The Campus Community Garden Project (CCGP) got an Earth Day boost Wednesday when a team of 38 volunteer gardeners from Lajeunesse High School came out to ready the plot for spring planting. The students were in the garden thanks to the United Way’s Change the World program to encourage community youth volunteering.

“This the first time I’ve prepared compost or even worked in a garden,” said Lajeunesse student Rifaat Said. ”It’s fun - I have learned a lot, and I know people appreciate our work.”

Project manager Chris Reid says the garden nurtures the community not only with food but with positive thinking.

“It also impacts the relationship between campus community and the surrounding neighbourhoods,” he said.

Reid says the garden’s abundance of life increases biodiversity with vegetables and native plants that provide habitat and food for such beneficial organisms as butterflies, birds and predator insects.

Not only a beautiful garden, the CCG provides a venue for student research, a quiet place for lunch, reflection, or between-class yoga practice.

Holy Name High School students will also be doing their part in the garden April 30 from 8.30 a.m. to noon.

For more information on CCGP click here.