| ⬇ Important! Commitment towards the program |
| ⬇ Practical information and registration |
| ⬇ Children with special needs |
| ⬇ Information |
Sow, plant and harvest.
At the Youth Gardens, you'll cultivate your very own garden plot!
A gardening program for youth ages 8 to 16
Do you want to discover the taste of vegetables that you grew yourself? At the Jardin botanique's Youth Gardens, you’ll cultivate and harvest a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Here is how the program works
In May and June, as soon as the weather permits, you’ll dedicate several hours, on certain weekends and evenings, to sowing seeds, planting seedlings and tending to your garden plot.
All summer long, between June 23 and August 15*, you’ll garden two half-days per week for a total of 16 gardening sessions throughout the summer. Watering, removing weeds, harvesting… Gardening is exciting, especially when you’re in the company of friends and knowledgeable educators ready to teach you all about it while having fun.
After August 15, you’ll attend an evening harvest session. Then, at the beginning of Septembre, you’ll return to your garden plot for one last big harvest and to celebrate the end of the season during the «Carnaval végétal».
*IMPORTANT The Youth Gardens will be open on statutory holidays (June 24 and July 1st).
Note: The exact dates of special activities (seed sowing and planting, evening garding and harvest sessions, etc.) will be announced in advance to participants by e-mail several weeks prior to each activity.
History
The Youth Gardens program is the modern day version of the "Jardinets d'écoliers" (school-children’s gardens) that were established in 1938 under the supervision of Brother Marie-Victorin, founder of the Jardin botanique de Montréal. The goal of the programme remains the same to this day: to introduce urban youth to agriculture by allowing them to experience a full season of gardening, from seed to harvest. The program also allows participants to be in close contact with nature for a very small fee: The cost of registration is only 39$ for the whole summer.
This one-of-a-kind gardening program has introduced thousands of children to urban agriculture.
Important!
Commitment towards the program
The main objective of the Youth Gardens is to allow participants to experience a full season of gardening, from seed to harvest. Before registering for the program, please take note of the following conditions and make sure your child is ready to commit for the full gardening season.
In order to learn how to garden properly and to ensure good care of one’s garden plot as well as a bountiful harvest, the participant must attend:
- The springtime preparatory activities: sowing seeds and planting seedling in his or her garden plot
- At least one evening garden maintenance session
- A minimum of ten half-day gardening sessions, between June 23 and August 25.
The participant cannot miss more than six half-day sessions, which is the equivalent of three weeks. In case of consecutive absences planned in advance (like going on a family trip), the participant must designate a friend from the same group to take care of his or her garden plot. The total number of absences must nonetheless not exceed 6 gardening sessions. If the participant cannot maintain this commitment, his or her garden plot will be turned over to the rest of the group as of the 7th absence, since the participant will have missed almost half of the summer’s activities.
Practical information
Registration
Registration will take place exclusively online, via the Amilia platform, as of Wednesday February 12, 2025. To receive information about theEspace pour la vie's Youth Gardens, please subscribe to our mailing list. The cost of registration is 39$ per child. Please note that our online registration platform only accepts payment by credit card (Visa and MasterCard).
Schedule and age required for participation
Group 1: For youth ages 8 to 11 years old
Monday and Thursday mornings - 8:45 am to 11:45 pm
Groupe 2: For youth ages 12 to 16 years old
Monday and Thursday afternoons - 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Group 3: For youth ages 8 to 16 years old
Tuesday and Friday mornings - 8:45 am to 11:45 am
Division of age groups : based on birthdate and school year
Please note that we base our groups on the age used to determine a child's school grade, which is the age on September 30 of the current year. For example, a child who is 11 but is in 6th grade and will be 12 years old by September 30, would be in the group for 12-16 years olds.
For the 2025 season, please refer to the following age groups:
- 8 to 11 years old: Born between October 1st, 2013 and September 30, 2017 (in 2nd - 5th grade of primary school at the time of registration)
- 12 to 16 years old: Born between October 1st, 2008 and September 30, 2013 (in 6th grade of primary school - 4th year of secondary school at the time of registration)
Children with special needs
Gardening is an activity for all ages and doesn’t require much experience, especially under the guidance of horticulturists and expert educators. We’re happy to welcome children with special needs into the youth groups. However we are not able to offer specialized support. It may therefore be necessary for a child with special needs to be accompanied by a member of his or her family during gardening sessions. Please contact us for more information and to make sure that it would be possible for us to meet your child's needs before registering him or her for the program. Please contact us for more information and to make sure it's possible for us to respond to your child's needs before register him or her..
Information
Youth Gardens (Jardins-jeunes) - Jardin botanique
4101, rue Sherbrooke Est
Montréal (Québec) H1X 2B2
Metro: Pie-IX
Phone: 514 872-0956
Fax: 514 872-3765
Email: [email protected]
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