Community Gardens to Open with Restrictions

As per the email sent out to all members on May 9, the provincial government has recently relaxed COVID-19 restrictions on community and allotment gardens.

The full explanation of what is required by Toronto Public Health (TPH) is provided in COVID-19 Guidance for Community & Allotment Gardens. The OGCG response to the new TPH guidelines is provided here: Toronto Public Health Covid-19 Responsibilities & Directions for Oakvale Community Garden.

Following is a summary of what all members must do in order to make use of your garden plot(s), in addition to the normal requirements of signing your OGCG Membership Agreement and making your donation. In order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection while gardening, all OGCG members must:

1. be aware of the risks and symptoms of COVID-19;
2. take the Ontario Ministry of Public Health self-assessment for COVID-19 and provide the OGCG coordinators with a statement confirming you have completed the self-assessment;
3. sign the Toronto Public Health Community and Allotment Garden Declaration and submit to OGCG coordinators; and,
4. abide by all infection prevention and control measures outlined in the Toronto Public Health Covid-19 Responsibilities & Directions for Oakvale Community Garden referred to earlier.

Community Gardens Closed

The City of Toronto has closed all park amenities, including allotment and community gardens, as part of their efforts to combat Covid-19.

The park itself is not closed and remains open for fresh air and exercise. Following is from the City:

Park and ravine green spaces remain accessible, but all amenities within City parks are closed. If you are visiting a park space, please practice physical distancing.

While in a park, residents must not use park amenities or congregate in groups. Dogs can be taken into park spaces on a leash. Please do not put yourself or loved ones or neighbours at risk of exposure.

Those continuing to congregate or use closed amenities can be fined. The set fine for this offence is $750, with a maximum fine of $5,000.

Crop Rotation

I’m not sure “crop rotation” applies to small garden beds, especially when they are tightly spaced as in OGCG, but the principle holds true: you can’t plant the same thing, year after year, without depleting key nutrients those plants need and increasing pests and diseases associated with those plants.

Anna provided the article at right to help explain. The article suggests a rotation of:
Year 1: tomatoes
Year 2: brassica (cabbage) family
Year 3: onion family

This article will be updated and expanded in the near future.

Also, an article on garlic pests will be developed (garlic needs rotation of at least three years).

2015 Shade Survey

In response to several members’ concern for how shade limits their ability to grow vegetables, a survey of shade in the gardens was conducted in 2015. The results of the OCGC Shade Survey were used to adjust plot fees for the 2016 season. The image above shows the summary results of the survey; the full results of the OCGC Shade Survey are available in pdf format.

OGCG Sign Refurbished

Thanks to Brian for refurbishing the OGCG sign!

Garden Shed Tidy

Thanks to James (Maintenance Coordinator) for tidying up the garden shed and building a rack to hold the garden tools.

New Gardens Sign

For those who haven’t seen it yet, the new OGCG sign is finally up.

The wood was salvaged by Kathryn and Nicholas from the Outer Harbour Marina, an ex-gardener (and former manager of this web site) Amy Satherwaite burned the lettering and image into the wood, and it was finished (oiled) by Nicholas. Then the sign sat there and waited two years for the TTC to give us permission to put a sign up on their property (they wouldn’t let us mount it as a free-standing sign). Brian put the sign up. Thanks for all the great work!

Edible Weeds

Before you throw those weeds on the ground consider that some are more tasty and nutritious, not to mention grow more readily, than the very plants you are helping to grow. Here we can consider three common edible weeds people probably already know about, and three lesser-known plants.

Identifying the more edible varieties will help ensure you have a better experience eating these weeds but don’t be too cautious and avoid them altogether. Remember:

1. the most edible varieties are most common and grow larger so they are the ones you are most likely to find in your garden, and
2. you are not going to find a similar plant that is going make you sick.

If you want to start slowly on these, or if you only have a few to work with, just add some to your regular leafy vegetables.

