Urban Bounty’s Wellness in the Garden Program is designed to bring the health and wellness benefits of gardening to as many people as possible. Research shows that connection to nature can promote psychological and physical benefits in individuals that can ripple to create stronger and healthier communities.
Urban Bounty builds and maintains garden spaces with a therapeutic focus. This includes garden boxes that are accessible to people with a range of mobilities, and shared plots open to the community. We also partner with a wide variety of organizations, school groups, and community centres to provide garden-based wellness programs to youth, seniors, and those with special needs.
Therapeutic and Shared Gardens
While most garden boxes in our community gardens are assigned to individuals, we also create shared therapeutic garden spaces that are designed to be accessible and beneficial to all. Therapeutic garden spaces have the potential to reduce eco-anxiety, increase food security, and help people to develop a deeper sense of place, connection, and community support.
Shared Plots are stewarded collaboratively by several volunteer gardeners rather than individuals. This 2025 pilot program is part of our mission to provide access to the benefits of gardening to more people! The following Urban Bounty gardens have Shared Plots: Alexandra, Brighouse, Cook, Garratt, Garden City Lands, General Currie, Greentree, Hamilton, Railway-Moncton, and Railway-Hollymount. To get involved, read more about volunteering as a Shared Plot Steward here.
To enhance some of our shared therapeutic garden plots, we constructed a Seedling Library in collaboration with the Hamilton Community Association in 2025. This is a small outdoor station where people can “take a plant – leave a plant” to help increase free access to plants (with less pressure to keep them alive).
We also provide free garden space to 25 community organizations for wellness-related garden programming. We’re grateful to support the vital work of groups including the Richmond Addiction Services Society, Immigrant Services Society of BC, and the Hamilton Community Centre Seniors Group. These organization plots allow groups who might otherwise face disproportionate barriers to accessing land, green space, and autonomy over food to connect to the empowering benefits of gardening.
Intergenerational Garden Programming
Urban Bounty hosts gardening programs for youth and seniors in collaboration with partner organizations and community centres. Children are increasingly disconnected from the land and their food sources, and having spaces where they can witness and participate in the process (and magic!) of growing plants has been shown to improve their learning and behaviour. Elders are also increasingly requesting access to garden plots that are shared. Sharing a garden plot is instrumental for elders to reduce the workload of gardening, provide reliable social connections, and contribute to holistic health.
We currently run weekly intergenerational gardening sessions with Minoru, Hamilton, and South Arm Community Community Centres.
Garden Tastings and Talks
Urban Bounty runs programs in collaboration with local community centres to provide seniors and youth with fresh food and gardening education. At each session, we share tastes and samples of local produce (purchased from a CSA box program), along with a lively chat and demonstration of what each vegetable tastes like, ways you might prepare it, and how and where it was grown. We talk a lot about local food systems, Indigenous food history, and growing tips for each vegetable.
Educational Workshops, Walks, and Special Events
Urban Bounty hosts a variety of wellness-based garden workshops and educational webinars as well as local (and virtual) garden tours, urban nature walks, and public special events. We host regular walks and talks focused on how the garden environment and building reciprocal relationships with nature can improve your health and well-being. We work with schools and other community organizations who are interested in these programs, as well as offering such walks and talks as public events. We host small and large groups, and we offer both in-person and virtual learning opportunities.
