Hi folks! I've decided to resurrect our Garden Blog. We've hired a fabulous Garden Assistant named Charles (some of you may have already met him last fall in the garden), and he will be helping to keep this Blog alive and up to date.
I'm beginning to plan for this year's gardening season and am compiling priorities for the garden, workshop ideas, etc. We will be having a meeting later this month, so you will have an opportunity to provide ideas and feedback. I am just finalizing the date/place and will get back to you about it very soon.
I just wanted to send a quick note to give you a heads-up that things are starting to happen with the garden. Please give some thought to whether or not you'd like to participate this year, and I will forward more details in the near future!
Hope you are all enjoying your winter and dreaming of this spring and our fabulous garden.
Lee-Ann
Campus Garden Coordinator
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Saturday, June 25, 2011
2011 FSRN Community Gardening Workshop Series
2011 Community Gardening Workshop Series
The FSRN Campus Community Garden is pleased to announce our 2011 Community Gardening Workshop Series. Workshops will be held throughout the growing season, every second Monday evening at 6:30pm, beginning Monday June 13th. We are inviting all community gardeners, backyard gardeners, aspiring gardeners and any other interested parties to attend. Workshops are all free of charge and will be held at the FSRN Campus Community Garden. Please bring a chair or blanket (for sitting on the grass) as seating is limited (i.e. we have only one picnic table!).
This is a great opportunity to meet fellow gardeners, learn some new gardening tricks and celebrate growing your own food! Whether you’re a budding gardener, a master gardener or somewhere in between, there will be lots of great information to learn and share!
Monday June 13th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #1 Back-up location: TBA
“Soils 101”
Come and learn soil basics, and the importance of soil health for gardening. Soil sampling and amendments will be covered.
Facilitator: Joel Symonds, Lakehead University, Forest Resources and Soil Testing (FoRest) Laboratory Manager
Monday June 27th: 6:30pm Location: Saunders Fieldhouse,
Community Gardeners Workshop #2 SB1016 (across from reception)
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
This talk will consist of a brief overview of the beneficial and pest insects that are common to Thunder Bay gardens with tips for their recognition. Recommendations for encouraging the ‘good’ ones while discouraging the ‘bad’ ones will be presented.
Facilitator: Dr. Ken Deacon, Entomology. Lakehead University
Monday July 11th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #3 Back-up location: TBA
The ins and outs of Composting: learn about outdoor composting and indoor vermicomposting.
Learn about the best composting methods to convert your unwanted plant bits into nutritious plant food! Discussion will include outdoor composting and indoor composting (vermicomposting).
Facilitator: Erin Beagle, Roots to Harvest
Monday July 25th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #4 Back-up location: TBA
Garden inputs: fertilizers, compost and compost tea
Learn about using natural fertilizers, and how to determine if and when your plants need them.
Facilitator: Christina Mol, FSRN, Lakehead University
Monday August 8th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #5 Back-up location: TBA
Bees and Pollination
Please join us to learn about native bees, honeybees and the critical importance of pollination. Each participant is invited to make a Mason bee condo, compliments of the Thunder Bay District Stewardship Council, to take home. Spaces are limited, please register by contacting lee-ann@foodsecurityresearch.ca.
Facilitator: Barry Tabor, Beekeeper and owner of Bear’s Bees & Honey
* Space/materials limited to 20 so please register with Lee-Ann. Donations accepted for materials.
Monday August 22nd: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #6 Back-up location: TBA
“Seed Saving”
Come and learn about the importance, benefits and a few how-to’s of seed saving. Will include a demo on seed saving from some common garden plants.
Facilitator: Joanne Henderson, long-time member of Seeds of Diversity and Beekeeper
Monday September 12th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #7 Back-up location: TBA
Extending the growing season.
Facilitator: Dr. Connie Nelson. Director FSRN, Lakehead University
Monday September 26th Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #8 Back-up location: TBA
Preparing the garden for winter.
Learn what you need to do to your garden to put it to bed for the winter and have it ready to go in the spring!
Facilitator: Lee-Ann Chevrette, Campus Garden Coordinator, FSRN
I look forward to seeing you all soon and often!
