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
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