Eglinton Park

Eglinton Park is situated in Toronto’s Uptown, on Eglinton Avenue between Dupex and Avenue Roads. The park can be reached by a short 10 minute walk from Eglinton subway station – skip the bus ride, use your feet! 

Recreational activities: two baseball diamonds, a soccer field, splash pool and outdoor tennis courts turned to skating rinks in the summer. Fun Fact: the park was originally a Pears Brickyard established in 1885 as a brick manufacturer. The park was then purchased by the City of Toronto in the early 90’s. It’s rectangular shape and valley location are a typical characteristic of Toronto’s parks that used to be brick manufactures.

The Naturalization Project

The project involves a restoration of park’s west slope to its native habitat. The project is a collaboration between North Toronto Green Community, Greenest City, the Evergreen Foundation, and the City of Toronto's Parks and Recreation. It involves replanting trees and shrubs to provide shade, a natural landscape and a habitat for birds and small animals, and create a healthy urban environment.

The Heritage Community Garden

"Human health and environmental health are intimately linked". Engaging in organic gardening and taking care of a lawns are fundamental steps in making the world a better place for both humans and environment. The gardening activity relives stress on the earth, hence the Heritage Community Garden initiative has been started. Seeds of Diversity Canada and the Garden Committee of the North Toronto Green Community brought this project to life in partnership with Toronto Parks and Recreation with help and encouragement from FoodShare, Martin Wade Landscape Architects and countless volunteers. The garden has come to mean many things to many people: a "hands-on" gardening experience for urban dwellers, an educational experience, and a lovely spot to rest and relax in the park with a riot of colour and a host of plant species to please and interest viewers. Those  who got involved learned more about organic gardening, heritage seeds and composting to provide chemical-free nutrients for the soil.

To find out more information or how to get involved in these projects go to http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/egltnparkkpjts.htm#nature

Trinity Bellwoods Park

Amidst the busy city life of downtown Toronto lies a grassy oasis perfect for any nature lover to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Trinity Bellwoods is hands down, one of the most beautiful parks in the Toronto downtown area. Located between Dundas and Queen West on the North and South and Gorevala and Crawford Ave. from East to West, this park has everything you could ask for; grassy knowles, long and winding walkways, ancient oak trees, playground, skating rink, and more.  You can be sure that there is a little bit of something for everyone, no matter the season.

So what could you possibly do in March you ask? Well who doesn’t love skating? Trinity Bellwoods is fully equipped with a Natural Ice Rink – as long as weather permits.  The park also launched their first ever Greenhouse just this year! During the winter season the park hosted an informal discussion series called “Don’t Ask an Expert”. An example of a talk done recently was “How Not to Plan a bike vacation” by professional cyclist Jungle Ling.

If you want to get actively involved in the Trinity Bellwoods community, there are three things you could do. First off, there is the Adopt a Tree program. This program is suggested for families with young children or dogs. Simply put, you sign up for a specific young tree and make sure it gets 5 gallons of water a week when there is no sufficient rainfall. There are taps in the park, and water containers and carts are provided by the parks community volunteer group.

Next, you could get involved with Friends of Trinity Bellwoods, a community volunteer group dedicated to the livelihood of this Toronto Park. Meetings are held monthly and are open to all community members. Noteworthy events to consider are the Park Days. Held every spring and fall, these day long events encourage everyone in the community to participate in a day of weeding, mulching, planting, litter picking, and general promotion and discussion of care for the park. Go to the link below for more information.

http://www.trinitybellwoods.ca/

Finally, the summer season brings in the famous farmers market; which supports and promotes local, sustainable agriculture. The farmer’s market aims to educate the community on the food they eat, where it comes from, and how the food is grown and prepared.

So Why Participate You Ask? Why would I waste my precious time weeding and litter picking at the local park? Well, Friends of Trinity Bellwoods believes this; Toronto parks are the “lungs” of our city. Park trees and green spaces help clean our air of pollutants. We all want to breath healthy, clean air, right? Through this park, we can promote a lively, safe community through small interactions amongst people. 

“Parks allow people from all walks of life to spontaneously cross paths, and strike up conversation” – Friends of Trinity Bellwoods.