Lee-Ann, Campus Garden Coordinator
lee-ann@foodsecurityresearch.ca
www.foodsecurityresearch.ca
The FSRN Campus Community Garden is pleased to announce our 2011 Community Gardening Workshop Series. Workshops will be held throughout the growing season, every second Monday evening at 6:30pm, beginning Monday June 13th. We are inviting all community gardeners, backyard gardeners, aspiring gardeners and any other interested parties to attend. Workshops are all free of charge and will be held at the FSRN Campus Community Garden. Please bring a chair or blanket (for sitting on the grass) as seating is limited (i.e. we have only one picnic table!).
This is a great opportunity to meet fellow gardeners, learn some new gardening tricks and celebrate growing your own food! Whether you’re a budding gardener, a master gardener or somewhere in between, there will be lots of great information to learn and share!
Monday June 13th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #1 Back-up location: TBA
“Soils 101”
Come and learn soil basics, and the importance of soil health for gardening. Soil sampling and amendments will be covered.
Facilitator: Joel Symonds, Lakehead University, Forest Resources and Soil Testing (FoRest) Laboratory Manager
Monday June 27th: 6:30pm Location: Saunders Fieldhouse,
Community Gardeners Workshop #2 SB1016 (across from reception)
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
This talk will consist of a brief overview of the beneficial and pest insects that are common to Thunder Bay gardens with tips for their recognition. Recommendations for encouraging the ‘good’ ones while discouraging the ‘bad’ ones will be presented.
Facilitator: Dr. Ken Deacon, Entomology. Lakehead University
Monday July 11th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #3 Back-up location: TBA
The ins and outs of Composting: learn about outdoor composting and indoor vermicomposting.
Learn about the best composting methods to convert your unwanted plant bits into nutritious plant food! Discussion will include outdoor composting and indoor composting (vermicomposting).
Facilitator: Erin Beagle, Roots to Harvest
Monday July 25th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #4 Back-up location: TBA
Garden inputs: fertilizers, compost and compost tea
Learn about using natural fertilizers, and how to determine if and when your plants need them.
Facilitator: Christina Mol, FSRN, Lakehead University
Monday August 8th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #5 Back-up location: TBA
Bees and Pollination
Please join us to learn about native bees, honeybees and the critical importance of pollination. Each participant is invited to make a Mason bee condo, compliments of the Thunder Bay District Stewardship Council, to take home. Spaces are limited, please register by contacting lee-ann@foodsecurityresearch.ca.
Facilitator: Barry Tabor, Beekeeper and owner of Bear’s Bees & Honey
* Space/materials limited to 20 so please register with Lee-Ann. Donations accepted for materials.
Monday August 22nd: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #6 Back-up location: TBA
“Seed Saving”
Come and learn about the importance, benefits and a few how-to’s of seed saving. Will include a demo on seed saving from some common garden plants.
Facilitator: Joanne Henderson, long-time member of Seeds of Diversity and Beekeeper
Monday September 12th: 6:30pm Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #7 Back-up location: TBA
Extending the growing season.
Facilitator: Dr. Connie Nelson. Director FSRN, Lakehead University
Monday September 26th Location: FSRN Campus Garden
Community Gardeners Workshop #8 Back-up location: TBA
Preparing the garden for winter.
Learn what you need to do to your garden to put it to bed for the winter and have it ready to go in the spring!
Facilitator: Lee-Ann Chevrette, Campus Garden Coordinator, FSRN
I look forward to seeing you all soon and often!
Lee-Ann, Campus Garden Coordinator
lee-ann@foodsecurityresearch.ca
www.foodsecurityresearch.ca
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Welcome to the 2011 Growing season!
Hi everyone! This is the same information I just sent via email, but wanted to include it in our first blog of the year!
************
I spent much of the day at the garden, cleaning plots, preparing my garden beds, etc. I made it home just in time to avoid the rain!
The garden is starting to look really great, but there is much work to do. I need to bring attention to the fact that many gardeners from last year did not clean their plots and put their gardens to bed. The plots that were put to bed are practically weed free and almost ready to go. The others will require quite a bit more work to get them ready for the season. If you are new to the garden/did not have a plot last year, your garden plot will be cleaned out for you before you begin.
