Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre Garden Patch

10/23/2023

Things are all wrapped up here in the garden! Just in time for the predicted snowfall this evening.
It has been a wonderful season! We are so grateful to our volunteers, staff, and donors for supporting all our efforts.

We will stay active on Instagram over the rest of the fall and winter, so stay tuned. In the meantime, stay warm and have a wonderful week! 🍁🌱🍂

10/18/2023

The harvest totals for 2023 are in!

Harvest weight (lbs) = 11571
Harvest value ($) = 32,797
# of bags distributed = 7058
Produce varieties grown = 131

A huge thanks to our donors, staff, volunteers, and anyone else who contributed to this wonderful and successful season at the garden patch!

10/13/2023

10/03/2023

Posted • CANPOTEX AND SASKATOON FOOD BANK AND LEARNING CENTRE JOIN FORCES - “FOOD FOR KIDS”

has committed $450,000 to the over the next three years, with a primary focus on providing healthy food for infants and children in the Saskatoon community.

The Canpotex Infant Formula matching campaigns will enhance the SFBLC’s ability to keep pace with the significant increase in demand for food for kids, that’s infants and children, including fresh fruit, infant formula, and baby food.

For more info:
https://saskatoonfoodbank.org/infant-formula

10/03/2023

Things are winding down at the garden patch! Last week we did the last of our harvesting, which included parsnips, kale, okra, carrots and tomatoes.
We are w**ding, mulching, and getting the garden ready for winter. Stay tuned for our harvest weigh in total!

09/26/2023

It's sure feeling like fall around here! Especially today as we harvested our pumpkins 🎃

09/25/2023

We are accepting leaf donations! We use leaves for mulch, which we need a lot of this time of year.
If you would like to donate leaves, drop them off outside our front gates on Duchess St., or throw them over our fence in the alley between Duchess and Duke.
We are located at 900 3rd Ave.
Please make sure leaves are clean and contain no garbage. Thank you!!

09/25/2023

Posted • ** REMINDER ** - RESUME / COVER LETTER WORKSHOP
At 1pm tomorrow (Sept 26, 2023) we are having a resume and cover writing workshop. Please contact us to see if you can get in 306-664-6565......"resume and cover letter" workshop.

09/21/2023

With the threat of frost tonight we quickly picked all of our tomatoes and sent them to the food bank. Our total weigh in was 293 kg!

09/19/2023

We've got a new photoshoot/selfie spot at the garden! Right at the front gates on Duchess Street. ☺

09/15/2023

Fun fact: these purple tomatoes are called Blueberry Tomatoes. They start off green, turn purple, and then red when they are ready!

09/14/2023

Now that's a big beet 😮

09/12/2023

No garden or gardener is perfect! Here is the one watermelon we produced this summer 🤣

09/08/2023

Happy Friday from the garden patch staff! Have a safe and wonderful weekend. 🌻

09/06/2023

Today was our first big spaghetti squash harvest!

09/01/2023

The garden patch will be closed Monday. Have a fantastic long weekend!

08/31/2023

Posted • ** HARVEST BBQ - RESCHEDULED **... we apologize for the inconvenience.

08/29/2023

Tuesday harvest photo dump!

08/05/2023

Check out these three Storytime events in partnership with the Saskatoon Public Library!

07/27/2023

07/21/2023

We are happy to share the August Healthy Yards workshop series. Please share!

And don't forget - we have one more great workshop happening in July:
Thurs July 27, 6pm
Hot Compost Fast: Making Gardener's Gold
Lisa Howse, Sask Waste Reduction Council

Mature compost is a fantastic soil additive that supplies nutrients, improves texture, and keep plants healthy. But how fast can we make it? It turns out, the key to speed is heat. Join Lisa Howse with the Compost Coaches to learn about how to make a steamy, speedy compost pile for the garden.

06/27/2023

Another Healthy Yards workshop tomorrow, located at the Garden Patch. It is going to be fantastic! No registration required. Please share!

06/23/2023

We are so excited to announce the schedule for our July Healthy Yards workshops!
All workshops are free (no registration required), and held at the Food Bank Garden Patch (900 3rd Ave). They will be roughly 1.5 hours each.
Please share! We would love to see a great turnout for these amazing presenters :)

06/19/2023

Join us tomorrow, Tuesday June 20th at 7pm for a workshop on Urban Beekeeping! Our resident beekeeper Jeff will take us through all things urban bees - how a hive is set up, how the hive gets established, what bees need to thrive, and more! There will also be an opportunity to get up close to look at the hive. Its going to be a great evening. This workshop is free, no registration required, and is held at the Garden Patch (900 3rd Ave).

05/30/2023

We are happy to share the June schedule for our Healthy Yards workshop series! Here at the garden patch, we are very thankful for the knowledge that these presenters have agreed to share and we look forward to welcoming them to our space.
We will be releasing the Healthy Yards workshop schedule month-by-month. The workshops will run throughout June, July, August, and September, and will be between 1-1.5 hours in length. All workshops will be held at the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre Garden Patch (900 3rd Ave).
If any attendees would like a brief tour of the garden, we will be offering this after the workshop is over.
Please feel free to share this information! We are hoping for a great turnout this year since this workshop series has been on hiatus the past few years due to COVID.

*Please note that registration is required for Weeding and Reading on June 11th. Please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIZpTYZfmShNqoSYcwtRl5m6LzHkkRecRx6IsK5E7gLkUuJg/viewform

View the link to this month's book here: https://newsociety.ca/books/f/food-security-for-the-faint-of-heart-pdf?sitedomain=ca

03/28/2023

As your winter kitchen scraps begin to thaw on your compost pile, they may begin to smell, but this can easily be addressed with a bag of leaves or other browns!

03/21/2023

Compost series: grow piles

Grow piles are useful if you don’t have compost bins or have filled them up. They are used often at the Garden Patch for this exact reason! Check out the SWRC’s guide to grow piles. The link is in our bio.

03/14/2023

Compost series: hot compost

Hot compost has the capacity to kill w**d seeds, allowing you to be less selective about the green yard waste that enters the compost bin. It is a bit more involved as a compost method, but can work wonders for your garden if you have the interest and for it. Check the link in our bio for a guide to hot composting.

03/07/2023

Compost series: vermicompost

Red wriggler worms are excellent at decomposing kitchen scraps with no foul smell. They work fast to make worm castings, which are incredible for the garden and are the safest compost to use for compost tea, if that’s your thing. Check the link in our bio for the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council’s guide to Vermicomposting.