The snow is finally melting and the gardening season is getting closer and our volunteers are busy getting ready for spring. As we work towards the vision laid out earlier this year, we have a variety of activities that have started. We expect to receive confirmation of Community Garden Network funding soon that will allow us to expand the garden with an additional 40 beds. The properties committee is ready to proceed once we have approval, although timescales will depend on when the snow melts and the ground is hard enough to work on.
Registration for 2022
As the days are starting to get longer and spring is approaching, we know that many of you are thinking about seeds and planting and wondering about plot allocation for 2022. While we are still finalising the details, we expect that registration will be in 3 phases this year:
Renewal of existing plots - invitations to renew will go out very shortly.
Allocation of remaining phase 1 plots - we will be using a lottery system to assign any plots that are not renewed to people on the waitlist. We hope to be sending out invitations to register for these plots in early April.
Phase 2 build - if our application is successful, the Properties Committee is hoping to have the plots ready for planting by early June. These plots will be allocated by lottery to people on the waitlist.
If you are interested in a plot for 2022, and did not have one last year, you can find the waiting list at Plot waiting list 2022 (also linked from our website homepage). If you signed up prior to November last year, or aren't sure whether you have already signed up, please add your name again. Issues with our Gmail account meant that part of the waiting list from last year was lost.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL FOLDER FOR GARDEN EMAILS.
Twenty (20) % of plots are designated as sliding scale beds available to gardeners for whom cost is a barrier, and have been reaching out to our partners (Parkdale Food Centre, Somerset West Community Health Centre, Ottawa Community Housing) to promote awareness of the garden.
Volunteers
The Board is finalising a registration form which will allow new members, as well as existing members interested in volunteering for Goldenrod activities, including the Pollinator Garden and Event committees, the Grow for Parkdale initiative, and Vole Patrol to indicate their interest. Anyone interested in any of these is welcome to forward your comments/questions to inbox@goldenrodgarden.org
Grow for Parkdale Initiative:
Last year many gardeners generously gave some of their produce to the Parkdale Food Centre. This year, in consultation with PFC, we are expanding our goal - willing gardeners will give 50% of their plot’s harvest and will plant vegetables like potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and eggplant that can be grown in sufficient quantities for the Centre. Added bonus: voles do not like potatoes. Please let us know if you are interested!
A tomato/potato workshop is planned for gardeners before the end of May; anyone interested is welcome. “Potato Basics” information with a video link will be posted on the website in the near future.
Other details will follow in upcoming newsletters.
Pollinator Garden Committee:
Planning for the Pollinator Garden is continuing. Committee members have begun collecting seeds and researching potential plants for the garden. We are hoping to be able to confirm the location soon and are on track to begin building the Pollinator Garden this spring.
Events Committee:
On February 12, the Events Committee held the first educational event for the garden with outstanding support from Susan McClelland and Tanya Salewski. They put together an excellent slide show and presentation for the 25 existing and potential garden members who were able to attend. All of the resources from the presentation are available on the GCG website.
We look forward to future events with the garden and would like to remind the membership that we are looking for volunteers to assist in the planning and execution of these events. If you have interest in helping please contact matt@goldenrodgarden.org
From the Board:
We recently had a fascinating meeting with an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper and hope to hold an event at the garden later this year. We are also working to engage a greater diversity of members in the garden. Kita has volunteered to help match volunteers who want to help with opportunities to get involved so, as noted earlier, if you want to get involved, please email us at inbox@goldenrodgarden.org.
Upcoming Educational Events:
Just Food is offering a number of in-person and virtual workshops this spring - the cost is $5 per workshop and they are open to everyone. To sign up or obtain more information, go to Just Food’s website or click on the links below:
March 28, 12-1:30pm: How to start, grow, and care for strong seedlings (In-person)
April 4th, 12-1:30pm: How to start, grow, and care for strong seedlings (Virtual)
April 11th, 4:30-6pm: How to start, grow, and care for strong seedlings (In-person)
April 18th, 12-1:30pm: Building soil health & minimum tillage (Virtual)
April 25th, 4-5pm: Growing with Culture (Virtual)
May 9th, 12-1:30pm: Garden Succession Planning (Virtual)
You can also access Just Food’s free recorded workshops on “Garden Basics” at the link above.
As part of Seedy Saturday on March 5, 2022, Just Food screened the 2017 documentary Modified which is available for anyone to watch until April 1st.
‘Modified’ is a first-person feature documentary that questions why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labelled on food products in the United States and Canada, despite being labelled in 64 countries around the world. For a link to the film please email: movie@justfood.ca.
The Senior Organic Growers (SOG) are presenting the Garden Symposium 2022, which features unique gardening workshops every Wednesday at 3pm, until April 13th!
Topics include:
Native Gardens in Urban Spaces
The Wisdom of Weeds
An Introduction to Vermicomposting
Gardens for Healing
The cost is $10.00 and registration and information is available by clicking on the link above.
Members in the News: Artist Maggie Glossop, one of Goldenrod’s members, was recently in the news. Although the snow is melting, you may still be able to see some local snow art!