Garrison Creek Park Community Association

The executive met again on Sunday to discuss our plans for spring. Some key points:

• The soil has tested extremely low for nitrogen (we’ll be blogging about that soon) and we need a solution very soon to get some nutrition into the soil before planting time. We’re researching options but any suggestions are welcome. We intend to do a bulk purchase for all plots but as we’re low on funds we welcome any ideas on getting low-cost fertilizer (we’re thinking compost and/or manure) or raising cash to buy it.

• We will be planning a group meeting to discuss big ideas of what we want to do in the park. The goal is to think long-term and apply for funding to make our ideas happen. Start thinking!

• We’ve heard back from just about everyone regarding renewing plots and will start assigning to the waiting list next week.

• We’ve got limited funds in our new bank account but have approved some preliminary spending policies. All cheques must be signed by both me (coordinator) and Arthur Flach (treasurer) and that’s the only way to get money out of the account. Members will only be reimbursed for garden purchases with prior approval from both of us as well, via email.

• Arthur is also researching the pros and cons of turning our group into a registered charitable organization. If anyone has knowledge of this area, please get in touch with him.

• We’ve tested the gate lock and it’s working fine, so won’t need to be replaced. But please do make sure to attach the cover when you lock it, to keep out moisture.

• Melanie will be organizing a plant exchange, tentatively for May 18.

• We have agreed we need to stake the sides of the raised beds to help maintain the structures. We’re thinking two metal stakes on each long side of each plot, which translates to 108 stakes total within the fenced area. Please get in touch if you have any experience with this kind of work or know of a good source of metal stakes.

Here’s some info passed on from the TCGN about an event this Sunday. It looks like fun, wish I had the time to go.

Celebrate with us on Sunday April 5, 2009
9:00-4
at the Toronto Botanical Gardens

Guest Speakers:
• Colette Murphy, owner of Urban Harvest Garden Alternatives in Toronto, recently attended the Slow Foods convention in Italy. She tells us of their work in saving heritage varieties and heritage breeds through the “Ark of Taste awards.”
• Bob Wildfong, executive director of Seeds of Diversity, will tell us how to “Adopt a Rare Seed” from extinction from our new Seed Library, as well as how to become a pollinator observer for our Pollination Canada Project.
• Mary Brittain, owner of Cottage Gardener Seed Company, in southern Ontario, tells us fascinating stories of the origins of heritage varieties.
• And Special Guest Gayla Trail, from www.YouGrowGirl.com, will help us become urban gardeners. You Grow Girl was launched by Gayla in 2000 and has grown into a thriving online community that speaks to a new kind of gardener, seeking to redefine the modern world relationship to plants. This contemporary, laid-back approach to gardening places equal importance on environmentalism, style, affordability, art, and humour.

Organic Luncheon by enVille Catering Included

Introducing our new book: “Every Seed Tells a Tale–Stories of Plants, People and Places That Have Contributed to Canada’s Seed History.”

Special event sale price: $35

Also featuring exhibitors, raffles and game prizes.

Admission $35 before Mar. 24; $40 after Mar. 24

(Please buy tickets in advance so we may order from caterer -send names & cheque to PO Box 36, Station Q, Toronto, ON M4T 2L7 or order on line at www.seeds.ca-“membership and donation form”-use donation box (non-receipted) & specify “Toronto celebration”)

We thank the following sponsors: Big Carrot; Canadian Gardening magazine; Cottage Gardener; Edible Toronto; Frogpond Organic Winery; Hope Seeds; Lee Valley Tools; Ontario Gardener Living; Terra Edibles; Toronto Community Gardening Network; Tree and Twig; USC Canada.

The Toronto Community Garden Network (TCGN) exists to help foster community gardening in the city, and we’re the featured garden on their site for April. Check the article out and click around to learn more about community gardening and our sister gardens.

An interesting-looking documentary series on food will be airing on CBC the next two Thursdays, and I thought garden members might want to know about it. Below is the description of the four one-hour parts, on the 19th and 26th from 8-10 pm.

March 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)

The series launches with The Great Food Revolution—an exploration of our evolving food preferences in the last 30 years. In this episode, we’ll see how sushi has stormed the North American market to become a regular diet staple on this continent, how balsamic vinegar vaulted from an obscure to an everyday condiment, and the time-saving invention and success of salad-in-a-bag. Go behind-the-scenes to watch as “wannabe” celebrity chefs learn the tricks of the trade at chef school. The change in North American menus, from the simple, traditional home cooked meal to exotic and spicy flavours spurred by the global food trade, will also be explored. The irony is, despite our expanding palettes, people spend less time than ever in the kitchen actually preparing food. Eating out and taking in have replaced home cooked family meals.

Episode Two, The Battle to Get on Your Plate, looks at the fierce competition in the food industry. Last year alone, 18,000 new products were developed for North American consumers. But nine out of the 10 didn’t make it to store shelves. Food manufacturers are in a battle to win over consumers’ taste buds like never before. Exotic, organic and fair-trade are on everyone’s lips. Large grocers must keep up with the trends, to compete with smaller, specialty food boutiques. And new to the food revolution are the “locavores” – an increasingly important collection of farmers, urbanites and chefs who favour locally grown produce and who are appalled by the average 2,400 kilometre-long trek from field to fork.

March 26 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT)

How does New York feed its eight million hungry inhabitants three times a day? 24 Hours, 24 Million Meals: Feeding New York documents the challenges of supplying, preparing and feeding a food-crazed population over a 24-hour period. Meet the people who live and work on the food chain—from dock workers unloading food from around the globe to fishmongers peddling their wares, chefs on the prowl for the freshest ingredients, family shoppers selecting meals for the week and street vendors selling quick bites. Watch as each vies for their place on the chain.

The series finale, Food of the Future, ventures into the great unknown and asks: what kinds of food will we be eating in the next five years? In the 1950s, people predicted that the food of the future would be tiny pills. The reality is far from that vision, as people continue to search for complex and exotic taste sensations including jellyfish or new designer fruits like “pluots” (combined plums and apricots).

In this episode, viewers will be transported to the assembly lines of the world’s biggest food company, to the kitchens of cutting-edge “molecular gastronomists” creating the latest food sensations like liquid ravioli and to the labs of scientists making “Petri-dish” steak.

Join scientists, “foodies”, fishermen and world famous chef Jamie Oliver on a gastronomic, but surreal journey into the brave new world of food. See how the meals of our future continue to be experimented with…and how the results could go beyond your wildest imagination.

Yesterday we held the first executive meeting for 2009. Minutes will be posted shortly but in the meantime I wanted to share the key points we discussed.

First, the distribution of plots:
• Plots will now be limited to one per household
• Three plots within the gated area will be designated as community plots (let us know if you have thoughts on how to make the best use of them)
• Members from last year have until March 31 to confirm that they want a plot again this year, after which point we will begin allocating to the waiting list

Second, we discussed the condition of the soil in the raised beds. We will be testing the soil soon in order to decide how best to amend it for good growing conditions this year. Suggestions include horse manure (one member has access to a free supply) and purchased compost, but please let us know if you have more ideas or access to other organic fertilizers.

I’ll be posting the full minutes soon, once they’ve been approved by executive members.