Newsletter #5 - July 12

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

Goldenrod Community Garden acknowledges that our location is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be present, garden and gather in this territory.

Greetings Fellow Gardeners!

We are all excited and delighted to see our new Goldenrod Community Garden sign! A photo of the sign acts as the banner at the top of this week’s newsletter (.pdf). This feels like a big moment and we applaud the Communications committee for the beautiful design!

And permanent plot number markers have been installed. Garden foliage is so large and lush that you may have to lift zucchini leaves or peek under tomato branches to find yours.

People are discovering Goldenrod. Early Saturday morning there was someone doing yoga on the cut-grass-empty-space. And a couple of local ladies have become regular visitors; they sit on chairs and chat in the shade near the edge of the garden. Cyclists wander through heading to-and-from the SJAM. Friends of members show up to water and weed. It’s a peaceful place to just be.

In other news, we ran out of water last Friday and tanks were refilled on Tuesday.

Last week’s update from the Build team is still valid: we have been busy building the shed and the screen fences that will be used to hide the water tanks. Three compost bins are nearing completion. Some build projects are still works in progress. Please take care around them. We'll be sending more information about the use of the shed and the compost area when each one is 'ready to roll’.

An Official Opening of the Goldenrod Community Garden is coming soon. Because of Covid restrictions, the format will be video. Stay tuned for more details and links.

Susan Harvey, the President of Goldenrod Community Garden’s interim Board, has resigned effective July 5. She will be missed.

Farewell Susan Harvey! A note from our Interim Board

Susan Harvey has served as President of the interim Board of Directors since May 2020 but has been involved with the Goldenrod Community Garden for much longer. Balancing work and family life while leading the building of a community garden under Covid restrictions would have been challenging for anyone. Despite this, she managed to keep the team focussed on the goal with great efficiency and professionalism. Under her leadership the garden was built and various committees were established to meet rising needs as the development of the garden progressed.

Goldenrod finally opened, to much acclaim, on June 5, 2021. While there is still a lot of work to be done, it is evident that the garden is being put to good use by members and feedback has been very positive.

Susan resigned from her position after Canada Day, to devote more time to her demanding profession and to her family. The Board members wish to express their heartfelt thanks for her leadership, her friendship and for all the work she has done to get the garden established.

We wish Susan well and look forward to seeing her wander through the garden to tend her plot without having to worry about the logistics.

Thank you Susan!

Getting to know you

Brigit planted a “mystery garden” in plot 21. She was gifted a number of unlabeled tomato seedlings so she has been watering and weeding, anxious to see what the harvest will be; Beefsteak? Roma? Heirloom? Who knows? Brigit is passionate about alternative food networks so she’s excited to be involved in a community food program that will (she hopes) keep striving to adhere to principles of sustainability. And she loves that Goldenrod is a healthy and fun place to meet neighbours!

The Donor Corner: ASL Contractors, Sandro Ricci

ASL Contractors (Ottawa) is regarded as the pre-eminent local earthworks expert and a leading landscape contractor. This combination of earthworks and landscaping capacities is unique in their market and, coupled with their innovative, service centric, employee focused culture, makes them an industry leader. Company President, Sandro Ricci, is passionate about supporting the building of community gardens across this city!

Goldenrod is grateful for Sandro’s generous donation to the Phase 1 Build Fund.

Sandro serves his community, whether that is supporting Goldenrod Community Garden or Nanny Goat Community Garden or acting as Director of the NCHCA. In 2018, a huge in-kind effort by ASL resulted in the restoration of the pond at the Baxter Conservation area. It is now know as the Baxter ASL Pond where over 4,000 fish, frogs, tadpoles and turtles thrive.

Sandro Ricci is a proud recipient of the Ottawa Business Journal’s 2021 Forty Under 40 Award, which recognizes professional achievement, expertise and community service. Congratulation, Sandro!

Read more about Sandro Ricci and ASL here and here. More about the Baxter ASL Pond restoration here.

Please Donate

Goldenrod Community Garden exists because of the generous support of people like you. Please consider donating funds to our Phase 2 Build and to our ongoing maintenance costs. (Water, water, water…)

Reminders

Remember to visit the Kitchissippi outdoor Community Fridge. The rules of community fridges are simple: take what you need, leave what you can. Please find more information here.

Add your name to the Plot Waitlist for 2022

Please find further details here

Become a Friend of the Goldenrod Community Garden

Anyone can become a Friend; you don’t have to have a plot or even live in Kitchissippi. Please find more information here.

Member Engagement Committee

Interested in helping to plan and execute events and activities at Goldenrod? There’s still time to join! We ask you to please complete this form

Newsletter #6 - July 19

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

Goldenrod Community Garden acknowledges that our location is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be present, garden and gather in this territory.

