We Grow Food

12/04/2024

🧑🏻‍🌾🍂SOME GARDEN HEALTH TIPS🍁👩🏻‍🌾

Did you know:

Leaves can be used as mulch to improve soil health:

• Nutrients: Leaves contain nutrients extracted from the soil, and as they break down they feed the soil and soil life.

• Structure: Leaves improve soil structure and make it easier for plant roots to grow.

• Temperature: Leaves help prevent soil temperatures from fluctuating, which can damage plant roots.

• Moisture: Leaves help retain moisture in the soil by slowing evaporation.

• Weeds: Leaves suppress w**d growth.

• Erosion: Leaves prevent erosion.

• Free: Leaves are a free and lightweight resource.

• Environmentally friendly: Using leaves as mulch is an environmentally friendly way to reuse a resource.

Here are some tips for using leaves as mulch:

• Shred leaves before using them as mulch so they break down faster and don’t blow away. Shredded leaves interlock and clump together better. You can use a lawnmower to chop leaves.

• Layer
Apply a 2–4 inch layer of leaf mulch.

• Weight down
To prevent leaves from blowing away, you can weigh them down with boards or canes, or spread netting over them.

• Use in lawn
You can leave finely shredded leaves on your lawn to filter down among the grass blades.

• Store
If you have a lot of leaves, you can store them in a bin or pile and wet them for later use in gardens and compost bins.

What are some things you do to keep your garden healthy?

11/28/2024

It is never too early to do some garden mapping for the next season.

Did you know that you can “store” the following crops (especially carrots) in the ground without canning, freezing, or preserving?

All you have to do is leave them in the ground until the following temperatures (or huge snow) show up in the next 10 day forecast and then you harvest them all. They will be at their sweetest!

Carrots, Spinach, (- 12 celcius)
Kale, Parsley, Green Onions, Salad Mix,( - 9 )
Beets (-6)
Radishes, Turnips, Chard, Cilantro, Dill, (-4)
So planning for next fall’s planting (starting end of August) can happen now.

09/20/2024

Happy Friday Everyone!!

We are looking for LOTS of VOLUNTEERS to help us on Friday September 27 at a nonprofit housing neighbourhood in Whitby.

IF YOU’RE ABLE TO HELP, PLEASE CONTACT Fransisca Cavallari 905-243-1449

09/20/2024

Happy Friday Everyone!!

We are looking for LOTS of VOLUNTEERS to help us on Friday September 27 at a nonprofit housing neighbourhood in Whitby.

IF YOU’RE ABLE TO HELP, PLEASE CONTACT Fransisca Cavallari 905-243-1449

09/17/2024


We Grow Food Edible Garden Project Fall 2024 Newsletter. 👩🏻‍🌾




 



08/24/2024

We Grow Food LOVE visiting the Edible Gardens. We meet with some amazing people who love the program. A chance at growing some of their own food and sharing it within their own community.

Last week we got to spend a day and a half with one of our mentors, Shari Owttrim- Stirling, who volunteered to come with me to seven gardens, after already completing her own 5 gardens!

We laughed, we visited, we learned some homeopathic remedies (shared by Maria), visited beautifully kept vegetable gardens and listened to residents talk about the impact the gardens have in their lives ( Garrard Heights). Kids are playing, while we are getting a tour of five garden beds around the Lakeshore Neighbourhood, by Liz. She is excited to say how much succession planting is being done and how families are all watering the gardens. She is bubbling over!!!
At Olive Ave, micro homes residents are finding huge cucumbers, picking them and offering them to each other.
Beatrice Ave …. We laugh because the same residents are always at the garden playfully arguing about how things should be done and then stopping dead in their tracks on finding their first ripe tomato. Which of course never gets old.

Shari and I (Carol)stopped for a drink at the end of a hot afternoon our hearts full

08/23/2024

We Grow Food is blessed to have not only dedicated volunteers but volunteers that have enthusiastically stepped up to the plate to join the mentor team.

Mentors meet up with garden teams, multiple times throughout the summer, to visit, trouble shoot, help prune and trellis over 70 edible gardens throughout Durham Region. …. NO small task!

Then this happens…… Harry, one of our mentors comes forward and hands We Grow Food a $200 donation! Giving his time and experience in gardening, he also gives monetary donation. Such generosity.

Harry states:
“I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the invaluable work that “We Grow Foods” is doing to promote sustainability through educating the community about garden stewardship.

After spending time as a volunteer and mentor with your organization, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact your efforts have on both individuals and the community.

The dedication and care In teaching school children the skills to nurture gardening and to respect nature is essential for fostering a greener future as well as laying a strong foundation for future generations. “

06/14/2024

THANK YOU Rtoero 28 Region of Durham for helping We Grow food with all of our school builds 😊

Many thanks to RTOERO District 28 from We Grow Food



Thank you to RTOERO District 28 for the Community Grant allocation to We Grow Food and the Edible Garden Initiative to install vegetable gardens throughout Durham District schools. The grant funds have been put to good use in providing students with self-watering wicking pots to accompany lessons on what plants need to grow. It has been a very busy spring for students and volunteers, building and planting vegetables gardens with the guidance of We Grow Food and the Durham District School Board.
There is also an opportunity over the summer for RTO members who enjoy gardening and working with students to volunteer at the various school gardens throughout Durham. For more information, please email us at: [email protected]

05/30/2024

How many people does it take to install the garden netting …… a village.

See how beautifully they work together to get the job done.

05/30/2024

Elliott, one of our volunteers is a natural teacher. His ability to engage the students was beautiful

05/15/2024

Our future looks bright
Students planted the Edible Garden Beds, and cleaned up the area
CHeck out the amazing plaques this Eco Team created.

We laughed, we played, we worked … a great combo don’t you think

05/02/2024

is here and ready at

05/02/2024

Today we were at Waverly PS for the morning.

It took a strong team of Volunteers and students to prepare this urban micro farm for planting in a few weeks

05/02/2024

Apple Trees, and Berry bushes planted at .
now have four schools who see the importance of permaculture.

Students talk about how amazing it will be once they can pick fresh fruit from trees in their school yard. I have to agree.

05/02/2024

All the seedlings that the garden team from PS have been moved to the greenhouse.

There are still cool nights so each evening students (and parents) will cover the plants with row cover and each morning students will carefully uncover them to enjoy the warmth of the greenhouse. There was no shortage of volunteers to care for these seedlings.

Seedling will be shared with schools throughout the .

Students should be very proud of themselves

05/01/2024

All the seedlings that the garden team from Waverly PS have been moved to the greenhouse.

There are still cool nights so each evening students (and parents) will cover the plants with row cover and each morning students will carefully uncover them to enjoy the warmth of the greenhouse. There was no shortage of volunteers to care for these seedlings.

Seedling will be shared with schools throughout the DDSB.

Students should be very proud of themselves

05/01/2024

Today we were at Waverly PS for the morning.

It took a strong team of We Grow Food Volunteers and students to prepare this urban micro farm for planting in a few weeks

04/30/2024

It takes many volunteers to bring the Edible Garden Project to thousands of students.

Thank you to and community garden for the use of the parking lot to prime wooden boards that students will paint their murals on.

You can see these beautiful works of art installed throughout Durham Region. Check out our website wegrowfood.org for all garden locations.

If you are looking for meaningful, joyful, outdoor, volunteer work please reach out and we can get you started.