The Sunshine Garden is a CAMH-led partnership with FoodShare that has been running for over 20 years. The Sunshine Garden is a recreational therapeutic and production gardening program for patients at CAMH. Led by CAMH Community Engagement with the support of CAMH Gifts of Light and their clinical teams, CAMH patients learn gardening skills, gain plant knowledge, get to know community members and enjoy the beauty of the garden. This partnership is based on the principles of organic food production and environmental sustainability.
CAMH patient gardeners sow seeds, water plants and harvest produce with the support of Javad Mozafari, Garden Manager, FoodShare. In the spring and summer months, patients grow, compost, cook and preserve their harvest. During fall and winter months, patients raise seedlings in the nearby greenhouse and learn a variety of skills through workshops.
During harvest season (June - October), the Sunshine Garden hosts a weekly market to sell their fresh vegetables and herbs, which is open to everyone! You can find the market every Thursday from 11:00am-1:00pm at the Garden.
The outdoor garden is surrounded by trees and shrubs and is supported by a well-equipped greenhouse and a storage area.
Highlights from last year included:
- Patients planted 10,000 seedlings (over 60 crop varieties) in the greenhouse;
- Patients grew 59 varieties of vegetables and crops in the garden;
- Distributed seedlings to 30 community gardens and farms across the city;
- Harvested ~1,700lbs of produce!
For many, the garden provides a sense of joy and connection with the earth, connection with others, and provides learning opportunities about food production and values. Patients learn about the role of biodiversity in supporting life systems, environmental sustainability and climate change, composting and more.
Where is the Sunshine Garden?
The Sunshine Garden is located near the south west corner of the CAMH Queen Street campus, (just behind Units 1 and 3).
Drop by for a visit in the south west corner of the campus for this hidden gem!
Enjoy and Respect the Garden
We invite everyone to enjoy the garden and greenspace, and ask folks to respect the work of the patient gardeners and programmers by keeping pets out of the garden and not removing any of the harvest.
Support this garden by shopping at our weekly market cart (Thursdays 11:00-1:00) at the garden June - October. All proceeds go to support the Garden program.
For more information contact Janet Mawhinney, Director, Community Engagement at [email protected].
For camh patient participation please contact [email protected].
