August Stories

Summer produce and happy gardeners

July was pretty hot and dry, we didn't get much rain, so we were pretty busy water - a LOT! - Now it is the middle of August and, finally, on a rainy day I can write about what we did.

• Harvest

It has been a great year for growing our vegetables. Since the early summer, when we started to gather up our peas - till now, there has always been something to harvest.....

The lettuce, Swiss Chard, & spinach, the beans, zucchinis & cucumbers, and now the tomatillos, Tomatoes, & cabbages have produced bountiful crops!

We have already harvested some potatoes, but most of them are waiting for the last of the squash & cabbages to be gathered. We have been growing Carilla, or Karilla - bitter melon - in the garden for several years, but this is the first year that we have grown it in the sharing garden - plot #19 - it was very exciting, and we even let a few of them get over ripe so that we could save the seeds.

Junction Daycare

At the beginning of August the Junction Daycare came for a visit and tour of the garden. Alison and I showed them the different types of ethnic food that we grow, and some of the children and parents recognized things like the Karilla, and Okra - that they call "lady fingers" in India.

We also let the kids taste some of the herbs that we have been growing in the Herb Garden. I was really impressed with the type of questions that came from these little people. They wanted to know what a "Community Garden" was, and how it worked.

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It was a pretty hot day when they came, and so after the tour and their lunch, we set up a makeshift "Slip and Slide" for them in the park. I set up the Park sprinkler, and our large blue tarp. The kids very quickly figure out how to get the fun out of it!

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This was also an opportunity for Alison to exercise her leadership skills with the children. She has been taking an early childhood education program at Humber Collage.

We were delighted when we were contacted by the the Meal Exchange organization. They wanted to have a tour for their university students. These young people were interested in the issues that surround Food Sovereignty.