This is a reminder (not scolding!) that your responsibilities within the garden include cleaning the beds once you are done, so please keep this in mind (don't worry, there will be many more reminders of this towards the end of the growing season!). This is important for a few reasons: if you decide not to come back the following year, the plot will be ready for the next season's gardener. Also, it helps to reduce weeds and other unwanted plants in the garden. Those who did not remove plants from last year may seed the garden with unwanted plants in subsequent years (creating unecessary work for garden staff and the new gardener). This also places a heavy burden on garden staff to clean up all these plots. It is much easier for everyone to take responsibility for their own plots than to leave it for a couple of people to do. Thank you thank you thank you!!
More:
Facebook Group
I've just created a new Facebook Group for our garden. Please check it out: FSRN Campus Community Garden...and JOIN! It contains a bunch of photos from last year (more of these to come) and some photos from today. I will also post events, updates, and anything else related to the garden there. This will hopefully help facilitate communication between us. I recognize that not everyone uses Facebook, so I will keep the blog from last year up and update that regularly as well (more info below).
There is another group called Food Security Research Network Campus Community Garden...This is NOT the site. This was one I tried to put together but changed it (and have not deleted it yet). Please ignore!
Garden Blog
Last year, we created a garden blog that can be found at: http://fsrncampuscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/. It wasn't used a ton last year, but I will keep it up and running for those of you who prefer that to Facebook.
I will continue to post on the blog and send a note when I make entries. You are all more than welcome to post on there as well!
This is an ORGANIC garden!
I have been told that there may have been a few gardeners last year who used non-organic methods for eradicating insects and weeds (yikes!). This is an absolute no-no! Non-organic inputs and treatment are forbidden in the garden. I am working on putting together a list of acceptable treatments, fertilizers, etc. and will have that to you all shortly.
Garden workshop series
I am currently putting together a series of gardening workshops that will run for 4 months, from the end of May until the end of September. They will be held every second Monday evening at 6:30pm in either the garden or the greenhouse classroom (on campus-directions to follow). If you have any workshop topics you'd like to have covered, please submit them asap. Also let me know if you'd like to facilitate one!
We did several workshops last year and they were not extremely well attended. This workshop series will be open to all gardeners within the Community Garden Collective, a group of community gardens in Thunder Bay. Other gardeners are also welcome to attend. More info coming soon!
Best Practices document:
Based on great suggestions from a few gardeners last year, I will be creating a 'best practices' document on the Facebook page (I will also post this on the Blog). Our garden is a wonderful place, full of gardeners with diverse knowledge and experience and we should be sharing and celebrating this (and gleaning success stories).
I've started to create this document today and it includes some of my best practices (i.e. the things that worked best for me). Would you all please give some thought to the things that worked best for you in the garden? What kinds of things did you do get good yields? To grow the biggest and best and tastiest food? To battle the bugs and weeds (using organic means, or course!). To get the tallest sunflowers, etc.
The document is on the right hand side of the group page...check it out. I don't know if you can add your best practices directly to the document (probably not), so please send them to me and I will add them for you. You will all be able to see it.
I'm going to plant!!!!
I was inspired by Nicole and Mike last year, who planted very early in the season last year and got about 1 month extra food-growing time. I've been doing some research, and I'm going to do an early planting of:
onions, kale, peas, radish, and spinach (hooray!). These should be find, even if (when?) we get another frost.
Wish me luck!
As always, there is much more to include, but this is getting long. Thanks for getting through it! I was very happy to spend some time in the garden today and a couple of gardeners from last year stopped by check on their plots. I am looking forward to seeing all the gardeners from last year and to meeting the new gardeners this year.
Again, you are welcome to go to the garden anytime now. I'll be planting as soon as it dries up a bit more (hopefully this week!)
Have a great weekend and stay dry!
Lee-Ann
Campus Garden Coordinator
************
I spent much of the day at the garden, cleaning plots, preparing my garden beds, etc. I made it home just in time to avoid the rain!
The garden is starting to look really great, but there is much work to do. I need to bring attention to the fact that many gardeners from last year did not clean their plots and put their gardens to bed. The plots that were put to bed are practically weed free and almost ready to go. The others will require quite a bit more work to get them ready for the season. If you are new to the garden/did not have a plot last year, your garden plot will be cleaned out for you before you begin.
