Pollinator Garden Project

This year 5 beds in the Emery Garden were planted with native pollinator plants. This project is part of Sabrina Malach's Pollinator Internship through the Metcalf Foundation. The plants were donated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (thank-you!)

With the help of PACT GTL's intern, Janika Oza, students each researched one of the species planted and hand painted a sign to mark its location in the garden. We bordered the beds with found wood logs, and erected bee condos.

These beautiful flowering plants are attracting bees, butterflies and other insects to the garden which aid in pollinating our food crops. We are enhancing diversity and adding beauty to the garden!

 Red Bergamot in bloom in August

White Goldenrod in bloom in August

 

Bee Balm

2011 Successes

 The Emery Garden was a great success last year. Over 700 student volunteer hours were put in to the garden. We grew over 1300 pounds of fresh produce using organic growing methods.

Over 300 lbs of what was grown behind the school was given out to the student body during our Fall Harvest Festival. Grade 12 English classes helped harvest the whole 300 lbs on an October morning, set up tables and a party in the school court yard, and helped distribute the food to the school community during lunch period.

Students chose from a wide selection of crops and took them home in paper bags. There were leeks, onions, turnips, carrots, beets, radish, eggplants, sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, winter squash, celery, lettuce, and a variety of herbs including basil, chives, and dill.

The same English classes also harvested food from the garden prior to the Harvest Party, took it home and created dishes they then shared at pot luck meals during their classes. I was lucky to be invited and sampled delicious leek soup, carrot cake and pesto sauce on pasta! Amazing culinary creations!

 

Photo credits: Nicole Dufour, 2011

Student Perspectives on the Garden

Below, Shukar P. tells us about his thoughts and experiences volunteering and working at the Emery Garden this growing season.

"Well let's start from the beginning. One afternoon while my science class went out to the garden to help plant little seedlings I had this sudden feeling of belonging. Well all before this I did have an interest in plants before I came into the garden but that passion and interest for plants "blossomed" that morning. No pun intended xD. I eventually did learn a lot and when I wasn't in the garden I continued to do my own research when I went home and I was more and more intrigued each and every time I learned something new like what time to grow certain crops and how deep do you plant them. Also I learned about suckering tomato plants and not allowing certain crops to go to "seed" so you can harvest them more through out the season.

I also gained certain skills and knowledge. For example I learned to identify certain pests and diseases. I also learned about weeds to the point that I feel like going on people's lawns to pull the dandelions but I hold that feeling back (it's so hard to resist).

 

I think it's a good idea to learn to grow your food, you never know when something will happen in this oh so fragile society that we live in plus the money you spend on food is lessened somewhat when you grow your own. Also growing heirloom vegetables and food is encouraged because they aren't genetically tampered with (Monsanto cough cough) as well they taste a lot better than grocery bought food (because of that I like tomatoes now).

 

The most interesting thing I discovered? Well, I found out I love herbs and all their medicinal and culinary qualities. Because I know the name of plants, I look at a tree or a shrub a lot differently now, so that's good.

 

The greatest achievement was working with other people, as well as obtaining all this botany and herbal magic...er I mean knowledge (seeds are magical). Also, because I became so interested in plants I now grow a bunch of plants at home and hopefully throughout winter as well I might be growing some herbs inside. I might even start seeds for the garden during the final weeks of winter going on into spring next year. 

 

The most challenging thing about the garden? Weeell i don't have any except pinching basil flowers, but that isn't so bad. All in all I love it there and I go during the mornings and lunch time and I'm looking forward to next year summer so I can wake up early to do something I will enjoy.

 

Also I think the community needs to know that there are teens out there that love doing such things and I also hope the garden raises awareness to growing YOUR OWN food as well as awareness about genetically modified vegetables. For example, tomatoes that have cold water fish genes in them so they can repel the cold better. That's right you're eating fish-tomatoes >:( . 

 

We donate our food to food banks. Also, we did a cook day where we cooked food freshly picked from the garden, so that was quite educational. I also learned to cut vegetables and cook them as well. My first vegetarian meal :) . Hopefully it shall not be my last. Oh and we save seeds from our crops as well. I myself am a gardener that loves to save seeds.

 

Another point I would like to add is that gardening is so therapeutic. Because of gardening I have become an extremely cheerful and calm individual. I am also a lot less gloom (almost never these days.) Pretty much doing this kinda stuff made me a better person and I hope you find an interest as well.

P.S. For the guys out there gardening is a chick magnet ;)...give it some thought and see if you like gardening and growing your own food as well."

- Shukar

Cooking Day in the Garden

On Friday September 2nd we put on a cooking day at the Emery garden. A tent, some tables and a few camp stoves and kitchen supplies were all we needed to create a wonderful lunch using food grown in the Emery Garden.

The kids first participated in harvesting the veggies (just a regular day at the garden), and then, with the guidance of a special guest with culinary experience, got to learn how to chop, prepare and cook them. It was a great opportunity for the youth to enhance their culinary skills.

The kids chose what combinations of vegetables to use, and several delicious and creative dishes were served up with brown rice (the only food item other than oil and some seasonings brought in from outside the garden - and chick peas, for protein!)

The youth who worked hard all season long in the Emery Garden got a chance to taste almost everything we grow! And they liked it! A true "farm to fork" experience, this was an extremely fun event that I hope can happen every year in the garden.

-Bonnie

Harvest!