Greetings Fellow Gardeners!

One morning last week, some members encountered a young man with a bicycle resting and reading in Goldenrod. No one knows if he stayed there overnight. Everyone was concerned for his welfare and, luckily, one of our interim Board members, Dietrich Sider, decided to try and engage with him. Here is Dietrich’s summary of that encounter:

“I spoke with him a couple of times that evening as we were working on site. He said he was waiting for his friend to get home and thought he would be able to get a meal and stay with him, and after a bit he packed up and rode off. He was quiet and private and I didn't probe further than making sure he was ok and that he knew where he could go for help if his plan didn't work out.

Without making any assumptions about this particular person's circumstances, I think the best thing we can do is to educate ourselves about how to respond compassionately in situations that may make us uncomfortable.”

Here are some resources:

Street Outreach Team http://www.ottawaboothcentre.org/?ID=56

The Well - extensive list of resources https://the-well.ca/resource-list

The Parkdale Food Centre https://parkdalefoodcentre.ca/

The Coalition for the Homeless (USA)

Is it carrot or is it ragweed??

We all aware of ragweed and the allergic reaction it can cause. It is self-seeding and invasive. Unfortunately ragweed is currently growing in many Goldenrod plots.

Ragweed has the appearance of a solid, bushy fern while carrot seedlings are much more delicate and have a feathery look – see pictures provided below. The shade of green of the leaves is also different.

Ragweed starts blooming in mid-July. If allowed to release its pollen, all plots will be infected as well as the NCC land where it currently appears to be non-existent. We ask for your cooperation in removing ragweed from your plots.

Make sure you pull out the entire root and please do not put it in the compost bins as its seeds might be spread on the plots next spring. Instead throw it in the white garbage bag left near the water tanks behind the shed.

Carrot seedling Common ragweed

Official Opening of the Goldenrod Community Garden

An Official Opening of the Goldenrod Community Garden really is coming soon! Because of Covid restrictions, the format will be video. It is a great video! Stay tuned for more details and links.

Getting to know you, Goldenrod

A shantytown nicknamed Le Port once stood on the location we now call Goldenrod Community Garden. In the 1930’s the Great Depression pushed many residents of Mechanicsville and Hintonburg into homelessness. They

gathered on the land south of the Ottawa River.

Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-18439

Please read this fascinating article by Dave Alston in the Kitchissippi Times. Dave Allston is a local historian and the author of the Kitchissippi Museum.

Tunney’s Pasture redevelopment

What happens at Tunney's Pasture will have a significant impact on the residents of our neighbourhood; the housed and the homeless, the advantaged and the disadvantaged.

The community associations representing Wellington Village, Champlain Park, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville have formed Neighbours for Tunney’s to focus on these and other Tunney’s Pasture redevelopment-related issues. Click this link for more information.

Please Donate

Goldenrod Community Garden exists because of the generous support of people like you. Please consider donating funds to our Phase 2 Build and to our ongoing maintenance costs. (Water, water, water…)

Reminders

Remember to visit the Kitchissippi outdoor Community Fridge. The rules of community fridges are simple: take what you need, leave what you can. Please find more information here.

Add your name to the Plot Waitlist for 2022

Please find further details here

Become a Friend of the Goldenrod Community Garden

Anyone can become a Friend; you don’t have to have a plot or even live in Kitchissippi. Please find more information here.

Member Engagement Committee

Interested in helping to plan and execute events and activities at Goldenrod? There’s still time to join! We ask you to please complete this form

Newsletter #4 - July 5

Greetings Fellow Gardeners!

Straw arrived at Goldenrod on Thursday June 29. Help yourself! Using straw as mulch cuts down on weed growth and helps the soil to retain moisture. Does it also help to dissuade critters? We hope so because…

Gophers and rabbits and field mice - oh my! Many furry friends have noticed that good things are growing at Goldenrod. Gardeners have constructed all manner of netting and fencing. If your solution is successful, please post about it on Goldenrod’s FaceBook page! Besides fencing, some suggestions include planting marigolds, nasturtiums, garlic and sprinkling cayenne powder.

Here’s an update from the Build team:

The build committee has been busy building the shed and the screen fences that will be used to hide the water tanks. The next build project is the compost bins, starting very soon. These build projects are all still works in progress. Please take care around them. We'll be sending more information about the use of the shed and the compost area when each one is 'ready to roll'

A young member named Solan told us that there is a wandering garden gnome at Goldenrod. Has this visitor been spotted in your plot?

People are bird and bug watching, too! Ian spotted an osprey overhead and it was carrying a fish while being chased by red-wing blackbirds. And Goldenrod is ringed by native pollinator plants in full bloom including wild lupins and milkweed and snapdragons. The area is teeming with bees and butterflies.

