The UNA Youth Activity Leader, EtanaTam, developed and led the Summer Youth Gardening Program

Thank you to Etana and the youth participants. Etana and the youth share their thoughts about the value and significance of community gardening.

This summer, a small group of youth had the privilege to learn and contribute to the Old Barn Children’s garden. Though just a team of 4 including myself, we spent an hour each week taking care of this space and learning about ways we can be better stewards of the earth. Our time consisted of a short lesson surrounding sustainable agriculture, then watering, weeding, and if we’re lucky, harvesting. 

The youth had the unique opportunity to see where their food comes from and contribute to its production. Although gardening can be laborious at times, they often described their work in the garden as therapeutic, an escape from the busyness of their lives. There’s a stillness to gardens that cannot be fully described; something special about just sitting in the sun on grass still slightly damp from the morning dew. It’s as if everything slows down, and you begin to notice small details, like an ant making their way around your ankle or a bee pollinating the nearby nasturtium. Although the youth came to be a part of the Summer Youth Gardening program as a way to receive volunteer hours for graduation, they left with a newfound appreciation for gardens and the work needed to keep the space beautiful. The goal of the program was to simply get youth excited about nature and agriculture, and we did just that. Through their work in harvesting garlic and potatoes, pruning tomatoes, staking, and weeding, they were able to simply enjoy creation and experience the beauty of being a part of the children’s garden. 

I enjoyed gardening alongside my team at the Old Barn community center because it was very educational, and I learned a lot about gardening and plants. The experience was both fun and useful. 

• Shirin Bazofti, 17 years old

I really enjoyed staking the plants because it really cleaned up the area. I love when the plants are depending on the stick, and it clears all the mess away. It was so satisfying to see. 

• Paul Lee, 16 years old

Tomato Harvesting Time

Several new kinds of tomatoes have been growing in the children’s garden. The end of summer means tomato harvesting time. The warm end of summer weather results in perfectly ripe and flavourful tomatoes. Gardeners appreciate the smell of ripening tomatoes as much as the fruit itself. The challenge for a gardener is to preserve the flavour as well as the quality of the fruit. This means leaving tomatoes on the counter to maintain flavour. This strategy comes at the expense of maintaining the shelf life of the fruit. Compound Interest – food chemistry has shared the following infographic that explains how cool temperatures disrupt the enzyme activity that creates the smell and flavour of tomatoes.

In short, the verdict seems to be that you can get away with storing fully ripe tomatoes in the fridge for up to a week to prevent them going off, before then leaving them out for a short time to recover their volatile compound producing ability. Leave them in for longer than a week, and you’re going to be enjoying a less flavoursome tomato!