Organic Community Garden

The San Lorenzo Community is part of a growing movement in Toronto and other North American cities, where groups of people are getting together to turn neglected plots of land into productive and beautiful spaces – growing everything from vegetables and herbs to ornamental flowers. Today, many people are discovering the benefits of community gardening, not only for the fresh organic produce, but also for the opportunity to socialize, exercise and contribute to a healthy urban environment.

A central part of the community garden effort is to green-up and beautify the grounds surrounding the Centre and church. While there are few resources to do any fancy landscaping, the project’s goal is to diversify the area’s natural environment using a variety of flowers, perennials, shrubs and trees and to attract more birds and butterflies to the area.

An important component of the garden project is the recycling of natural resources. Leaves, grass and food waste from the community kitchen is turned into valuable compost for use in the garden. And there is also a plan to install one or two large rain barrels to collect rainwater from the buildings’ down-spouts as a natural source of water for the garden. These measures further help in the larger goal of making the Centre and church more environmentally sustainable.

Education through action is an essential part of the community garden project. While working together, participants learn about important issues of environmentally sustainable living, health and nutrition, and local and regional food security.

The San Lorenzo garden belongs to the Canadian Community Garden Network, an organization that facilitates the exchange of knowledge and experience among community garden groups across the country. To make this project a success, we need your support.  If you are interested in donating plant material, benches, and/or ornamental rocks to the San Lorenzo community garden, please contact the Coordinator.

Through the garden and environmental education programs we are gradually helping to instill an awareness within the Latin American community of the importance of urban food production and environmental issues.

 Our radio program, “Voces de la Tierra” can be heard every Sunday afternoon from 4.00pm – 5.00pm on Radio Voces Latinas.