Shaarei Shomayim Garden

By Nicole Toledano

What am amazing garden we have thanks to the funding we received! Our beautiful garden is located right under our Torah scroll design, a symbol of our religion and our faith.

We were able to get together our youth and help them plant a colourful garden. What an amazing way to teach our kids about native plants. They planted, watered, and watched it grow. They had so much fun looking at the design and figuring out which plants went where.

Our youth also learned about the many benefits of native plants; they provide nectar for pollinators, are responsible for 85% of the fruits and vegetables we eat, provide shelter for wildlife, and use less water than non-native plants.

Thanks to the TD FEF grant in 2020, we were able to enhance the native plants even further. This year we added some splashes of colour. We planted orange butterfly milkweed, and purple and red bee balm. What a beautiful addition to the garden!

Donations from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Scotts Canada, through Faith & the Common Good, have all been invaluable to our efforts to sustain our beautiful garden and ensure that it is there for everyone to appreciate and look at every summer.