Pocket Sized Farms
Since 1994, LIFE*SPIN has been offering a free day-camp program, Pocket-Sized Farms, to teach young children about environmental protection, organic food production, literacy and building community.
The LIFE*SPIN summer program for children, aged 7-12, has two components. During the week, we meet with campers on-line to read stories, do crafts and learning activities, and talk about the gardens we are growing. We provide the materials. On Fridays, we meet up at parks & natural areas with your whole family for fun activities.
Children enrolled and participating in the camp will receive a home-based start-up food garden kit, and can pick up craft/learning kits for the following week at the weekly family outings.
Each garden kit includes a garden shovel (unless you’ve already received yours) or a trowel for container gardening if you live in an apartment building, sheep manure/compost, topsoil, vegetable seeds, plants and instructions on how to get started growing food at home.
Once registration closes, staff will contact you to confirm your name on our private Facebook group. We will book our first gathering, where you get to meet the leaders, pick up your craft kits and seed packages. Once you receive these, we will coordinate volunteers to drop-off plants and gardening materials to your home.
We have identified wonderful natural areas to explore in the city and will invite all members of your family to join us once each week. When you RSVP for each week, let us know how many people are coming from your family, so we can bring snacks for all and prepare your weekly craft kits for you to pick up at the following weekly outing.
This is an opportunity for us to increase residential food gardens and come together as a community.
Registration is now closed for Summer 2025.
Funding for Pocket-Sized Farms provided by:
Backpack Program
This program equips students with the tools they need and helps prepare them for a successful school year and beyond. Families actively participating in our Pocket-Sized Farms summer program and the summer program satellite site pick up their backpacks at their year-end outing, before the end of summer. Families are also invited to the Free Store for back-to-school shopping.
"On the first day back to school, I forgot my lunch. So I went out to the garden and made myself a salad. I put spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in it.
It was great!"
— Grade 4 Student, Sir Issac Brock PSF
Ploughshares Project
With the onset of COVID-19, we reached out to our community to find ways to continue providing education and support to the children in our community this summer. LIFE*SPIN supported low-income families with children, by providing home-based start-up food garden kits.
We used this as an opportunity for us to increase residential food gardens and come together as a community.
Our Mission
The Pocket-Sized Farms mission is to combat child hunger, improve nutrition, and create innovative educational opportunities. This is achieved by utilizing the combined skills of children, camp staff, parents and neighbours to grow organic food gardens. These gardens provide a stable source of food, learning and skill development for children.
At Home Gardening Tips and Tricks
Garden at home with LIFE*SPIN! Making your own garden is easier than you think, but if you need a hand getting started, watch some of these videos or read our step-by-step guide on how to prepare your garden. We also provide gardening books for children and parents, order yours below.
VIDEO: How to Grow Potatoes at Home
VIDEO: COMPOSTING Knowledge With Kaleb Elie
About the Ploughshares Project
About the Ploughshares Project