Orangeville & District Horticultural Society

Sharing Recipient Stories

2023 Dufferin County Community Grant Recipient
$2,325

Sharing our grant story

With a Community Grant of $2800, we have started to teach neurodiverse adults how to grow their own food.

With this generous grant from Dufferin and with assistance from James Richards of Am Braigh Farms, we have started teaching neurodiverse adults at Branching Out Support Services (BOSS) how to grow their own food. We called it “The Opportunity Garden.” This project name was inspired by Joanna Malouk, and the “Opportunity School” she was a principal at in the 1950s in Orangeville. The school was a place for children with disabilities to get an education. In the way that this school was the first of its kind, this collaborative project was also the same. For this portion of the year, we started with growing pea shoots and microgreens. We purchased a grow table, soil, seeds, shovels and other gardening equipment. James led us through a series of fun exercises including: science lessons, drawing and videos of how plants grow. Food security is an important topic and what we are striving to address with this project. The participants were eager to get to work: “I am bursting with excitement to see them grow.” “I can’t wait to see and eat them.” We have had our first harvest and everyone enjoyed a pea shoot salad with vinaigrette. In the spring of 2024, we will grow vegetables from seed to harvest at Am Braigh Farms. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity that you have provided to these individuals!

This collaborative effort between BOSS, Am Braigh Farms and the Orangeville and District Horticultural Society (ODHS) has been fantastic. “The Opportunity Garden” gives people with neurodiversities equal access to food security and creates stronger community bonds here in Orangeville.

Vivian Petho, Orangeville and District Horticultural Society, odhs1970@outlook.com, 416-662-7309, website

Thank you,
Vivian Petho
Secretary ODHS