Join us for these upcoming gardening workshops!
All workshops are $10 each, or Pay-What-You-Can (even if that’s $0!). Everyone is welcome to attend!
Watch this space: More workshops to come
Click on the headings below for more information on each available workshop
Canning/Preserving for Beginners
When?
Wednesday, October 11th, 6:30-8pm
Where?
Just Food Community Farm
2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa K1B 4Z3
(Click here for directions)
Click here to register
Description
Are you looking for new ways to process your end-of-season harvest? Do you find the process of canning and preserving to be intimidating and you aren’t sure where to start?
Join us for this workshop at the Just Food Community Farm, which includes a live demonstration of canning, plus lots of information to get you started on your canning and preservation journey!
Meet your Facilitator
Putting your Vegetable Gardens to Bed for Winter
When?
Thursday, October 12th, 7-8pm
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Click here to register
Description
It’s that time of year again: we’ve harvested all that we can, and are ready to rest up after another growing season. But what should you do with your garden beds to prepare them for the long winter ahead?
Join us and our facilitator Rob Danforth for this workshop on putting your vegetable gardens to bed for winter! Rob will cover not only in-ground beds, but also containers, raised beds, and elevated beds. He will also discuss options for soil saving and amending. We will all be ready tuck our gardens in for their winter rest by the end of this workshop!
Meet your Facilitator
Rob Danforth
Experienced urban food gardener (over 45 yrs.+) & gardening coach (over 12 yrs.+) for Canadian Organic Growers – Ottawa/St Lawrence /Outaouais Chapter, Senior Organic Gardeners, Just Food Ottawa, and private groups. Revised June, 2023.
Past gardening experiences with vegetables, herbs, & the flowers that support them in plots, raised beds, & containers (pots, box beds, elevated beds, cold frames, composters, & recycled items). Backyard (45 yrs.+), Past: Gloucester Allotment Gardens (14 yrs.), Past: Arrowsmith Community Gardens & Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard Garden (7 yrs.). Past donor of organic vegetables & herbs [most of our produce on the 2900 sq. ft. we used to garden] to GEFC & CCRC food banks (10 yrs.).
Gardening coach: on-the-road seminars (122 — 7 with translators), articles (42), videos (4), hands-on workshops (14), consultation booths (9), & zooms (57 — 14 with translators).
Past team member founding SOG and Arrowsmith Community Gardens.
Past volunteer at Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard (14 yrs.).
DTE Newsletter, https://ottawa.cog.ca/down-to-earth-newsletter/
Intro to Fermentation
When?
Wednesday, October 18th, 6:30-8pm
Where?
Just Food Community Farm
2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa K1B 4Z3
(Click here for directions)
Click here to register
Description
Join us at the Just Food Community Farm in our catering kitchen to learn the basics of fermentation!
Meet your Facilitator
Sun Shan was born in Beijing, China, and now lives in Ottawa, where she is an urban farmer and educator with a vast biology and ecology background. In 2015, Sun Shan founded Chi Garden along with her partner, where she combined over 20 years of experience working as a biomedical researcher, conservation biologist, non-profit leader, sustainability educator, and cultural/community interpreter. Her small ecological farm is cultivated as a place for diverse vegetables and herbs, community conversations around food, and connected traditions. Sun Shan is a member of the National Farmers Union (NFU) and its BIPOC group, and is an organizer for the East Asia Earth Village, where a diaspora of producers and creators from East Asia connect and co-create.
Grow All Year: Indoor Edible Gardening
When?
Thursday, October 19th, 7-8pm
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Click here to register
Description
As gardeners, October often feels like the time we start to wind down, preparing to put our gardens to bed for the winter. We may be starting to look forward to the (comparatively) restful months ahead, after another long growing season is behind us. While our outdoor growing spaces are certainly dwindling down in production, we can certainly still make lots of use of the space available inside (even if that’s not very much!).
In this workshop, we will cover some of the common and easy ways you can grow food inside, and the considerations that need to be taken in order to have success. This is the best time to get your indoor garden started, especially if you are growing from seed.
