Garrison Creek Park Community Association

These two gardening workshops (passed on through the Toronto Community Garden Network) look interesting – is anyone interested in attending?

Organic Soil and Turf Management Workshops for Professionals
Toronto

A unique educational opportunity  for
- Landscapers
- Turf managers
- Arborists
- Educators
- Policy makers & advisors concerned with pesticide legislation
- Professionals working in Land Stewardship
- Experienced home gardeners

3-Day Organic Soil Management
If you have been wanting to – or feel forced to – move away from using chemicals to manage your landscapes, then the Organic Soil Management workshop will help prepare you to make this transition.  Soil is the foundation of landscape health. Whether you grow ornamental gardens, turf or vegetables, you need to understand how soil works. Not just a lifeless and sterile ‘growing medium’ – soil is the exact opposite. It’s an ecosystem, and needs to be managed as such. Soil processes are universal, regardless of what you are growing. Our job is primarily one of fine-tuning.

Attention ISA Certified Arborists: This course has been pre-approved for 21 CEUs.

What students have said:
“I’ve been working in the industry for 12 years in both private and municipal realms, and in all honesty – I’ve surprisingly absorbed, understood and connected more about soil & landscape health management in this one weekend intensive than I did throughout 4 years of conventional landscape apprenticeship training! I always “knew” that this is the way to go, I just didn’t have the knowledge, resources and clarity until now! The solution is so powerful, yet simple and elegant.” S. Hurst, Vancouver

Dates:  Friday March 27 – Sunday March 29, 2009
Time:   8:30 am – 5:30 pm (please bring your own lunch)
Location:  Centre for Urban Ecology, Humber Arboretum, 205 Humber College Blvd., Toronto, ON

For more information
Please download the full brochure:http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/turf/Turf_&_Soil_Toronto_Mar_2009.pdf
or visit http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/soil/index.php

Early registration is advised – space is limited
Please register online at http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/soil/registration.php

1-Day Organic Turf Management
Lawns have a reputation for being toxic zones and water hogs – but these are not instrinsic qualities of the lawn.  In this very intensive one-day workshop we will introduce you to the underlying principles and processes at work within natural ecosystems. You will learn how the use of environmental toxins is counterproductive to achieving your landscape goals, and we will construct a new decision making framework that enables you to work with nature to create and maintain healthy, beautiful lawns.

Attention ISA Certified Arborists: This course has been pre-approved for 3.5 CEUs.

What students have said:
“I have been a professional Landscape Horticulturist – Arborist for over 26 years and have attended countless workshops, seminars, etc., over the years. Frankly, I have become more than a little blase’ and skeptical about hearing the same old things repeated over and over again, and I must admit I was more than a little hesitant to even sign up for your workshop in the first place. Today I met someone, unexpectedly, who is speaking my language, who really understands what it’s all about. My hat is off to you! You’ve certainly won over another convert, and I really want to thank you personally for the excellent work that you are doing. In my professional opinion, your way is the only way and the only way that makes any sense to me.” L. Sharon, Vancouver

2 Dates:  Wednesday, March 25, 2009, Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Time:   8:30 am – 5:30 pm (please bring your own lunch)
Location:  Centre for Urban Ecology, Humber Arboretum, 205 Humber College Blvd., Toronto, ON

For more information
Please download the full brochure:http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/turf/Turf_&_Soil_Toronto_Mar_2009.pdf
or visit http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/turf/index.php

Early registration is advised – space is limited
Please register online at http://www.gaiacollege.ca/public/programs/turf/registration.php

I can’t make either of the following events, but it would be great if someone from our group could go and report back. Let me know!

From the Toronto Environment Office:

In keeping with Toronto’s commitment to environmental leadership, work is underway to develop a comprehensive strategy to address emerging issues related to the field of urban agriculture and increase lands for urban food production. Food strategy is an important component of the Climate Change, Clean Air and Sustainable Energy Action Plan, which was unanimously adopted by City Council in July, 2007.

In an effort to provide an educational forum for Parks and Environment Committee members, other members of Council and the general public, a number of experts in the field of urban agriculture have been invited to make presentations about current issues arising in urban food production and how the City of Toronto can best support the urban agriculture movement while considering important constraints and opportunities.

Please consider attending this special meeting of the Parks and Environment Committee on Thursday February 5, 2009.  The meeting will be held in Committee Room 1, 2nd Floor, Toronto City Hall from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The agenda is available online at: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/pe/agendas/2009-02-05-pe22-ar.pdf

*****

Toronto residents are invited to join special guest, Paula Sobie, an expert in SPIN (Small Plot INtensive) Gardening, at a free workshop. Paula will share her expertise and provide tips to help you improve the efficiency and productivity of your backyard or community garden.

