Moving Mountains and Gardening with Friends: A Partnership at Providence Hospital Garden

Moving Mountains participants enjoying their tea party with fresh herbs from the garden.

I had a chance to chat with Christina Sinskichott, an occupational therapist and Garden Club administrator at Moving Mountains Therapy. Garden Club has been meeting at the Providence Hospital Garden for two summers. While Christina and I have been in communication on a weekly basis about which fruits and vegetables are ready to harvest at the Providence Hospital Garden, it was fun to learn more about Moving Mountains and the Garden Club as part of this conversation. 

For readers who are unfamiliar, Moving Mountains Therapy works to improve the quality of life for children and adults with developmental and acquired disabilities. To do this, they provide a number of direct services, such as occupational, speech, physical and mental health therapy. They also have a Foundation which raises funds to be able to offer screenings, education programs, community events, travel, and equipment for those who need it. It's through the Foundation that they run a program called Garden Club.

What is Garden Club?

Garden Club, comprised of adults, teens, and Moving Mountains staff, meets at the Providence Hospital Garden once per week through the summer. During their hour-and-a-half time together they work in the garden, do a food-focused activity, and socialize. The social interaction and relationship-building are as important as anything else.

What are the benefits? 

Christina says that “one of the benefits of spending time in the garden is that everyone is a part of a collaborative project from beginning to end.” Whether it is harvesting, washing produce, or weeding, everyone has a task and works together toward a common goal. Then, everyone gets to enjoy the end outcome together, usually in the form of a garden-fresh snack. 

Stories from the Garden

Since this is the second year of the program, some participants with experience from the first year were able to plan and facilitate a food-focused activity this summer. Christina shared a story about one of the participants who put a lot of time into planning a fresh carrot salad for one of the Garden Club days. At first, she wasn't sure she wanted to eat fresh carrots — she thought she might only like them cooked. On Garden Club day, she built up her courage to try the salad, and loved it so much that she brought the recipe home to make with her family. It’s hard to know whether it was the carrot variety, the recipe, or the community support that made this salad so special, but I’ve copied the recipe, below, in case you want to try it out. In addition to eating fresh food snacks in community, Christina says that being outside, having hands in the dirt, and moving around the garden are all benefits for the participants. 

One Garden Club favorite was the tea party they hosted. Imagine a decorated garden space where participants enjoyed herbal tea and cucumber cream cheese sandwiches with herbs, all while wearing fancy hats. While that activity was a favorite for many, each participant is drawn to different things: some enjoy picking a bouquet of flowers to bring home to family each week (the flowers have been vibrant and prolific since June), some love the adventure of sampling new things around the garden (funny looking carrots? new herbs? currants?), and some can’t get enough of the aroma of the herbs (can you smell the sage, thyme, oregano, basil, and cilantro?). 

Better Together

Garden Club members love their time together and have developed friendships that go beyond the program. While Garden City Harvest is just a small part of making this happen, I was so pleased to hear that this partnership helps create the conditions where these friendships and this community vibrance are possible. Thanks to Moving Mountains for helping this garden space come alive, and thanks to Providence for the garden space. 

This week, Garden Club participants will gather with their families and Moving Mountains staff to celebrate the end of the season with a taco bar dinner at our River Road barn. My fingers are crossed that the garden will provide some good ingredients for their salsa. 

Curry Spiced Carrot Salad Recipe

Instructions:

1. Wash/rinse vegetables.

2. Grate carrots (about 5 cups).

3. Chop onions (1 cup)

4. Chop cilantro (1/2 cup)

5. Place prepared ingredients in a large bowl and mix together:

• About 5 cups grated carrots

• 1 cup onion chopped

• ½ cup cilantro chopped

• 1/3 cup raisins

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 3 tablespoons lime juice

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

6. Sprinkle with the seasonings:

• ½ Teaspoon Ground garlic

• ½ Teaspoon ground ginger

• ½ Teaspoon salt

• ½ Teaspoon pepper

• ½ Teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1 Teaspoon yellow curry powder

7. Mix well.

8. Serve, Eat and Enjoy!