It’s freezing, so setting up your garden is maybe the last thing on your mind…unless you’re a die-hard lover of sweet peas and tomatoes, like me.
Which is why I want to brave the cold to get to Verdun’s first Seedy Saturday, taking place in the municipal greenhouses on the Verdun waterfront on today from 10am-3pm. For sale are compost, fertilizer and heirloom seeds from Urban Seedling and Tournesol Cooperative Farm (think candy cane beets, rainbow carrots and some funky southern beans), though you can also trade your own seeds for some the Kahnawake Library Seed Exchange. Montreal melon, anyone?
Also at the event will be the Maison de l’Environnement de Verdun, Boys and Girls Club of Dawson Community Centre, Coop CAUS, Un plant de tomate à la fois (I spent a whole summer doing weekly canning and baking classes with these guys – awesome organization) and SouthWest Mission.
Plus, there are workshops. Here’s the schedule:
10:30am – In the kitchen, better safe than sorry English / 30 minutes
A few security tips for safe cooking.
Presentation by Léonore Pion, community cook and kitchen coordinator at SouthWest Mission.
11:00am – Biodiversity in the heart of the city F rench / 1 hour
What happens when we let nature regain some ground the urban environment?
A presentation from the Maison de l’environnement de Verdun, with tips and tricks to invite biodiversity into your backyard and to know the difference between weeds and wild pants.
12:00pm – How flowers can help when cultivating a garden En glish/20 minutes
Edible flowers are as useful in our gardens as they are delicious on our plates. Their season begins with tulips and continues through blue buttons, nasturtiums, elder, squash and pansies. Come discover ways to integrate flowers into your life.
Workshop presented by Tracey Arial from CAUS, the Urban Abundance Solidarity Coop.
12:30pm – In the kitchen, better safe than sorry French / 30 minutes
A few security tips for safe cooking.
Presentation by Léonore Pion, community cook and kitchen coordinator at SouthWest Mission.
1:00pm – The Urban Orchard: Fruit trees and berries in the city E nglish / 1 hour
The best varieties of trees and berries for your city space: Planting and maintenance, organic treatments, plants and flower companions, appropriate ground cover.
Workshop presented by Tereska Gesing, from Urban Seedling
2:00pm – L’ABC des semis French / 45 minutes
The calendar, choice of soil mix, light exposure, care, thinning and transplanting: your healthy seedling this year!
Workshop with Julie Langlois, gardener and animator with Un plant de tomates à la fois.
Where: Verdun’s Greenhouses, 7,000 LaSalle Blvd. (on the waterfront in front of the Douglas Hospital)
When: Saturday, March 11, 2017
Cost: Free
Bring: Seeds if you got ’em
Photo credit: Urban Seedling
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