Leaf miner season

Anyone growing spinach or chard (or beets potentially too) should be on the look-out for leaf miner, that little maggot that burrows into the leafs creating little tunnels and eventually large dead splotches on the leaves. The miner is the larval stage of a fly and the adult fly is hard to control so focus on the eggs and larvae. Last year was a bad year for leaf miner and this year is shaping up to be another bad year for spinach.

leaf miner eggs on spinach (May 28, 2013)

leaf miner eggs
(close-up of left)

Spring 2013 – New Beginnings

April 30, 2013
Spring has arrived and many of our gardeners have started planting spinach, lettuce and peas (mustard greens are also good). As the season for new beginnings, this spring also welcomes in a revitalised version of the Oakvale Green Community Gardens website. This site will be the public face of the Oakvale Greens Community Gardens and the old site (oakvalegardens.ca) will be decommissioned.

The Oakvale Green Yahoo Groups page will remain home of all official member information such as the member roll, by-laws and the membership agreement. All archived content on the Yahoo site is accessible only to oakvalegreen group members. Members who want to communicate with the group as a whole should continue to do so through the Yahoo Group page by posting a comment, which will be sent to all members.

The Oakvale Green Facebook page is still active so check in for more up-to-the-minute news and discussion.

This site will be expanded over the year but no promises as to how much. 😛

Greetings!

March 24, 2012
Greetings! Welcome to the Oakvale Green Community Garden blog.

A community garden is defined as a single piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people.That sums it up nicely, but of course, there’s so much more to it. Whether it’s an urban or rural patch of land, whether ornamentals and/or vegetables are planted, whether the gardeners are neighbours or strangers or a mix, each community garden has its own style, its own personality.

It’s rather like ‘terroir‘, the word French winemakers use to describe the special and unique characteristics of the earth that sustains their vines. The renowned wine author Hugh Johnson, writes that, “…it means the whole ecology of a vineyard: every aspect of its surroundings from bedrock to late frosts and autumn mists, not excluding the way a vineyard is tended, nor even the soul of the vigneron.”

Through this blog, we’ll all learn something about Oakvale Green and its terroir – the features of land, climate, location and relationships that make our garden grow.

A new season is upon us and we have some exciting plans for improving our flower gardens and helping all plot gardeners to enjoy the fruits (and veggies!) of their labour.

Stay tuned!

2018 AGM

Thursday, April 19th 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Exterior of Matty Eckler Community Centre

Matty Eckler Community Recreation Centre
953 Gerrard Street East (across from Gerrard Square)


Site webpage: https://www.toronto.ca/data/parks/prd/facilities/complex/234/index.html

Agenda

• Submit plot donations and signed membership agreements
• Welcome to new members / review general guidelines of membership
• Financial report
• Vertical structures in the vegetable plots
• Respect other member’s plots
• Limit on number of plots per member
• Soil delivery
• Bees

 

Ward 30 Compost Days

Free city compost this weekend, courtesy of Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth)

Saturday, April 21, 2018 (after 9:00 am)

* Kempton Howard Park
* Monarch Park
* Phin Park (just West of Oakvale Greens, through the TCHC complex)

Sunday, April 22, 2018 (after 9:00 am)

* Greenwood Park
* Jimmie Simpson Park
* Leslie Grove Park
* Riverdale Park

Remember to bring your own shovels, buckets and containers. It’s first come, first served.

See Paula’s Web Site

Fall Clean-Up Day

Update:

Rain date for the final all-gardeners, community work day

Sunday, 29 October 2017
10:00 – 12:00 

This is a mandatory work day for all OGCG members and a requirement for anyone wishing to retain their plot for the next season.

Fall Clean-Up Day

The final all-gardeners, community work day is set for:

Saturday, 28 October 2017
10:00 – 12:00 

This is a mandatory work day for all OGCG members and a requirement for anyone wishing to retain their plot for the next season.

2017 AGM

Monday, April 17th 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Left Field Brewery
36 Wagstaff Drive

Site webpage: www.leftfieldbrewery.ca


Agenda:

• Sign up for watering teams
• Sign up for mid-summer work day
• Collect plot fees and member agreements

 

Summer Work Day 2016

The second OGCG community work day will take place on:

Sunday, July 31^st from 2:00–4:00pm.

Attendance at this work day is required to maintain your membership in good standing.

An additional work day has been added on Sunday, August 28th from 2:00–4:00pm.

Spring Work Day 2016

The first OGCG community work day will take place on:

Sunday, May 1^st from 2:00–4:00pm.

The rain-date is Saturday, May 9th from 2:00–4:00pm.

Attendance at this work day is required to maintain your membership in good standing.