News Update

Good Things are Growing at Durham Mental Health Services - Residents and staff collaborate to make vegetable garden a success

WHITBY, ON (July 14, 2010) - The next time you are at McKay House, you may have a chance to enjoy some truly local produce. Residents and staff have succeeded in building a thriving vegetable garden.

Jack Vanderluit, Program Coordinator, is delighted by the success of their efforts. “It’s great that we finally have a garden we are actually getting produce from. Over the past 15 years we have made several gardens and nothing ever came of it. A number of people have been involved in planning, creating and maintaining this garden – you can see how everyone has taken pride in it.”

The garden produces a cornucopia including tomatoes, onions, lettuce, green beans, hot peppers, carrots, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and parsley. These fresh ingredients promote DMHS’ commitment to serving healthy meals at all its residential locations.

Clients and staff have all contributed to the many tasks involved – planning the design, building the frame, shoveling the dirt in, planting the seeds, and now watering and weeding. 

Rita Trolley, Life Skills Coach, has enjoyed both the effort and the results. “Residents are learning about gardening and identifying the different plants. It’s been a real team effort and the best part is we get to eat it. We’re using the vegetables and herbs in our everyday meals.”

Paul Sebor is DMHS’ Property Manager. Paul maintains agency properties so smoothly that his work is sometimes overlooked. Paul built the frame for the garden and enjoyed this opportunity to work on a real team project.

Kevin helped create and maintain the garden along with many other residents. He appreciates the teamwork involved. “Everyone works together and we get fresh food. It’s nice to see it go from nothing to something – it’s my first garden so I’ve never seen this before. Once the tomatoes come up and we have toasted tomato sandwiches, I’ll invite you over for dinner!”

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