Ask a Master Gardener: Weekly Gatherings Start Today

April 9, 2020

For practical gardening advice, join our friends, the Rideau Master Gardeners for a weekly “Ask a Master Gardener” call today from 1:00-1:30 pm.

Whether you’re starting a vegetable garden, pollinator garden or planning to wildscape your yard- Joyce Hostyn shares a few tips on how to start a new garden bed in today’s session! .
Bring your questions!

In the future they will be featuring Q&A conversations, mini-workshops and virtual tours with Kingston & Thousand Islands master gardeners & friends.

When: Every Thursday afternoon from 1-1:30 pm starting Thursday, April 9th.

Where: Virtually via Zoom. Zoom is easy to use. You don’t even have to download the Zoom app, but it’s better if you do: http://zoom.us

Registration: Register in advance for Ask a Master Gardener (you only need to register once and can then join in any week you’d like)

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJ0tf-mrpjgrUVBXXWgfV-jLoFg3sCRpKw

After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the call.

During this time of limited outings, gardening is more important than ever. A garden is a place to find solace, joy, wonder. A garden gifts us offering delicious things to eat. A garden provides sanctuary to birds, pollinators, bees and more. To plant a garden is to bring into being a more beautiful future.

https://rideau1000islandsmastergardeners.com/upcoming-events/

TAKE ACTION

April 1, 2020

Yesterday the province of Ontario announced that all community gardens are closed due to COVOID-19.

We are asking that Community Gardens be declared exempt as they are an essential service for food and seed production.

Here is what you can do:

  1. Sign the Open Letter asking the government to identify Community Gardens as essential community food services which must be exempt from the recently announced closure of recreational spaces by the Province of Ontario.
  2. Email, call, write or tweet your MP, MPP, City Councillor & Mayor (contact information included below). Just Food in Ottawa has a suggested template.

Mark Gerretson, MP

Ian Arthur, MPP:

Your City Councillor: You can find your councillors contact information here

Bryan Patterson, Mayor

Thank you and be well

WE NEED SEEDS THAT WE CAN SAVE AND SHARE NOW MORE THAN EVER!

Our SEED COMMONS is a living collection of locally adapted open-pollinated seeds. Open-pollinated plants grow like their parents. They produce seeds that can be legally grown, saved and shared. They are the foundation of our food system

Did you know that you can produce viable bean seeds from just one plant! The same is true for squash, tomatoes lettuce and some of the flowers in our Seed Commons!

We put together a “Seeds of Hope” Collection of bean, squash, tomato, lettuce and flower seeds for you to grow out in small and large spaces for food and seeds this summer!

The collection also includes one variety of beet and one variety of kale that most of you will grow for food. We hope that many of you will also learn how to save seeds from them even though it is a bit more of a challenge!

We wanted to get the collection to you so that you could start growing the tomatoes now. Given the way that things are unfolding in Kingston today, we decided to stay at home and start the tomatoes for you. We will find a way to safely connect before planting time. Our seeds will also be available as individual packets when we do!

We hope that you can find the peace and joy that comes from planting seeds and connecting with the Earth in these turbulent times.

LOCAL SEEDS FOR LOCAL NEEDS!

Join us on Sunday March 29 from 10 am – 2 pm in the parking lot at St Luke’s Anglican Church 236 Nelson St to pick up seeds from our SEED COMMONS. Of course we will be doing this safely and socializing at a distance!

Our SEED COMMONS is a living collection of locally adapted open-pollinated seeds. Open-pollinated plants grow like their parents. They produce seeds that can be legally grown, saved and shared. They are the foundation of our food system

Our seeds will be available in individual packets or as a collection by a sliding scale donation

We don’t sell our seeds. We want you to have these locally-adapted, open-pollinated seeds, if you agree to grow them for food and seeds to save and share with others!

We are a very, very small non-profit working with a shoestring budget especially since Seedy Saturday –our major fundraiser- was cancelled.  We rely on our amazing volunteers and your donations to help us grow, harvest, clean and package these seeds of hope.

Local seed companies usually request at least $3.50 per seed packet for the work that they put into growing their high quality local seeds that will grow well right here where we live. We encourage you to support them as well!