Meet your Facilitator
Join our very own Community Gardening Network Coordinator, Kate Veinot, for this workshop!
Edible Native Perennials
When?
Thursday, October 19th, 7-8pm
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Click here to register
Description
Are you interested in including more native plants in your garden in an effort to support pollinators, biodiversity, positive climate change, and landscape regeneration?
Are you also interested in including more edible perennials?
This workshop, facilitated by Jeff from REWILD Landscapes, will help you combine these two goals! Learn about edible native perennials and different ways to use them. Build your confidence when identifying edible native plants as you are exploring outdoors!
This is a highly anticipated workshop, and we encourage you to attend so you can get some ideas of what you’d like to plant next year (and maybe you can start them from seed this winter!).
Meet your Facilitator
Jeff Collins
(he/him, they/them)
Horticulturist & Landscape Designer
Jeff Collins, owner of REWILD Landscapes, is a horticulturist and landscape designer focused on restoring habitats and ensuring food security. With a lifetime of experience, Jeff uses his knowledge and skills to create spaces for people and the ecosystem surrounding them. Jeff’s designs include native plants and non-invasive, edible species. He believes that it shouldn’t just be the local wildlife and pollinators enjoying the landscape but the homeowner and community as well.
Selecting and Winter Sowing Native Plants for Your Food Ecosystem
When?
Thursday, November 23rd, 7-8pm
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Click here to register
Description
Are you interested in adding more native plants to your growing space, but aren’t sure where to start when making your selection? Do you want to learn how to grow your own native plants from seed? Maybe you joined us for the Edible Native Perennials workshop and now want to learn about growing them yourself?
Join us for this workshop facilitated by Sundaura of A Cultivated Art to learn about selecting and winter sowing native plants, with a special focus on species that offer food, support pollinators or host nitrogen fixing bacteria.
Meet your Facilitator
Sundaura has been working in the horticultural industry in Ontario since 1998 and was an avid gardener for over a decade before that. In 2002 she combined an education in architecture with her passion for plants into a career as a landscape designer for residential spaces.
Her interest in sustainability eventually led her away from much of the conventional landscaping industry and toward a focus on growing and working with native species, teaching hands-on courses intended to help restore care-based land and plant relationships and offering design services specifically focused on supporting local ecosystems and sustainable food relationships in urban and suburban environments.
Previous Workshops
Click on the headings below for more information on workshops we held earlier this year. See something you’re interested in? Contact us at communitygardening@justfood.ca for more information!
Late Season Container Gardening
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Description
There’s still time to grow food this season, and this workshop will set you up with the basic skills needed to garden in containers. Whether you have a balcony garden or are looking to make the most out of other areas of your yard, container gardening is a great, versatile option that can also be less physically demanding. We will also focus on crops that can still be planted to harvest this year!
Join us to learn about what kind of containers and soil to look for, what crops do best when grown in containers, and what special considerations need to be taken into account when growing in containers instead of in the ground.
Meet your Facilitator
Join our very own Community Gardening Network Coordinator, Kate Veinot, for this workshop!
Demystify Your Vegetable Garden
Where?
Virtual (via Zoom)
Description
What’s happening in our gardens sometimes feels like a mystery. Is that plant wilted from disease, or did I just forget to water it? Are those signs of nutrient deficiency or is it pest damage?
Join us for this interactive workshop where facilitator Rob Danforth will help demystify what’s going on in our very own vegetable gardens. After a brief introduction addressing some of the common tell-tale signs of issues in your garden, Rob will review your submissions to specifically address what is likely going on, and provide best organic practices to remedy the situation. This is your chance to have some direct feedback to figure out the inner workings of your vegetable garden.
Please submit photos of your vegetable plants in question to communitygardening@justfood.ca in advance of the workshop to ensure we are able to address them during the session.
If you do not have a specific issue that you are looking to address, this workshop will still provide excellent tips on what to look for when spending time in your garden – the best offense is a strong defense!
