Hi everyone! My name is Rebika Baniya. I am in my first year of Community Worker in George Brown College. This year has been so exciting for me to work with green thumbs. I got to learn about many things from my placement.
The supervisor Sunday and Rebecca are too friendly, and their suggestions are equally effective. Due to the Covid, everything was online. I got to meet with other placement students from Ryerson University who were equally friendly. We used to discuss the events and develop virtual children’s programs. So far, I have had opportunities to facilitate more than six school’s programs. It’s an excellent opportunity to engage with the kids and understand them. The kids used to be so excited for every program. They get to learn how to plant seeds, seedling needs and how to take care of the plants properly. The kids used to have interesting questions like can they grow a big forest of Kentucky coffee trees?
My favourite plant is pizza, is plant science? and many more funny questions that brought a smile on everyone’s face. Some of the fun facts were new to me.
Another exciting thing as a placement student in green thumbs is that I got to know about the different community gardens and school gardens in Toronto. I love gardening and being an international student, I do not know about the gardens in Toronto, but green thumbs provided me a platform to explore different gardens within Toronto. Winchester Public School Garden, Sprucecourt Public School Garden, Rose Avenue Public School, Regent Greenhouse and Allans Gardens. Many raspberries’s bushes made my mouth water but as it was winter, there were not any raspberries. The papaya we brought from Allan Gardens was so yummy! There were so many papayas, bananas and lemons.
That’s why I am eagerly waiting for the summer. The phenomenon from sowing the seeds to observing the growing seedling was interesting and recording the time it takes to grow gives us a sense at what time we should harvest the plant. Last but not least, all the knowledge that I gained from Green Thumbs definitely helps me in my future. For this I am thankful to Sunday, Rebecca and the entire Green Thumbs team. Thank You.