Here are some photos of a few of our recent harvests in August & September.

Urban Gardening Challenges

Urban gardening is not without its challenges. Some that we've been facing and implementing solutions to are:

• Groundhogs! Furry and cute but such nuisances in our garden! A family of groundhogs lives underneath the shed outside the garden fence and regularly feeds on our crops. Our peas, lettuce, cabbages and many of our cucumbers were demolished quickly by these critters. The young groundhog newly kicked out of its parent's den moved in underneath our composter inside the garden fence.
  

• Solution: We have tried so many things! Pinwheels, scarecrow, bells on the fence, blood meal, dog hair, and finally a live trap awaits the groundhog this very evening. Fingers crossed!

• People! Passersby have stolen some of our bamboo poles used to stake our tomatoes, ripping the plants out in the process. Our first ripe tomato was also stolen from the vine. This is saddening to me and the youth who work so incredibly hard to make this garden thrive.

• Solution: painted sign indicating the food is grown by youth in the community for the food banks. More community awareness would help as well.
  

• Pests! (insect pests this time): Japanese beetles have been eating some of our basil (they like the purple kinds the best). They seem to have disappeared over the past week. Cucumber beetles have been infesting our curcurbits (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins) for the past 2 weeks. The young larvae feed on the stems and roots of plants in spring, then emerge as adults, feeding on the leaves and fruit. These insects can produce a bacteria when they eat the plants and cause what's called bacterial wilt on the plant.

• Solution: Daily manual squashing of the cucumber beetles in the mornings to reduce the population. Removal of leaves affected by bacterial wilt. The beetles are more lethargic in the mornings and cannot fly away as quickly with the morning dew on their wings. Controlling the population of beetles in turn controls the bacterial wilt.

 

Bacterial wilt on the stem of a pumpkin plant

 

Yellow and black striped cucumber beetles and bees on a pumpkin flower

Despite the challenges, the garden is a rewarding place. A place where ideas become reality, and growth is visible and exciting. A place of constant learning. The youth who have been coming out regularly to volunteer, even in the rain, have been absolutely wonderful and the garden could not run without their devoted efforts.

Busy Bees in June & July

It is time for a garden update! The garden has been very busy. We are now harvesting plenty of fresh vegetables for local food banks and youth from the community are learning a lot about how to grow vegetables and herbs organically.

Here's an update of what's been happening in the Emery garden since June:

Early to mid June: We transplanted hundreds of seedlings! Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, okra, onions, zucchini and more. Many more crops were direct seeded including watermelons, winter and summer squash, beans, carrots and beets. It took us a while to get this done as we had to wait until the beds were a little less wet after all of that spring rain we received in order to prepare the beds. Ideally seedlings could be planted a month or so earlier.

The grade 9 art class created beautiful painted signs and some wire sculptures for the garden. The sculptures have been installed and the signs will be put up in late August.

Okra

July & August (so far): We've been caring for our plants and ensuring they grow strong and healthy. Weekly tasks include: suckering tomatoes and cucumbers - this involves pinching off the growth at the nodes of the plants to direct the plant's energy into producing fruit. Staking tomatoes and building cucumber trellises. Pinching off basil flowers to help them flourish (we have a lot of basil!), and dead heading marigold flowers are weekly garden tasks which help the plants grow well and keep the garden looking good.

 

Tomatoes, Basil & Marigolds grow well together

 Italian Large Leaf & Corsican Basil amongst sweet & hot peppers

Regular weeding using hands and hoes helps our crops grow -  less competition for light, water, space and nutrients. The uprooted weeds left on the soil's surface to bake in the hot sun break down and become valuable organic matter for the soil.

 Provider Bush Beans will be producing beans soon!

Team garden walks allow the students to take a close look at the garden to see what needs weeding, watering, harvesting and to assess if there are any problems such as disease or pests.

The last of the mulching of garden paths was completed in late July/Early August.

Zucchini plants and freshly mulched pathways

We've been preparing beds (turning over and loosening soil with shovels and garden forks) all throughout June, July and into August. We've seeded lengthy beds of carrots, beets, and turnips for fall harvest.

 Rows of Little Finger Carrots with tomatoes in background

Companion planting is a technique practiced in the garden. Some companion plantings we've experimented with are: 3 sisters (corn, beans, squash), Onions & Cucumbers, Onions/Lettuce/Carrots, Tomatoes & Basil, Peppers/Okra/Basil, Beets & Dill, Eggplants & Potatoes, Sunflowers & Cucumbers, Kohlrabi/Turnip/Dill.

Cucumbers grow up the Sunflower stalks

Corn, Pole Beans, & Pumpkins grow as a trio

We've been harvesting a variety of vegetables and herbs once or twice per week since early July, including:
Basil, Mint, Chives, Dill, Parsley, Oregano,
Radish, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Beets, Turnip, Collards, Green Onions,
Okra, Zucchini, Cucumber, and our first tomatoes and purple jalapeno peppers this week!
Produce has been donated to the local Ontario Vegetarian Food Bank, as well as North York Harvest Food Bank.

Weighing, cooling and packing up the veggies to take to the food bank

 The youth volunteers and paid student workers at the Emery garden are truly amazing! They make the garden run and work extremely hard to grow this food for the food bank through the PACT Grow to Learn Urban Agriculture Program. Congratulations should go to them for all of their efforts.

-Bonnie
Garden Coordinator