About
Growing Gratitude is an initiative to create edible gifting gardens!
Stewards are invited to design, plant, and care for a gifting garden on their own property, ideally in a visible place in the front yard.
Gifting Gardens can also be started in the shared areas of apartments, townhouses, and condominiums.
Gifting gardens are intended to be for the enjoyment and use of residents and passers-by in the neighbourhood. Anyone is invited to harvest from gifting gardens as they need.
Aspirations
To become inspired to create with nature and beautify the dwelling space!
To connect with neighbours and cultivate community!
To grow generosity and experience the abundance of nature!
The Greater Image
Imagine a world with more!
Picture city streets lined with trees, bushes, plants, herbs, blossoms, vegetables, nuts, and fruits.
Envision the ever-changing colour, beauty, sounds, scents, life, and welcome from nature all around.
Imagine the human connection, the close community, and the abundance of freely given, fresh, and flavourful food.
Would you like be a creator of this bright reality?
We can be stewards of gifting gardens, and together we can plant the seeds for our city streets to blossom.
Roots
I have always been a day- dreamer. Walking around my neighbourhood last Spring, I noticed a stronger connection to nature. Residents were planting more food gardens, and there was a greater interest in developing community plots.
I felt a real community connection. I gratefully accepted an offer of extra strawberry plants while on the walk. I noticed that there were about two or three lending libraries on every block, which had grown significantly within the past couple of years. It felt like the spirit of care, generosity, and creativity, were blossoming. Each garden was distinct, and each little library was decorated uniquely, all beautifying the space.
I dreamed how nice it would be to combine community connection and generosity with the interest in food gardens. I thought- why not plant gardens for all? Gifting gardens designed for their caretakers, and anyone passing by. They would function just as nature does. Everyone could take what they are drawn to, and take what they need!
I envisioned a single gifting garden in the front yard of a home, and smiled at how it would brighten up the street. Then I pictured another, and yet another. On this day-dream, I saw the streets lined with gardens, bursting with life. I was struck with the thought that we would be living in exquisite abundance.
I thought, this is within us to do. We are intended to be stewards of nature, and we are intended to enrich and beautify our dwelling space. What a world it will be when we realize this!
And so, from the day dreams of my meanders, Growing Gratitude was born.
Much love, Tamara
Click to learn more about Getting Started on your gifting garden.
English