Meet your Facilitator
Rob Danforth
Experienced urban food gardener (over 45 yrs.+) & gardening coach (over 12 yrs.+) for Canadian Organic Growers – Ottawa/St Lawrence /Outaouais Chapter, Senior Organic Gardeners, Just Food Ottawa, and private groups. Revised June, 2023.
Past gardening experiences with vegetables, herbs, & the flowers that support them in plots, raised beds, & containers (pots, box beds, elevated beds, cold frames, composters, & recycled items). Backyard (45 yrs.+), Past: Gloucester Allotment Gardens (14 yrs.), Past: Arrowsmith Community Gardens & Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard Garden (7 yrs.). Past donor of organic vegetables & herbs [most of our produce on the 2900 sq. ft. we used to garden] to GEFC & CCRC food banks (10 yrs.).
Gardening coach: on-the-road seminars (122 — 7 with translators), articles (42), videos (4), hands-on workshops (14), consultation booths (9), & zooms (57 — 14 with translators).
Past team member founding SOG and Arrowsmith Community Gardens.
Past volunteer at Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard (14 yrs.).
DTE Newsletter, https://ottawa.cog.ca/down-to-earth-newsletter/
Videos: https://justfood.ca/gardening-workshops/
Articles: https://www.cog.ca/ottawa/seasonal-resources/
SOG site: https://seniororganicgardeners.ca/
A Practical Approach to Low-input Edible Landscapes
Where?
Just Food Community Farm
2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa K1B 4Z3
(Click here for directions)
Description
Join Shelley Lambert, Director at Forêt Capitale Forest & Chief Food Forester at Nanabush Food Forests, at the Just Food Community Farm for this workshop, which will cover a wide array of food-bearing trees, shrubs, perennials, and edible mushrooms that you can grow at home. Shelley will touch on the practical side of permaculture, and how you can realistically create an edible landscape that requires minimal maintenance and will provide food, beauty, and pleasure year after year. This workshop will include a walk around the Just Food Community Farm, followed by a snack and discussion period.
Please ensure you wear appropriate footwear and clothing, keeping in mind the possible presence of ticks and mosquitoes at the farm.
For accessibility information, please contact us at communitygardening@justfood.ca so we can provide further information on the terrain.
Strengthening your Garden’s Resilience to Adversity
Where?
Nepean Allotment Gardens
239 Viewmount Dr, Nepean, ON K2E 8B6
Description
Our gardens are facing more adversity than ever before: increased pest pressure, severe weather events, extensive periods of drought, etc. This workshop will discuss some of the ways that we can work towards having a more resilient garden that will continue to feed us and our families, while also contributing to climate change in a positive way.
During this workshop, you will be encouraged to assess your current gardening methods and setups, and how you can make changes to strengthen your garden’s resilience for the future. This is your opportunity to receive feedback on your own setup, so make sure to think about how you currently handle watering, increased pest pressures, or any other challenges you’ve been facing in the past few seasons!
For accessibility information, please contact us at communitygardening@justfood.ca so we can provide further details on the terrain.
Meet your Facilitator
Bri Petersen is an avid gardener, educator and sustainability advocate. She is the owner of an online gardening education business – Urban Gardening Canada – where she teaches people how to garden alongside nature, while strengthening the gardening community. Bri focuses on education as a way to bring people closer to the environment, climate patterns and nature. She believes that as people work with the soil and grow plants, they will naturally find a connection between how they live and how they treat the earth. She believes that climate and social justice can start in the garden.
Making the Most out of your Herbal Garden
Where?
Jo-jo’s Community Garden
located behind Jo-Jo’s Pizza
1573 Stittsville Main St, Stittsville, ON K2S 1Y1
Description
As the growing season begins to come to a close, we all often have more herbs than we know what to do with. Amber will walk us through the many ways that herbs can be used, including for healing practices, preserving, teas and kitchen use, etc.
Even if you don’t have your own herbal garden, this workshop will both inspire you to start your own, and to find new ways to make use of the beautiful herbs you may encounter at your local markets.
For accessibility information, please contact us at communitygardening@justfood.ca so we can provide further details on the terrain.