This is a reminder (not scolding!) that your responsibilities within the garden include cleaning the beds once you are done, so please keep this in mind (don't worry, there will be many more reminders of this towards the end of the growing season!). This is important for a few reasons: if you decide not to come back the following year, the plot will be ready for the next season's gardener. Also, it helps to reduce weeds and other unwanted plants in the garden. Those who did not remove plants from last year may seed the garden with unwanted plants in subsequent years (creating unecessary work for garden staff and the new gardener). This also places a heavy burden on garden staff to clean up all these plots. It is much easier for everyone to take responsibility for their own plots than to leave it for a couple of people to do. Thank you thank you thank you!!
More:
Facebook Group
I've just created a new Facebook Group for our garden. Please check it out: FSRN Campus Community Garden...and JOIN! It contains a bunch of photos from last year (more of these to come) and some photos from today. I will also post events, updates, and anything else related to the garden there. This will hopefully help facilitate communication between us. I recognize that not everyone uses Facebook, so I will keep the blog from last year up and update that regularly as well (more info below).
There is another group called Food Security Research Network Campus Community Garden...This is NOT the site. This was one I tried to put together but changed it (and have not deleted it yet). Please ignore!
Garden Blog
Last year, we created a garden blog that can be found at: http://fsrncampuscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/. It wasn't used a ton last year, but I will keep it up and running for those of you who prefer that to Facebook.
I will continue to post on the blog and send a note when I make entries. You are all more than welcome to post on there as well!
This is an ORGANIC garden!
I have been told that there may have been a few gardeners last year who used non-organic methods for eradicating insects and weeds (yikes!). This is an absolute no-no! Non-organic inputs and treatment are forbidden in the garden. I am working on putting together a list of acceptable treatments, fertilizers, etc. and will have that to you all shortly.
Garden workshop series
I am currently putting together a series of gardening workshops that will run for 4 months, from the end of May until the end of September. They will be held every second Monday evening at 6:30pm in either the garden or the greenhouse classroom (on campus-directions to follow). If you have any workshop topics you'd like to have covered, please submit them asap. Also let me know if you'd like to facilitate one!
We did several workshops last year and they were not extremely well attended. This workshop series will be open to all gardeners within the Community Garden Collective, a group of community gardens in Thunder Bay. Other gardeners are also welcome to attend. More info coming soon!
Best Practices document:
Based on great suggestions from a few gardeners last year, I will be creating a 'best practices' document on the Facebook page (I will also post this on the Blog). Our garden is a wonderful place, full of gardeners with diverse knowledge and experience and we should be sharing and celebrating this (and gleaning success stories).
I've started to create this document today and it includes some of my best practices (i.e. the things that worked best for me). Would you all please give some thought to the things that worked best for you in the garden? What kinds of things did you do get good yields? To grow the biggest and best and tastiest food? To battle the bugs and weeds (using organic means, or course!). To get the tallest sunflowers, etc.
The document is on the right hand side of the group page...check it out. I don't know if you can add your best practices directly to the document (probably not), so please send them to me and I will add them for you. You will all be able to see it.
I'm going to plant!!!!
I was inspired by Nicole and Mike last year, who planted very early in the season last year and got about 1 month extra food-growing time. I've been doing some research, and I'm going to do an early planting of:
onions, kale, peas, radish, and spinach (hooray!). These should be find, even if (when?) we get another frost.
Wish me luck!
As always, there is much more to include, but this is getting long. Thanks for getting through it! I was very happy to spend some time in the garden today and a couple of gardeners from last year stopped by check on their plots. I am looking forward to seeing all the gardeners from last year and to meeting the new gardeners this year.
Again, you are welcome to go to the garden anytime now. I'll be planting as soon as it dries up a bit more (hopefully this week!)
Have a great weekend and stay dry!
Lee-Ann
Campus Garden Coordinator
Monday, September 27, 2010
Garden Closing Gathering and Work Party...this Sunday!
Hi everyone. I harvested my pumpkins with my children yesterday, on that incredibly beautiful day, and it gave us such tremendous joy! They are sitting on our steps, and make out house look very 'Halloween-y".
The fall has totally crept up on me here! I'd like to invite you all to a "Garden Closing Gathering and Work Party". It will be this coming Sunday, October 3rd, between 1 and 5pm. I will be there for that full 4 hours, but invite you all to drop by and stay for as long as you are able. I'll have tea on hand, and a few goodies to snack on. It will be a good opportunity to harvest some of the food that remains in the plots. Again, if you have extra food, I will collect it for donation to the LU Food Bank. Believe me, it will be most appreciated!
