Nova Institution plant program blooming
Plants provide us with food, fiber, shelter, medicine and fuel but can also be therapeutic as evidenced by Lindsay Jennings.
Jennings is the facilitator of the Horticulture Skills Training Program at Nova Institution for Women.
The program, delivered by Extended Learning in partnership with the Correctional Service of Canada, teaches women offenders vocational and technical skills to use in transition to employment post-release. The program also promotes and enhances life skills, including selfconfidence, healthy habits and healthy eating.
Jennings also works with the Botanical Gardens Unit (BGU) on the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Bible Hill. For Jennings, these two jobs go hand-in-hand. Working in the BGU has allowed her access to plant material and horticulture peers which is one of the biggest challenges of running the program at Nova Institution.
“I would often take photos of the gardens and the work I was doing and share them with the participants to share real-life project development related to their course material. Being involved in the BGU also gave me the ability to gather materials for labs such as seed heads, leaves, pests, weeds, etc.,” said Jennings.
Like most things, however, when the pandemic began, the Horticultural Skills Program at Nova Institution was paused while Dalhousie University and Correctional Services of Canada decided how to safely proceed. This created a challenge for Jennings, as she lost access to the greenhouse at Nova Institution, and as a result, many of the plants they were propagating died and were discarded.
Last fall, the BGU at the Faculty of Agriculture was tasked with cleaning out the greenhouse of the former Women’s Institute building on campus - a building that once provided opportunities for women to enhance their quality of life through education and personal development.
As the building was being cleaned out, they discovered a variety of healthy plants that did not belong to anyone and were going to be wasted unless otherwise claimed.
At the same time, the program at Nova Institute was re-starting and Jennings saw an opportunity she could not pass up. She relocated many of the plants to the greenhouse and classroom at Nova Institution.
“The day the majority of the plant material was brought into the institution, I had my class participants assist me,” said Jennings. “To say the new plants overwhelmed them is an understatement. Their joy was visual. As we placed the plants in our greenhouse, one of the participants said generally, to the room, ‘I am so happy right now.’”
Jennings also heard others describe it as “the best day ever” and “so awesome."
The plants have already had a significant impact on the program as the participants spend every day caring for them. They are also learning valuable skills on how to propagate plants which they can then implement in the future for their own personal use or to give back to their community through work or volunteer opportunities.
The irony was not lost on Jennings. She considers herself and the program at Nova Institute to be fortunate to receive the materials.
“The timing of closing down the Dalhousie Women’s Institute greenhouse and the re-opening of the Nova Women’s Institute greenhouse was beautifully synchronous,” said Jennings.
During her time at the Nova Institution for Women, Jennings has seen the impact of women helping women.
“I observe the women helping each other daily and it has led to some amazing progress and breakthroughs; changes that go well beyond horticulture skill development. Women can often feel threatened by other women for a variety of reasons, but when we reach out and help another it can start to break down barriers and create change,” she added.