A garden incorporating Indigenous food practices is blossoming at a North Vancouver elementary school.
Students and school staff from Eastview Elementary have completed the expansion of their year-long Indigenous garden project after a $3,000 donation from national charity Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation in partnership with Farm to School BC.
The garden features five new beds to add to the existing three, holding different vegetables and fruits like lettuce, peas, radishes and strawberries, plus other plants to attract pollinators.
Grade 2/3 teacher Krista Riglietti helped lead the project and said the garden is a great learning tool for the students.
“It’s a great example to get in there and do hands-on activities and connect with the garden and the sustainability of it,” Riglietti said. “And acknowledging that it takes some care and work, but the production of it and the end project is so satisfying in the end for the kids.”
Students, teachers and volunteers have been part of the project since last spring, starting off with after-school and weekend meet ups to get the garden growing. This year, a garden club formed originally for Grade 6/7 students but grew in popularity with younger students wanting to join and learn how to care for the garden, Riglietti said.
The elementary students worked on planting, watering, weeding and harvesting, while also learning the traditional Indigenous food practices and the significance of plants.
Students connected with Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing for the project through field trips to education facilities and local green spaces recognizing local plants in the area, Riglietti said.
Recently Grade 3 students took part in a program at the Cheakamus Centre, an environmental and Indigenous cultural education facility in Squamish owned by the North Vancouver School District, where they foraged local plants and made tea using wild strawberry leaves.
“Those experiences help students understand the deep relationship Indigenous people [and] Coast Salish peoples have with the land and how this knowledge continues to guide sustainable, respectful practices,” Riglietti said.
Alongside the gardening work, kindergarten to Grade 3 students have been observing butterflies transforming. They released the butterflies from little containers into the school garden and nearby green spaces last week.
“We’re cultivating a strong sense of stewardship – caring for the land, connecting to place and thinking about the long-term impact of our choices,” she said. “We’re encouraging students to consider the ecosystems and habitats we’re a part of, and how our small actions can have lasting effects.”
Garden expansion is about more than growing plants
Regina Nebrida, media relations advisor for Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation, said the North Vancouver elementary garden expansion is about more than just growing plants, but connecting national conversations to tangible, local action.
“We think that it’s a very important partnership project because it supports student empowerment, sustainability and reconciliation,” Nebrida said. “It shows what’s possible when schools, charities and communities come together.”
Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation is a national charity that connects with educators and communities to make outdoor learning part of children’s education through hands-on experiences.
Farm to School BC is a provincial food literary program that invests in school food programs and hands-on food education, aiming to nourish students between kindergarten to Grade 12. The two organizations work together to fund school garden programs and other related initiatives every year.
As the school year comes to a close, volunteers will help with watering the garden and harvesting plants throughout the summer.
“Our garden is more than a space for growing plants – it’s a place for growing understanding, respect and community,” said Riglietti.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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