I see that many of you have already cleared your plots and we are very thankful for your efforts! I would like to emphasize a few things: you do not have to get all of your food out of the ground by this weekend (I've had a few gardeners ask when they had to clear out their plots). I recognize that many of you have planted garlic (or will shortly), or have perenials in your gardens, or root crops you'd like to leave for the timebeing. That's great! No need to remove or disturb. Please do however remove all dead and decaying matter and place on the ever-expanding compost pile. It is best to get this done sooner than later (there's no telling when the snow will fly, and it is much nicer to do it now than when the ground is frozen!).
Volunteer Hours:
Many of you have not 'spent' your 4 volunteer hours in the garden, so please try to attend this Sunday and we'll put you to work (and we will appreciate it!). This is a big garden and a big job...the more the work is spread out, the easier it is for all of us. Remember...we're a community!
That's all for now. I do hope you'll join us on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be harvesting the remainder of my kale and chard as well as my kohlrabi. Please get in touch if you have any questions. We will have some tools at the garden for you to use on Sunday, but if you have your own that you like to use, you might consider bringing them.
Have a great week!
Lee-Ann
The fall has totally crept up on me here! I'd like to invite you all to a "Garden Closing Gathering and Work Party". It will be this coming Sunday, October 3rd, between 1 and 5pm. I will be there for that full 4 hours, but invite you all to drop by and stay for as long as you are able. I'll have tea on hand, and a few goodies to snack on. It will be a good opportunity to harvest some of the food that remains in the plots. Again, if you have extra food, I will collect it for donation to the LU Food Bank. Believe me, it will be most appreciated!
I see that many of you have already cleared your plots and we are very thankful for your efforts! I would like to emphasize a few things: you do not have to get all of your food out of the ground by this weekend (I've had a few gardeners ask when they had to clear out their plots). I recognize that many of you have planted garlic (or will shortly), or have perenials in your gardens, or root crops you'd like to leave for the timebeing. That's great! No need to remove or disturb. Please do however remove all dead and decaying matter and place on the ever-expanding compost pile. It is best to get this done sooner than later (there's no telling when the snow will fly, and it is much nicer to do it now than when the ground is frozen!).
Volunteer Hours:
Many of you have not 'spent' your 4 volunteer hours in the garden, so please try to attend this Sunday and we'll put you to work (and we will appreciate it!). This is a big garden and a big job...the more the work is spread out, the easier it is for all of us. Remember...we're a community!
That's all for now. I do hope you'll join us on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be harvesting the remainder of my kale and chard as well as my kohlrabi. Please get in touch if you have any questions. We will have some tools at the garden for you to use on Sunday, but if you have your own that you like to use, you might consider bringing them.
Have a great week!
Lee-Ann
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Potluck dinner at the garden Saturday!
Hello. This is a reminder about the potluck dinner that is happening at the garden tomorrow between 5 and 7pm. I have received few (2) RRSPs, so am not sure if there are others who are coming. As I mentioned in previous emails, I am planning to bring a barbecue/hotdogs, drinks, etc., but am unsure about quantities. Would you please just let me know if you're coming so I can make sure to have enough for everyone (and not tons extra).
If you are planning to attend, would you please try to bring a dish with a garden-grown veggie incorporated into it somehow. That would be great! Also, would you please bring a dish and cutlery, as I'd prefer not to get plastic. Also, if you have a chair, please bring it along; we all know seating is limited!
Hope to see you there!
If you are planning to attend, would you please try to bring a dish with a garden-grown veggie incorporated into it somehow. That would be great! Also, would you please bring a dish and cutlery, as I'd prefer not to get plastic. Also, if you have a chair, please bring it along; we all know seating is limited!
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Garden Pest Workshop this evening at the garden.
This is a reminder that Dustin will be putting on a workshop this evening on Garden Pests. The workshop will run at 6:30 at the garden. We hope to see many of you out tonight, as this will be one of our last workshops and the information is very relevant to what we've seen in our garden this year. It also includes treatment options and ideas that I think you will find useful.
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Monday, August 16, 2010
FSRN Campus Garden Interview on CBC tomorrow at 7:20am
I did an interview with Lisa Laco from CBC and Joel Symmonds from LU earlier today and it will air tomorrow morning at around 7:20 am. Tune in if you can. Lisa was so impressed with the garden!
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