Durham College plants Indigenous garden at Whitby Campus food forest

Durham College says a new Indigenous garden is taking shape at its Whitby Campus, part of the campus food forest rooted in Indigenous agricultural practices. Developed in partnership with the Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, the garden began with an Indigenous ground blessing in May.

The garden includes sweetgrass, described as the hair of Mother Earth, and tobacco, described as the first medicine, which is offered back to the earth at harvest. Students are involved across disciplines: Horticulture students handle planting and harvest, Carpentry students built raised planters and benches, Graphic Design students created signage and QR codes, and Culinary Management students harvest crops.

The college says a naming ceremony giving the garden an Anishinaabe name will take place in the future. The project was announced October 7 on Durham College's news pages.