WE APPRECIATE WHATEVER YOU CAN GIVE TO SUPPORT OUR CRITICAL WORK!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU SAFELY AT A DISTANCE ON SUNDAY!

Contact Information for our Seedy Saturday Vendors

Bear Root Gardens: Pat Joslin
https://www.facebook.com/BearRootGardens/
www.bearrootgardens@gmail.com

Bird & Bee: Jamie Farris-Manning
www.birdandbee.ca
info@birdandbee.ca

Gaia Organic Seeds: Manish Kushwaha
https://www.facebook.com/GaiaOrganicSeeds/

Honey Pie: Bay
www.homeypie.ca
https://www.facebook.com/HoneyPieHivesandHerbals

Kitchen Table Seed House
kitchentableseedhouse.ca

Krickle Wood: Dale Horeczy
kricklewoodfarm.com

Northern Seeds: Catherine Wallenburg www.northernseeds.ca

Root Radical: Emily Dowling
https://rootradicalrows.com/join-the-csa/ https://rootradicalrows.com/plants/
emily@rootradicalrows.com

Terra Edibles: Karyn Wright
www.terraedibles.ca

A Message from Kitchen Table Seed House-March 14, 2020

Cancel everything, because we love each other

That’s a quote from our dear seed farmer friend Petra in the United States. And it’s what we’re focusing on amidst the ongoing cancellations and physical distancing we’re all experiencing.

It was hard to hear about Seedy Saturday events being cancelled all over the province this week. We know how hard seed growers and organizers have worked to prepare for these events, and how valuable they are to community members who look to these Seedy events not only for their seeds, but as the harbinger of spring to come and as chance to connect with other gardeners and see friendly faces.

But as it’s been mentioned, cancelling events is a compassionate act of social solidarity; one that will help not only our health care workers but also our neighbours and ourselves. It can feel frightening, there is a lot of change afoot, and looking out for one another is a great antidote to fear. 

We strongly believe that planting seeds is an act of hope, resistance and resilience. Growing plants, tending a garden and sharing food with neighbours and loved ones can be healing and is just one of the reasons we do this work and share these seeds.

So in place of Kingston Seedy Saturday, we’re offering free seed delivery in Kingston on both Sunday March 22nd and Sunday March 29th for pick-up between 10am-1pm, at the Kingston Memorial Market parking lot. 

If you were hoping to buy seed at the event today, you can go to our website and place your order and enter the promo code ‘ Kingston Memorial Market ‘ to forgo shipping fees and tell us on which date you plan to pick up your order in the notes section. 

The promo code is valid until March 27th at noon, so please share with anyone in Kingston and area you think would appreciate it.

We will continue our work to grow vigorous seed that produce delicious and nutritious plants for you to eat and share.

Thank you all for your support in this work. 

https://kitchentableseedhouse.ca/



Kingston Seedy Saturday Cancelled

We deeply regret to inform you that the Kingston Seedy Saturday event has been cancelled due to concerns about the coronavirus disease.

We want to thank the Seedy Saturday Committee and all of our amazing volunteers for the time and energy that they generously contribute to this event every year.

We hope that you can find the peace and joy that comes with planting seeds and connecting with the Earth and in these turbulent times.

Seeds, soil, supper: think like a forest workshop series

Get ready for the 2020 gardening season & for Seedy Saturday by learning why seeds matter & how to be successful starting your own seeds.

Thursday March 12, 2020 6-8 pm at Kingston Vocational Institute with Cate Henderson from KASSI

Get your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seeds-soil-supper-think-like-a-forest-workshop-series-tickets-95847726129

Every garden, every wildscape, every forest starts with a seed. Starting your own plants from seed is a lot of fun and allows you to grow a wonderful variety of heirloom, unusual or locally adapted seedlings for your vegetable garden or wildscape. And it’s a great way to save money!

Learn how to:

  • Read a seed packet (and why it matters)
  • Start vegetables, herbs, edible flowers and fruit
  • Save and share seeds
  • Create your own soil mix
  • Start seeds in soil blocks

Hands on:

  • Making soil blocks

Handouts/resources:

  • 5 quick takeaways on sourcing & starting seeds
  • Make your own soil recipe
  • Seeds from KASSI to plant and share

Bring a supper dish to share!