Water! (Finally)

Chris Martin from the City was kind enough to stop by the park this morning to chat with me about the water situation. An ill staff member and three overworked plumbers (who cover the entire city) have been part of the reason for the slow updates but it looks like we’re on track now.

The pipes are still leaking and the main source of water on the east end of the park is still turned off. They may have to redo the entire system and that can’t happen until the regular spring maintenance across the city is done. Chris is going to keep me up to date on this, and we’re discussing ways to make the new upgraded system better, so it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, there is a water source at the west end of the park that we can use. It’s just up the path from Ossington, on the north side of the path. Chris is going to lay hose along the path from there to across from the garden, and when we want to use it we’ll have to hook it up and attach it to a hose into the garden area. Note that there is a safety issue putting hose across the main path so we can’t leave the hose lying there – it has to be moved off the path when it’s not in use.

I’m going to drop by Friday afternoon to try it out, but in the meantime, if anyone else wants to give it a go, please let me know how it works.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

FoodShare open house this weekend

I unfortunately can’t make it to this event, but someone should go, it looks really interesting.

Past * Present * Future
Please join us, in our 25th year, as we celebrate our work and look to the future with the launch of our Strategic Plan.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
At FoodShare’s home at 90 Croatia Street.
Our main entrance is on Brock Avenue, one block West of Dufferin and one block South of Bloor.

The day’s events:
Annual General Meeting: 10-11 am
Open House: 11am-4 pm
Fresh Salad Bar lunch at 12:15pm (free for all guests)
Panel discussion at 2pm: What would it take for everyone to have access to affordable, healthy food? Five local authors talk about their recent books, featuring:
Margaret Webb, Robert Albritton, Wayne Roberts, Judy Rebick and Debbie Field
Bee-keeping and garden demonstrations, children’s activities, fresh produce market, tours and so much more.
To RSVP & for more information, please contact:
Adrienne De Francesco
p: 416.363.6441 ext. 226
e: adrienne@foodshare.net

 

We have water! (I think)

Update: I’ve heard from the City that our pipe problems have been fixed and our water is on. I will confirm tomorrow morning when I’m gardening (you should come too!).

New update: They found a leak, and the water is off again. I’ll keep you posted.

 

Garden updates

We had a garden meeting on Saturday morning to discuss our plans for the garden and the park in the future. Unfortunately there was lower turnout than we would have liked but we did manage to discuss quite a few issues and ideas. Here are some updates:

• The water is still not on as the city has discovered a problem with the plumbing. We’re working with them on getting it fixed and you’ll hear about it as soon as we know we have water.

• We’re establishing Saturday mornings from 9 to 12 as drop-in visit and garden and get-stuff-done times. We’d love for everyone to try and come by during that time so we can get to know each other, share gardening tips, sample each other’s produce and, yes, get a bit of communal work done if it has to be.

• We’re researching getting some signage for the garden so everyone knows who we are and how to get in touch. Please let us know if you have any experience in this area.

• We’re also looking for fundraising sources to apply for grants for next year and the long term. If you know of any organizations that would be good to apply to, or if you’ve got fundraising experience and would like to help out with applications, please get in touch.

• We’ve concluded that the planters along the outside of the fence need to be fixed up – the grass is coming through them so quickly that the perennials are going to have a tough time surviving. What we want to do is move them out of the way one by one so that we can cover the area with newspaper before replacing the planter – the newspaper will kill the grass. Please let us know if you can help with this project, or if you are a subscriber to a daily newspaper, please start saving them as we’ll need a good collection.

• Finally, some great news! We’ve applied for and received a $1000 grant from Carrot Cache to cover soil amendment, tool and maintenance costs for this growing season. So far we’re looking into a new hose dolly and possibly a rainwater collection system. Get in touch if you have experience and/or can help with this, or if you have other ideas.

Happy gardening!

Kat, on behalf of the executive

 

Seedling Exchange and Garden Clean-Up May 18, 2009

Come on out and get the season started, with the GCPCA first-annual Seedling Exchange and Garden Clean-up!

On Monday, May 18th, 2-4pm, we would love to see everyone out in the garden sharing experiences, swapping plants, starting some planting, and finishing the spring clean-up!  This is a great opportunity to meet your fellow gardeners, get to know the 2009 GCPCA Executive members, and kick-off the gardening season in a laid-back and fun environment. 

Here are the details:

When:
Monday, May 18th 2009 2:00-4:00pm  (yes, that’s Victoria Day Monday)
Rain Date: any of you who are happy gardening in the rain are welcome to show up rain-or-shine.  For the rest of us, the rain date will be May 23rd, at the meeting already planned for that date.

Where:
Garrison Creek Park Community Garden

Who:
GCPCA members and their friends and families, as well as any members of the community or other community gardens who would like to come check us out.

