2008 Community Garden
In early spring a group of 10 citizens from across the city came together for the first community garden planning meeting of the year. These were folks who wanted to learn about organic food gardening, expand on their existing gardening knowledge and share what they knew with others. More then that, they wanted to find out what it takes to establish and nurture a community garden.
Through monthly training scissions, workshops, guest speakers, hands on activities and a regular garden maintenance schedule, this group of nervous volunteers blossomed into confident food gardeners. Some of them took on the role of workshop facilitator after having participated in training scissions on topics such as Seed Starting and Planting the Garden from pot to plot.
2008 was also the first year a plot was used to grow the Children's Pizza Garden.
First, the gardeners put together a wish list of what they wanted to grow or maintain in the garden. The entire garden was stated from seed in the EcoHouse solarium (transplanted into the garden after the May long weekend) or through direct sewing out in the garden.*
Herbs - Chives, Thyme, (Cinnamon, Thai & Leaf) Basil, Sage, Dill, Lavender, St. John’s Wart, Lemon Balm, Spearmint
Veggies - Cauliflower, Broccoli, Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Snow & Pod Peas, Yellow & Green Sting & Bush Beans, 5 Colour Swiss Chard, Kale, Musculin or Mixed Greens, Long Slim Hot Cayenne Peppers, Onions, Carrots, Detroit Red Beets, Fairy Tale Eggplant, Electra Leeks, Small Sugar Pumpkin, Sugar Baby Watermelon, Butternut Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Fennell, Potatoes (Blue – Heirloom), Radish, Spinach, Brussel Sprouts, Okra
Fruits and other- (Old German - Heirloom, Juan Flame, Yellow Pair, Black Krim - Heirloom) Tomatoes, Strawberries, Raspberries, Ground Cherries, Rhubarb, Mammoth Sunflowers, Marigolds
*Exceptions: a few plants in the Children’s Garden (which was planned late in the season), the rhubarb plant that we picked up at the Ottawa Street Farmer's Market, Strawberries & Raspberries were established previous years
Next, they decided what topics they wanted to learn. The Community Gardener Coordinator found local experts to show them the ropes.
Training and workshop topics included:
Seed Starting with Dan Morreale
Planting the Garden from pot to plot with Tony Hendry
Organic Gardening 101 with Sapphire Singh
Solar Cooking with Green Venture staff & volunteers
Cold Frames & Season Extension Techniques with Kyla Dixon-Muir
Seed Saving with Lenore & Ruby Dixon
Preserving & Cannon the Harvest
Closing the Garden
The growing season is not over yet and the participants still have lots of work to do closing the garden & celebrating their achievements at the Fall Harvest Party.