Earlier this spring, Renewable Energy of Plum Hollow started seeds on their window sills and built raised beds in front of their office. They invite SWITCH members and the sustainable energy community to join Loving Spoonful’s Grow A Row campaign by signing up for the Workplace Challenge. Let the growing begin!
We here at Intercall are dedicated to helping the local community. When we heard about Grow a Row’s work place challenge, we dug right in! (pun intended). Intercall is well aware of the food shortage that affects our community and the importance of incorporating healthy foods into our diets. We are also aware that with the rising costs of produce, this is becoming increasingly difficult. What better way to get involved and help combat this issue, than get up out of our desks roll up our sleeves and get a little dirty for a wonderful cause that benefits everyone. We get to provide fresh healthy produce to those who need it the most, and we get some well needed exercise and time away from our desks.
We started our first garden last year, and it was a huge success. We successfully grew and donated tomatoes, beans and cucumbers. We hope to improve on that this year by adding spinach, green onions, green peppers and brussel sprouts. In today’s fast paced fast food world not everyone has time for gardening but thanks to the grow a row program, our employees are able to put their green or not so green thumbs to work for a good cause!. We encourage all of our employees to volunteer, and tend the garden. This project has also helped boost morale and encourage team work amongst our employees, and that is something we can all be proud of.
We are looking forward to this year’s friendly competition and hope to become the 2012 Work Place Challenge winners.
So in closing let’s all work together to help nip hunger in the bud!
Here at Loving Spoonful we are in the planning stages for another Grow a Row campaign.
What is Grow a Row? The purpose of Grow a Row is to encourage growers (both full-time farmers and backyard or community gardeners) to grow an extra row of food for the express purpose of donation to emergency meal programs.
What does the campaign involve? Loving Spoonful staff and our volunteer Grow a Row Committee collect donated food at the Downtown Farmers Market from June-October, deliver food to 18 agencies that feed their clients, maintain the Acorn donation garden, and preserve surplus produce in our community kitchen workbees. The campaign starts off Tuesday May 22 from 4-8 pm, with a seedling sale and launch party at Oak Street Community Garden. We wrap up in late October with a harvest party and fall cleanup event at the Oak Street Community Garden.
Why is Grow a Row important? Food costs are on the rise. In 2011 the price of fresh produce rose 16% from 2010 prices – making the purchase of healthy fresh food beyond the means of many Kingstonians. Grow a Row makes more fresh produce available for low-income members of our community. Last year we collected over 7000 lbs of fresh produce through the Grow a Row campaign! By preserving some of the donated produce that comes in during peak growing times – think tomatoes in September – we are able to extend the amount of fresh local food available to meal programs beyond the growing season.
How can you get involved? There are many ways to participate in the Grow a Row campaign, and we hope you will consider engaging in the way that suits you best.
For the green thumbs:
For the non-gardeners:
Please help make the 2012 Grow a Row Campaign our biggest and best yet!!
For more information about Grow a Row please contact info[at]lovingspoonful[dot]org or call 613-546-4291 ext. 1871.
The Heirloom Seed Sanctuary has organized workshops and the popular Heirloom Tomato Tasting Day to help spread knowledge and garner interest in the need to support local food organizations, seed saving, sustainability, and feeding the hungry.
We provide the seeds with love and care, and in return, they provide for us — a miraculous cycle from seed to food to seed.
The seeds of some varieties (tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.) will start their growth in the greenhouse late winter to early spring, depending on the growing season of the plant, while others prefer being planted directly into the ground (beans, squash, melon, etc.). The greenhouse plants require personal attention until they are ready to join the earth and the rest of the varieties already taking root in the gardens.
Once in the gardens the seeds and plants already adapted to growing in the Kingston climate will start their own journeys through life. With rain, sunshine, nature’s pollinators and some guidance at the hands of Cate and her helpers, including several Sisters of Providence, many seeds will sprout and reach to the heavens. Many will produce food for use this year while others may be preparing for a longer journey to produce food down the road.
Over the course of the growing season many of these plants are harvested and taken inside the barn. This allows for collecting seeds from a variety of plants which ensures future generations of growth. Cate and her helpers count, catalog, and prepare seeds for winter storage or donation. Seed-saving workshops are a great resource to those learning how to save seeds at home.
Closer to the end of summer, many varieties of tomatoes are harvested for use in the annual Tomato Tasting Day. Visitors are invited each year to come out and sample their favourite heirloom tomatoes. Last year, over one hundred visitors showed up! After they’ve sampled the delicious tomatoes, guests are invited to tour the grounds, and attend workshops to learn more about the importance of seeds, farming and the different organizations dedicated to helping provide food for those who need it now(Grow-a-Row, St. Vincent de Paul Society, etc.) and food for future generations.
Once the growing season ends, final cleaning and checking of seeds is done and the grounds are prepared for next growing season. This usually includes mulching or planting of a cover crop. As winter nears the end, the cycle of life begins again providing for us all.
The Heirloom Seed Sanctuary has received the Canadian Environment Award in the Sustainable Living category, is a part of the CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) Kingston network, and is a proud supporter of Loving Spoonful and their Grow-a-Row project.
We are thrilled to announce that we surpassed our target of 5,000 pounds of food collected and distributed this year – we received and delivered more than 7,000 pounds of fresh food in 2011!
A huge thank you to all of our growers, market volunteers, garden workers, drivers and community kitchen participants – all of your hard work meant that a huge amount of fresh and healthy food was served to Kingston community members in need this season.
We are greatly looking forward to another great year next year and hope to see you all in 2012!
It is August and the garden is abundant, growing as if I’d planted it with Jack’s beans. It has been as close to a perfect summer as a gardener could want: warmth and rain in generous measure. The beans (which I never did get around to poling) are crawling all over the garden and the tomatoes are laden with fruit. The potato plants are already dying down and although it is too soon to harvest, we’re stealing spuds from the “nests” for every meal. The butternut squash are Brobdinagian, the cabbages and leeks are coming along nicely and whisper of cool October nights.
Tomatoes – before:
Tomatoes – after:
Celery!
Look at our glorious garden – thank you to all our amazing volunteers and our summer student, Rosie, for making this place look like a million bucks!
Holly White is growing many rows, including these gorgeous bean plants, squash, pumpkin and cabbage. She is a first-time participant in the Grow a Row campaign and we are grateful for her contributions!
I have to chuckle at the idea of being a Grow-a-Row featured gardener. I’m a late bloomer, a reluctant gardener. I hate getting dirty; I don’t find gardening relaxing. Both my parents were first generation off the farm, and they had no interest in gardens (though they had far more awareness than city-bred me of local produce, when it ripened, when it would appear at roadside stands, and how delicious it would taste in comparison to what was in the grocery store).
This August, a portion of your meal purchase at participating restaurants will benefit Loving Spoonful, a community food organization working to enhance access to healthy food for all.
Participating restaurants: Le Chien Noir, Chez Piggy, Pan Chancho, Olivea.
Treat yourself. Feed your community.