Why:
Get to know your fellow members, trade some plants and seeds, get started on the gardening season, and get the final clean-up of the garden completed.

What to bring:
Extra seedlings (home-grown or store-bought) or seeds to trade or donate, garbage bags and gloves for garden clean-up, water or other beverages, food for yourself and/or to share, annual or perennial plants you’d like to donate for the flower-beds around the perimeter of the garden fence, and your gardening spirit!

Although we’ll be looking for some help from the members to finish the garden clean-up (there’s a small amount of garbage and some garden debris remaining from the winter), there is not a lot of work to be done, so this will primarily be a social event.

I hope to see you all there!

 

Gardening workshops at The Stop

Whether you’re new to gardening or want to brush up your skills, you should consider attending a gardening workshop at The Stop. They’re offered from April through September and topics vary from gardening skills to what to do with your produce and how to save seeds. Upcoming workshops include:

Making Clay Pots
Wed. May 13th 6:00-8:00pm.
1884 Davenport Rd.

Organic Soil Management
Wed. June 3rd, 6:30-8:30pm.
Green Barn.

Solar Mapping
Thurs. June 18th, 6:30-8:30pm.
Green Barn.

Jam Preserves
Mon. June 29th, 10:00am-12:30pm.
Green Barn.

Jam Preserves
Monday June 29th, 2:30pm-5:00pm
1884 Davenport Rd.

Visit thestop.org for a full workshop listing and further information.

 

Where’s the water?

Just to let everyone know, I’ve been in touch with the city and the water will be turned on soon. They’re aiming for before the long weekend. I’ll post right here as soon as I know it’s on.

 

Next community meeting – May 23

One of our primary goals for 2009 is to sketch out some major, long-term plans for the park and raise funds for them. To that end, the executive decided we should hold a community meeting to collect everyone’s ideas of what we want to see the park develop into.

I’ve booked the community room in the Davenport library for Saturday, May 23, from 10 to 12. Please join us to share what your vision of Garrison Creek Park includes – and doesn’t include! This is by no means a finalized planning meeting but rather a “dream big” brainstorming session.

 

It’s time to fertilize!

I’ve ordered some organic compost and fertilizer to be delivered to the garden Thursday evening: two (28.5 L) bags of compost per plot plus 3 bags of Spanish River carbonatite to be divided among the plots.

We are paying $5.50 per bag of compost, plus $20 per bag of carbonatite, plus tax. Unfortunately there’s no money in our bank account to cover the total costs at this time so while we will look for sources of funding, I’m asking that garden members make a donation if possible to cover the costs.

I will also need some help unloading the delivery and moving it into the shed (if we can fit it all) or at least into the fenced-off area. It should be between 8:30 and 9:00 pm—please get in touch if you’re available and I can call you when I have an exact time, or just drop by the garden to help out.

Once everything’s there, feel free to take your two bags and dig the compost into your plot, but please make sure to take only two bags! I’ll calculate how much of the carbonatite should go in each plot as well.

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, perfect time to start working in the garden!

 

May 3 gardening workshop

I just heard about an upcoming gardening workshop on May 3 from 1 to 2 at the Home Depot at 2121 St Clair W (that’s just west of Keele). It’s being given by Doug Green, author of new book Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening. Some info from his publicist’s website:

We’re pleased to announce that our very own Canadian “Garden Coach” Doug Green is partnering with The Home Depot in Toronto’s Little Italy to offer the free one-hour seminar Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces to urban dwellers wanting to engage this hot trend.

In Toronto to promote his newly-released eighth book Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening (Cool Springs Press) Doug Green is happy to provide local residents with everything they need to know to simply and successfully grow vegetables. One of Canada’s top gardening experts, Green shares practical, budget-friendly tips for growing vegetables organically, including how-and-when-to information on planting, growing and harvesting more than 50 vegetables and herbs. Helpful charts and maps and full-colour images make this a book that will be referred to again and again.

Live in a townhouse, condominium or apartment? Green says, “No problem”. With half of all vegetables being grown in container gardens, Guide to Canadian Vegetable Gardening will help both urban dwellers and suburban gardeners experience the joys of growing their own edibles.

Green’s approach to gardening is “to have fun and eat well without working hard at it.” He says, “There is nothing quite like the taste of a freshly picked, juicy, vine-ripened tomato. That fresh, chin-dripping acid sweetness only comes from your own garden. I won’t even go on about combining herbs with your garden as I’ll assume you’ll want to tuck in a few here and there to complement the vegetables.”

Green’s one hour seminar Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces will start at 1:00 PM on Sunday, May 03rd, 2009 in the outdoor garden centre at The Home Depot at 2121 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto. It is free and no registration is required.