Meet your Facilitator
My name is Amber (she/her). I am a registered herbalist, plant-lover, medicine maker, seasoned gardener, and wildcrafter. I’m also a passionate educator, eager to invite people into relationship with plants.
The intersections of herbalism, sustainability, environmental ethics and social justice are deeply rooted in my work. I strive to provide accessible herbal care and purposeful education, that is in service to the plants, people and environment. I began my herbal studies in 2008, and since then, have built my practice to offer herbal consultations, plant walks, workshops and youth programming.
I look forward to connecting with you!
Where?
Lowertown Community Garden
40 Cobourg St, Ottawa, ON
(Behind the building, along Patro St)
PLEASE NOTE: There are two community gardens that are located at the Lowertown Community Resource Centre at this address; we will be meeting at the garden located behind the centre, along Patro St.
Description
The Box Of Life is an Ottawa social enterprise that teaches people how to build healthy soil from their food scraps efficiently in small spaces. Creating good quality compost is both an art and a science, and good system and process design go a long way in making composting a seamless part of every garden. They provide the expertise and help in creating beautiful composting systems.
In this workshop Akil, from The Box of Life will talk about building soil using hot composting. This workshop is for both home composters and community garden composters. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to understand how to compost properly, how to size and design the composting systems, and how to efficiently manage the composting process so that you can build good quality compost every gardening season!
Meet the facilitator
Akil is the founder of The Box Of Life and a climate warrior. Anxious, frustrated, and saddened by the lack of action of our communities towards fighting climate change, Akil decided to do something about it!
He created The Box of Life because he believe that the humble composting earthworm can reshape our relationship with food waste and rekindle our love for nature in the urban world.
What started out as an at-home vermi-composting experiment a few years ago has now turned into a full time profession that Akil is really passionate about!
Akil hopes that your composting journey, whatever the reason might be, can bring about some positivity and joy in your life.
Digging in: Building Soil Health
Where?
Just Food Community Farm
2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa K1B 4Z3
(Click here for directions)
Description
Jeff from REWILD Landscapes joins us to teach this workshop about types of soil, how to determine what kind of soil you are working with, ways to amend your soil when needed, and best practices for building your soil health. Pick up some tips on how to get your soil ready this fall for the growing season next year! Jeff is a self-proclaimed “soil nerd”, and is particularly passionate about providing folks with the knowledge to assess and improve their soil health. This workshop will give you the confidence to set your soil up for success, whether you grow food at home, a community garden, or elsewhere.
Meet your Facilitator
Jeff Collins
(he/him, they/them)
Horticulturist & Landscape Designer
Jeff Collins, owner of REWILD Landscapes, is a horticulturist and landscape designer focused on restoring habitats and ensuring food security. With a lifetime of experience, Jeff uses his knowledge and skills to create spaces for people and the ecosystem surrounding them. Jeff’s designs include native plants and non-invasive, edible species. He believes that it shouldn’t just be the local wildlife and pollinators enjoying the landscape but the homeowner and community as well.
Introduction to Seed Saving and Storage
Where?
Brewer Park Community Garden
Located across from Brewer Arena
100 Brewer Way, Ottawa, ON
Description
Learn the basics of saving seeds, plant genetics, collection techniques, storage and viability. You may even be able to breed your own varieties, adapted specifically to growing conditions in your garden! We will also look at seed varieties that are suitable for beginner, intermediate and expert seed-savers. Timing and collection methods are discussed, along with information on seed sanitation and storage. We will also discuss long-term viability of seeds.
This workshop includes hands-on interaction and experience! We will have envelopes on hand, but also encourage folks to bring a couple of glass mason jars that can be used to store seeds.
Meet your Facilitator
Rebecca Last
Rebecca, having begun gardening at a young age, has now been a member of the Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton since 2005. She runs a gardening blog, Gardening at Last, which covers all kinds of topics related to the world of gardening. She includes elements of permaculture practices in her own gardening journey, and her small suburban garden is certified by the Canadian Wildlife Federation as wildlife habitat! We are very excited to have Rebecca on board as facilitator for this workshop.
