Tokyo lives in a small house between giant buildings with his family and his cat, Kevin. For years, highways and skyscrapers have been built up around the family’s house where once there were hills and trees. Will they ever experience the natural world again?
This Saturday afternoon, May 13, join Green Thumbs families and friends at Spring is in the Air and find out what happens to Tokyo, Kevin, their family, and their city when an old woman gives Tokyo 3 seeds. Governor General’s 2016 Award Winning Author for Young People’s Literature, Jon-Erik Lappano, will host a free reading of Tokyo Digs a Garden where the seeds for our own school community gardens in the downtown eastside get their start: Allan Gardens Children’s Greenhouse at Carlton and Jarvis Streets.
Sharing food and drink from Alli’s Fresh Baked, Black River Juice, Kurtis Coffee, and more; launching School Garden Celebration Week; and finding out about other urban agriculture initiatives from TreeMobile, Building Roots, Toronto Urban Growers, Carrot City, and Friends of Allan Gardens (a city-building initiative of event sponsor, ERA Architects) will also be on offer from 1 to 4 p.m. Plants will be available for purchase at low cost, as well as a selection of other eco-friendly Mother’s Day gifts.
Jon-Erik Lappano and illustrator Kellen Hatanaka’s “thoughtful and inspiring fable of environmentalism and imagination” reminds us of the urgency of raising city children to be at home with nature. Here’s Green Thumbs impact so far in 2017:
more than 1,100 children, youth, and young adults have participated in Green Thumbs greenhouse and other get-your-hands-dirty programs so far this season
from May 15 to 19, 60 schools across Ontario are expected to celebrate their own initiatives as part in our Imagine a Garden in Every School campaign. To sign up, simply go to the website and fill out the contact form. You’ll be added to the map, and learn about other initiatives in your area.
By the end of the year, we hope to have reached over 5,000 participants in Toronto alone, and many more across the province.
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