Gardening Workshop
Date: Thursday, Feb. 5
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Toronto City Hall, Council Chambers

Please confirm your attendance by email: teo@toronto.ca. For more information, call 416-392-1826.

January 15 already and it’s really, really cold in Toronto, tonight a lot of people downtown have no power, but it was still light out at 5 pm and before long we’ll be starting seeds and then planting in our plots as spring turns to summer.

In November, we held the 2008 AGM and those of us who attended had some good and fruitful discussions about the past and future of the park, the garden and our group. The full minutes are now posted on the site but here are some of the key points:

• We should congratulate ourselves on creating something out of nothing in such a brief period of time, and especially thank Marc de Mouy for working hard to establish a community garden in the park. The year wasn’t perfect but we achieved a lot and should be proud.

• 2009 will be about solidifying what we have created, building the structure of our community and looking forward to new ways to develop the park and raise funds to make it a real community destination. Our other main priority is the short- and long-term health of our soil – we had issues with soil quality in the raised beds in 2008 and need to make some decisions about what to do.

• We voted unanimously to change the name of our group slightly, to Garrison Creek Park Community Association (removing “Garden”), to signify that we are stewards of the entire park, not just the community garden area.

• A number of executive positions were filled but we still need more members to help us do a good job:

Coordinator: Kat Tancock
Treasurer: Arthur Flach
Maintenance Coordinator: Mark Cherrington
Education Coordinator: Melanie Roscoe
Events Coordinator: Airin Stephens
Membership Coordinator: (this role has yet to be filled)
Fundraising Coordinator: (this role has yet to be filled)
Member-At-Large: (this role has yet to be filled)
Member-At-Large: (this role has yet to be filled)

Please let us know if you’d like to fill one of these positions.

The tentative date for the next executive meeting is Saturday, February 28, at 10 am. All members are welcome. Please let me know if you can make it or if you’d like to but that time doesn’t work for you.

The following position descriptions were agreed upon at the 2008 AGM and are subject to amendment in future.

GCPCA Executive Positions
The GCPCA Executive will be responsible for maintaining a positive atmosphere of cooperation, education, progress and enjoyment for all GCPCA members.  The Executive will be visible and available to the members of the association on a regular basis, to foster communication, inclusion of all members and community building.  All official communication from the executive will be delivered through the official email address (garrison.creek.park@gmail.com), the official website (garrisoncreekpark.wordpress.com), or posted at the garden site.

All financial transactions in future will require a signature by two out of the following three executive members:  Coordinator, Treasurer, or Membership Coordinator (or designated Member-at-Large)

Coordinator:
•    Single point of contact for all communication with the City of Toronto, media and other community organizations in regards to official items of business for the GCPCA, except where agreed to by the coordinator and/or the executive.
•    Responsible for maintaining regular communication of important information to the members of the association, through the official website, newsletter, posted bulletins at the garden site, etc., or for approving communication with the members by executive officers or other interested parties.
•    Responsible for chairing all association and executive meetings, or for appointing an alternate to chair in his/her place
•    Responsible for taking minutes of all executive and association meetings, or for appointing an alternate in his/her place
•    Responsible for final approval of all financial transactions
Treasurer
•    Acts in place of the coordinator when he/she is not available
•    Responsible for maintaining detailed and accurate financial records for the association.
•    Responsible for reporting on the finances of the association when requested by the coordinator and/or the executive
•    Responsible for oversight of financial aspects of all association fundraising activities

Membership Coordinator
•    Responsible for maintaining the member list, contact information, garden plot waiting list and official mailing list.

Maintenance Coordinator
•    Regular checks of the garden and park for worn or broken equipment, vandalism, or areas of the garden and park space in need of attention.
•    Organization of construction, repairs and maintenance tasks in the garden and/or park areas as agreed to by the coordinator and/or executive.

Education Coordinator
•    Regular updates to the official website and/or posted bulletins at the garden site with news of upcoming events, important updates regarding the garden space, changes to park and/or garden policies, etc.
•    Posts to the official website with educational articles that may be relevant to the association members

Events Coordinator
•    Organization of official social activities and work bees as agreed to by the coordinator and/or executive.

Fundraising Coordinator
•     Organization of official fundraising activities as agreed to by the coordinator and/or executive.

Members At Large (2 voting positions)
•    One or more persons elected to the executive and responsible for any other activities related the GCPCA or the park/garden areas deemed necessary and agreed to by the coordinator and/or executive.

The above items could also be delegated to members of the association who volunteer to help with GCPCA activities without officially joining as voting executive members. If any positions are not filled, the respective duties will be designated as part of another executive role by the remaining executive.