An Official Opening of the Goldenrod Community Garden is coming soon! Stay tuned for more details and links.

Check out this new Gardening Tips page on our website.

ANNOUNCEMENT - An outdoor Community Fridge in Kitchissippi is now open for food donations (like Goldenrod Garden produce).

This community fridge is the result of a partnership between Hintonburg Community Association and the Parkdale Food Centre.

The rules of community fridges are simple: take what you need, leave what you can. Please find more information here.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

In plot 64 you will find Catherine tending to a crop of potatoes! She planted potatoes because they are easy to share. The plants are called Snow Fingers - a Fingerling variety that should produce up to 30 small-to-medium sized potatoes per plant. The good news is that (so far) furry friends are totally ignoring them. The bad news? She might have planted them too close together…

THE DONOR CORNER, Just Food

Just Food is a local, non-profit, community-based organization that works on both rural and urban food and farming issues in Ottawa and the surrounding region. Their partnership with Goldenrod has been crucial both as a facilitator and as a major financial donor. We are grateful for their support.

The primary mission of Goldenrod Community Garden aligns with Just Food’s: To enhance ongoing access to healthful food for everyone, especially the food-insecure, in Kitchissippi and to strengthen community bonds through community gardening.

A Note from our Interim Board President, Susan Harvey

Hello Gardeners and Friends of the Garden. The garden is looking lovely and I am sure we are all happy to have received some much needed rain after such a dry May.

Less than a year ago there were 7 of us meeting by Zoom every week trying to get the garden planned, approved and funded. Since that time our ranks have thankfully been bolstered by a number of other volunteers to help with communication, fundraising, managing membership, garden building and maintenance. It has been really exciting to see everything starting to come together and plants in the plots!

As all members of your interim board are volunteers, most of whom have full time jobs and busy home lives, it can take a bit of time for us to get things organized and reach back out to members who are interested in getting involved. We appreciate your patience. This week we are working to establish a Membership Engagement Committee that will help organize events for Garden Members.

What’s next?

Below you will find a brief outline of the items on the agenda for the garden over the summer and into the fall. More information and requests for help will follow as we start to get these organized.

Garden Visioning

We want the running of the garden to reflect what the members of the garden would like, so we plan to run an event a bit later this summer or early fall that will allow us to gather and incorporate those ideas into the garden.

Phase 2 Build

To make the build and funding request more manageable last year we divided the garden building into 2 phases. The NCC has approved the land use for both phases and Just Foods has indicated they are willing to fund the second phase but it needs more planning on our part to understand how many more plots we need, water tank locations etc. We have learned a lot from the 1st build that we want to consider in this next phase. The board will be looking for interested members who want to participate in the organizing and building of a Phase 2 to step forward sometime this summer.

Pollinator Garden

There has been a lot of interest in setting up a pollinator garden. Rest assured that this is part of the plan approved by the NCC for the garden. We will be looking for a group of volunteers to review the site plan approved by the NCC, consult their guidelines for pollinator gardens and put together a plan to present to the Interim board for approval and implementation.The timing for this will likely be late summer into the fall as that is generally the best time to transplant perennials.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The AGM is your chance to participate in the governance of the garden. The draft roles and responsibilities of the board are all outlined in the documents posted on the Garden web page. These will be finalized before the AGM. At the AGM each of the committees and certain members of the board will present their final annual reports including financial reports, membership reports etc. The board of directors for the following year are nominated and elected at the AGM. All garden members including Friends of the garden have a vote. The AGM will be held this fall after everyone has had a summer in the garden and those with children have had a chance to settle back into a new routine.

REMINDERS

PLOT WAIT-LIST FOR 2022

Goldenrod Community Garden (GCG) membership committee is proud to announce that all of the plots for the 2021 season have been filled. We are excited to now look ahead to the 2022 Gardening Season. If you live in Kitchissippi, currently do not have a plot and are interested in a garden plot for next year, we would invite you to sign up now. Please find further details here

Become a FRIEND OF THE GOLDENROD COMMUNITY GARDEN

Anyone can become a FRIEND of the Goldenrod Community Garden; you don’t have to have a plot or even live in Kitchissippi. For as little as $10, FRIENDS will be included on member communications and be invited to all events. Your donation will support gardeners for whom the plot fee is a financial barrier. To become a FRIEND, please complete this form.

Please note: plot members do not need to apply because your inclusion as a FRIEND was automatically granted when you paid your plot fee.

Member Engagement Committee

Interested in helping to plan and execute events and activities at Goldenrod? There’s still time to join! We ask you to please complete this form