2023 Spring growth of CHIRS Rooftop Garden

Long thyme no see, here’s an update on the CHIRS rooftop garden and it’s kind of a big deal. In 2019. CHIRS received a grant from Ontario Trillium Foundation for just over $100,000. The target of the grant was to foster meaningful social engagement and develop CHIRS members' interests of creating a gardening space onsite. CHIRS staff and clients collaborated to transform the open rooftop space into a beautiful garden that has been thriving for the past three years. Clients have been consistently helping with the upkeep of the garden. They have cultivated the garden by sharing expertise and responsibilities of tasks that include watering, pruning, planting, organizing, and harvesting.

CHIRS member Lorraine M. looks forward to her weekly trips to the garden as she is eager to see the growth of the plants. Community Facilitator Denise B. adds that everything was once a seed planted in the Riverlea Greenhouse. CHIRS runs a program out of the Greenhouse space; from there they transferred the plants to the rooftop. Lorraine acknowledges some of the challenges with the garden: one was to figure out which plants grow best. She claims it was a trial-and-error process. Currently, the vegetables that are growing are onions, radish, turnips, lettuce, peas, beets, and carrots. Some of the flowers that are growing are marigolds, asters, tulips, and pansies (Lorraine’s favourite!).

Lorraine M. in the garden Jason G. posing with the radish seedlings

Dora E. and Chris B. working hard

The rooftop garden is equipped in a way which makes it functional for people of all abilities; the raised garden beds are at the perfect height for wheelchair accessibility. The rooftop garden also includes a fun colorful organizational system: rocks! Lots and lots of painted rocks created by clients and staff. Each bed has different plants--simply labeling them is not how we like to do it at CHIRS. Over the course of the winter, members of the art group have been painting rocks with a picture of the fruit or vegetable. Below are some acrylic painted rocks from our talented rock painters.

We encourage you to ask for a tour of the rooftop; you can admire the view of the city, smell the fragrant flowers, enjoy the endless beds of fruits and vegetables, and admire the lovely rock art. The CHIRS rooftop garden is worth a visit!

The rooftop garden group