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Monday, January 28, 2013

The Forming of an Edible Gardens Ottawa Group: Meeting 1

When I first announced I was going to grow some veggies in my backyard at my old house, my neighbour said, "The rabbits will enjoy that." When I tried to show off my baby tomato plants to visitors, they looked at me askance. For awhile, it seemed that my new hobby was going the same path as some of my older hobbies like an enthusiasm for rocks and bugs. Outside of specialists, these tend to fascinate five year olds more than the adults around me. But over the years, a change has happened. People thanked me for the bags of extra parsley and tomatoes left on their door knobs. They asked me questions about how to grow melons or peppers or potatoes. They expressed interest in growing food themselves.

Ha-ha! It was catching.

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The drought didn't rob the ribes of their vigour! A lovely harvest of white currants with a smattering of red gooseberries from a young bush.

Permaculture Ottawa announced that they were developing plans for a food forest. Hidden Harvest Ottawa began sharing around the underused fruits and nuts of the city. Just Food was consulting on how to make the city more food friendly. Everywhere I looked, schools were getting gardens, farmer's markets were spreading like weeds, foragers were extolling the virtues of dandelions, people were lamenting at the lack of space on their apartment balcony to grow tomatoes and others on the lack of sun for melons. I was getting the odd request to make an edible garden design and my blog post veggies for shade continues to get the highest number of hits.

Growing food was coming out of hiding. So in that light:


The Forming of an Edible Gardens Ottawa Group: Meeting 1



The purpose of the group will be to bring together the thriving community of back and front yard food growing enthusiasts for seasonal discussions and workshops. It will be open to anyone with an interest at any experience level. Love growing rare fruit, have an untamed apple tree, planning on sticking in some raised garden beds for veggies, a herb border, permaculture forest garden or just a couple tomato plants? This group is for you. Share your joy, love and curiosity about food plant culture with others.


When: Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Hazeldean branch of the Ottawa Public Library at
50 Castlefrank Rd, Ottawa, ON K2L 2N5
What: Seed Starting and Special Techniques
Contact: ottawagardener@live.com


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Canadian Organic Growers - Gardening in the City Workshops
Society for Ontario Nut Growers
Ottawa Plantcycle
Just Foods Community Garden List
Seeds of Diversity: Seedy Saturday Ottawa
Lanark Wild Foods Club
Plant Walks: Herbs and Wild Food in the City
Dandelion Jam: Martha Webber
Hidden Harvest Ottawa
Community Urban Food Forest


12 comments:

  1. Thanks for organizing this...I'm definitely interested, but will have to play it by ear. It's been hard to get out in the evenings lately, and I need to pace myself.

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  2. I SOOO want to go, but Ben isn't home tonight so I have to stay with the kids. : (

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  3. Do you mean that night because it's not until the 19th of February so perhaps you still can :D

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  4. Not strictly though I'd like to have a rough idea of how many are going so I can bring enough cookies. :D

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  5. Wish I lived closer to join in this gathering. Hope it goes well!

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  6. This is a wonderful idea, and I have it on my calendar. Will do my best to be there.

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  7. I would like to come! I'm in meetings all day in the east end, so I might be a bit late (depending on traffic).But I will definitely be there!

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  8. I work most weekday evenings, otherwise I'd love to attend. :-(

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  9. i will be there as well, although i might have to bring my kids (3.5, and 1), is that ok? also, do we need to bring anything? thanks!

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  10. My kids baby, 7 and 9 are coming. No problems with me if kids come. There might be an issue if the room becomes over occupancy but at the moment, I *think* we'll be okay. It's at the Hazeldean library so if kids get bored, you can always sneak them out for some books. I'm bringing a little something for kids that's not messy because of the location. Otherwise, I'd bring dirt however I think the library would object.

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