Therapeutic Garden

The Therapeutic Garden got its roots in 2011 with a grant from the Ontario Healthy Communities Fund through the HGMH Foundation. Over the years, the garden has more than quadrupled its original size and is used regularly by rehabilitation patients as part of their therapy. Patients participate in gardening tasks such as planting, weeding, and harvesting. This experience requires physical exercise, stimulates thought, encourages awareness of the external environment, and improves dexterity and balance. Harvests from the garden are incorporated into foods prepared in the cafeteria.

The garden now boasts 2,800 square feet and produces a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. With a combination of raised and in-ground beds, rehabilitation patients receive practical exercises to help them regain and maintain their balance, fine motor control, memory and concentration, and engage in social activities.

The greenhouse and row covers will be used this year to extend the garden's productivity into late November. Produce from the garden is used in the hospital's kitchens as they make meals, and some is used in cooking sessions with patients. In this way, the garden supports the hospital's efforts in reaching the next level of certification for the provincial Healthy Foods Initiative. Currently, HGMH has a bronze in the program, and steps are underway for the hospital to reach a silver rating in the future.

HGMH has also partnered with Community Living Glengarry (CLG) to expand the services the Therapeutic Garden provides. Through this partnership, people at CLG work with the garden coordinators to maintain the garden, gaining valuable experience, knowledge, skills, and social interactions.