a trip/fall hazard. This central location received a warm welcome by residents and staff to enjoy fresh air and fresh vegetables.
With temperatures reaching a high of 55C and low of -25C, growing in the dusty soil that is often washed away by annual floods was a challenge. With the Caja, and the vision of the local operator, sustainable food production with the Cajas was brought to the families and schools of the town.
While waiting for new construction to begin on an empty lot, a 100 Caja garden was setup in a single weekend to green the space, avoid costly and unsightly temporary fencing, and provide a temporary community space, creating a win-win-win situation for the town, the developer, and the community.
School Case Studies
School gardens promote multi-modal learning, with opportunities to stack concurrent lessons and educational outcomes at the same time. These include improved physical health (movement and fresh air), improved student nutrition (eating fresh produce), interactive hands-on learning, social connections, environmental awareness, and improved academic achievement.
Due to quickly expiring grant funding, and limitations around potential soil contamination, The Growing Connection was able to help this Markham high school quickly and sustainably create a garden within weeks of project approval..
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Learn about the diversity of other gardens and gardening projects through the decades.