Vision

We are building a traditional Indigenous plant and medicine garden. We have partnered with a local knowledge keeper from our neighbouring reserve who is guiding us as to the plants that would be appropriate, how to go about growing them, where to get the seeds/seedlings and how to care for them. We would then like to use the plants and medicines for smudging, gifting, etc.

Our school population is over 50% Indigenous and we would like to bring some more Indigenous knowledge and teaching opportunities into the school. Being able to grow traditional medicine plants would allow our students to learn about the growing process and how to use these plants in everyday life. It would be nice to have our own sustainable source of traditional plants and medicines rather than purchasing them. This would give us a sustainable supply that we could use in our school and community activities.

Action

At this point, we have started seeds in seed starting trays for the following plants:
– Sage
– Sweetgrass
– Red Cedar
– Tobacco
– Spearmint
– Chamomile
– Lemon Balm

A few of these seeds have started to germinate and will be transferred to our garden boxes when the plants are large enough to do so. We have purchased 2 raised garden planters and potting soil and are ready to transplant our seedlings when they are ready to go. The planters will be place outside the front entry of the school for all to see when they enter the building.