Elmwood bed raising has been postponed due to weather. We will keep you posted as to when the bed raising will take place.
I hope everyone enjoys the sunshine today - while it lasts!

Despite the rainy start to the summer, our gardens have managed to burst from the seams giving us a chance to sample endless amounts of fresh veggies! Just like your gardens, the school garden network is expanding yet again.

Join us
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26th from 9:00AM-4:00PM
at Elmwood School (261 Buena Vista Road)
to raise beds, plant seeds and share your gardening experiences & stories!

If you can't come all day, stop by to lend a helping hand.

AND where do we get our garden's logs and soil?!

Road trip to Alpenblick Farm!!
Everyone's welcome to join us on
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21 at 10:00AM
where we plan to go to Alpenblick to harvest logs.

Contact Torry Reid at 613.627.6343 for more information on any of these events - they are sure to be a blast!

Hello Again

Hello, it's Julia again! I have a few more things to talk about today!

First of all, I'd like to tell you all about my experiences at the Vankleek Hill Farmer's Market. For the past three Saturdays, I have been waking up at around 5:30 AM and heading out to Vankleek Hill to assist Diane Bedford of Canadian Organic Growers in running her weekly farmer's market. Is it worth it? You bet, it is! Even though my first visit to the market was rather damp, I was made up for it by the dozens of new people that I got to meet, and a free hot chocolate! The vendors are all very interesting people, with very interesting products. For example, this vendor here sells wild boar and farm-raised deer products (you can even get a delicious sausage or steak hot off the grill):






As well, there is this vendor who sells lamb and wool products:

You can't forget about this nice lady and her jars of honey!

Of course, that's just to name a few. There are also numerous vegetable vendors, a cheese vendor, baked goods vendors, a vendor of Japanese food, and many more. There's even a masseuse, for crying out loud!

The vendors are very interesting people, but the buyers are equally charming. I've had some interesting conversations with quite a few of them while I was there.

My various duties at the farmer's market included helping set everything up and then take everything down, and sell coffee and other drinks in the in-between time. The last time I was there, I was also asked to get all of the vendors to fill out a survey for Diane. I was glad to have a little something extra to do.

Sadly, this Saturday was my last day at the farmer's market. I'll miss the fun times that I had there and all of the new friends that I made.

In other news, prepararions for the organic food and agriculture camp that will be held at Alpenblick Farm are well under way. Last week, I got to help Steve, the guy who is running the camp, start the construction of the second outhouse and the outdoor showers that will be used by the participants while they are at the camp. That was an extremely wet day, but fun nonetheless.

Later that week, I got to help Steve shop for some of the kitchenware and non-perishable food products for the camp. I got to visit three very interesting stores, ones that I have never visited before. They include Value Village, the Salvation Army thrift shop, and the organic food store called Herb and Spice. They are all very interesting shopping destinations and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a good deal.

I honestly cannot wait for the camp. It promises to be a lot of fun, and I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to help facilitate it. I will also be recording everybody's day-to-day experiences during the run of the camp, and then using my notes to compose an article on the camp that will be published in a goat farming magazine. I'm very excited.

This is my last "official" week of working at Canadian Organic Growers. The camp is something that I will be doing after my deadline for completing my hours. I will be sure to make at least one more post before my work term is done. Expect something from me soon.

With love,

Julia