On April 20th, Lara Mrosovsky will lead KLT’s Grow Without a Garden event at Peterborough Public Library as part of our Passport to Nature program.
By Susan Scott, KLT Volunteer
As both gardening season and Earth Day approach, here’s your opportunity to use a smaller space you might have to learn how to grow a variety of plants, flowers, and food.
Grow Without a Garden will be held on April 20th from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Peterborough Public Library and led by gardener, artist, and author Lara Mrosovsky.
It’s the kickoff event for the Kawartha Land Trust’s (KLT) 2024-2025 Passport to Nature. After the successful first year, KLT proudly presents its second annual Passport to Nature program, a year-long series of free, guided adventures outdoors for everyone to enjoy.
The Grow Without a Garden workshop is all about helping nature thrive in the smallest spaces — balconies, roofs, and other available, yet unlikely places — around your home.
You can learn how to grow vegetables, culinary herbs, medicinal plants, and flowers to help the pollinators in your neighbourhood. Plus, you’ll get the opportunity to “learn by doing,” says Lara, and plant your own seeds in a pot to take home with you.
Lara remembers her parents gardening when she was young. She shared her father “loved growing lettuce and tomatoes in our backyard” in the Toronto-area home she grew up in.
In 2019, along with Johl Whiteduck Ringuette, Lara co-founded Miinikaan Innovation & Design, a consulting, landscape design, and garden installation company.
Lara, who now calls Lindsay home, is dedicated to teaching and learning about growing food in small spaces. She also combined her interest in visual art with gardening to produce illustrated gardening books for both beginners and more experienced growers, including An Illustrated Guide to Growing Food on Your Balcony.
“I’ve always had an interest in visual art and I started creating gardening books to bring my two pursuits together by using the artwork to make the books more distinctive,” Lara said.
Lara coordinated and planted the first intensive green roof atop a Toronto-area community health centre. For her efforts, in 2014 she received the Community Engagement Award from the Association of Ontario Health Centres.
For the April 20th KLT workshop at the Peterborough Public Library, she encourages new gardeners to attend who are curious but are unsure how to get started.
“I’m all about making food and plants more accessible,” said Lara. “No matter what stage of gardening you’re at, my aim is for participants to take something away from the experience and feel inspired to start growing in whatever space you have.”
Register online to attend our Grow Without a Garden event on April 20, 2024.
