Join us for SeedLing Saturday! – May 10th, 2025
Mark your calendars!
Join us on Saturday, May 10th from 10:00AM – 1:00PM at the Just Food Community Farm for SeedLing Saturday, our much-loved annual event where farmers, gardeners, and community members gather to celebrate the joys of spring and kick off the growing season together!
What’s Happening This Year?
Seedlings from amazing local vendors, including:
- Urban Gardening Canada
- The Good Shit
- Slow Roots Farm
- Gaia Organic Seeds
- Ferme Agricola Cooperative Farm
- Wild Roots Farm
- Wild Blooms Farm
- Chi Garden Ecological Farm & Fermentation Kitchen
- Ferme Lune du Matin
- La Réfriche Nursery
- Forêt Capitale Forests
- A Cultivated Art Inc.
- Back Porch Botanicals
- Capital Bees
- Bountiful Beaver
- Nanabush Food Forests
Free seed & seedling exchange table – while supplies last!
Gardening info & wisdom from:
- Canadian Organic Growers (Ottawa-St. Lawrence-Outaouais Chapter)
- Senior Organic Growers
- Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library
- The Box of Life
Gardening workshops every 30 minutes!
Topics include:
- Using What You Have: Prioritizing Sustainability in Community Gardening
- Growing Asparagus in Your Backyard
- Food as Medicine: Plants to Consider for Your Garden
- …and more!
Plus:
- Live music from local musicians
- Delicious eats from Sheepdog Grill
Have extra containers or garden tools?
Give them a second life! We’re collecting unused pots, containers, and gently used garden tools to support community members growing food in small spaces. Bring your extras to SeedLing Saturday and help fellow growers get started this season!
Entry is free and all are welcome to attend!
How do I get to the farm?
The Just Food Community Farm is located at 2391 Pepin Court, near Blackburn Hamlet.
There is free parking on site. The farm is accessible by bus route #25.
Please click here for directions on how to get to the Just Food Community Farm by bus, bike, or car!
We can’t wait to welcome you to the farm next weekend!
Have questions about SeedLing Saturday?
Please reach out to communitygardening@justfood.ca.
We’re Hiring!
Are you passionate about transforming local food and farming systems and want to apply your skills to this work?
Stay tuned for more opportunities to join our team!
Community Gardening on City Land report has been published
Here is an overview of the main recommendations from City staff:
- Shift internal City oversight from Community and Social Services (CSSD) to Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services (RCFS).
- Formalize City-wide mandate for supporting gardening activities.
- Form an internal inter-departmental working group.
- Allocate 1 Full-Time City staff to manage the internal program, within existing resources.
Community is asking for:
- A clear timeline and process for 2025:
- For existing requests waiting for approval to move ahead
- For new initiative requests
- For community engagement on operations (which has not yet happened!)
- A clearer program name: “Community-led Planting Program” to capture the full scope of planting activities as they are all interconnected
- Commitment for additional staff time to support transition of this program from one department (that has the historical context and research) to a new department
Plus more!
You can read more about the details of all of the collective asks by clicking here.
How You Can Take Action This Week:
1) Email your City Councillors – use our template:
- Click here to find your Councillor & and their contact info
- Use this easy template guide to send an email to your Councillor!
- Template #1: Existing community gardeners waiting years for answers
- Template #2: New community gardeners waiting for this report to apply for new initiatives
2) Sign up to delegate at the Community Services Committee on April 22nd:
- Submit a written letter or visual presentation before tomorrow, Thursday, April 17th, at 4:00PM, or
- Sign up to delegate at the Committee Meeting, either virtually or in person, by no later than 8:30AM on Tuesday, April 22nd
- You can submit your written letter/visual presentation, or register to delegate, by sending an email to:
- Eric Pelot, Committee Coordinator –
eric.pelot@ottawa.ca, (613) 580-2424, ext. 22953
- Eric Pelot, Committee Coordinator –
3) Need support delegating? We can help!
Attend tonight’s delegation support session for CGN members!
Register here for our 30 minute delegation support session tonight, April 16th from 6:30-7:00PM, online via Zoom
Have questions or looking for support?
Please contact communitygardening@justfood.ca
Growing Change: Front Yard Gardening Gets the Go-Ahead in Ottawa!
Front Yard Gardening Approved!
Exciting news! Ottawa City Council’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee has approved key policy updates that allow residents to grow food in their front yards and on residential boulevards. These changes will help to expand urban agriculture and food security in our city, and make it easier for residents to establish new front yard gardens.
What’s Changing?
Residents will be able to:
- Plant food directly in the soil on residential boulevards without permits needed.
- Build permanent raised beds (up to 45 cm tall), as a way to address concerns around soil quality and contamination.
- Use movable containers (to be installed seasonally, and removed for the winter months).
- Replace turf grass with alternative ground covers around fire hydrants, trees, and setbacks.
These changes come thanks to the dedicated efforts of local community members and representatives who spoke up for the right to grow food on public land parcels!
What’s Next and Ongoing?
Stay tuned, as on April 16th – City Council will vote on final approval of these recommendations and more information will then be available. However further advocacy is still needed, and there are still some key pieces on this policy to explore:
- In Fall 2025, city staff will meet with Community Expertise to reflect on the implications of height restrictions from this year’s growing season.
- The Environment Committee will explore considerations on the reduction of chemical pesticides, rodenticides, and herbicides.
- Expanding planting of edible fruit and nut trees through the Trees in Trust program will be further explored by Councillors.
- Delegates also encouraged further use of native plants and deep rooted perennials for use in ditch planting and naturalization projects, to aid in stormwater management and prevent erosion.
This is just the beginning, as further continued advocacy will be key in shaping the future of urban agriculture and community gardens. The support of Ottawa communities is needed to shape long-term land security and backing community gardening on a municipal level.
We appreciate your support and involvement, so stay tuned for more details to come after April 16th!
Have any questions or comments you’d like to share? Send them to communitygardening@justfood.ca!
Residential Boulevard Bylaw Updates coming March 27th
City Staff are presenting proposed updates to the Use and Care of Roads Bylaw at this coming Thursday’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Meeting to address growing food in the residential boulevard.
In preparation for this meeting, Peoples Official Plan Plant Strategy Working Group met last week to discuss a collective approach to our asks for this bylaw update.
Here are the 5 key updates we are still seeking as part of this bylaw update:
- Increase plant height restrictions to allow for greater selection and varieties of plants grown in the residential boulevard, while still respecting safe sightlines.
- In setback areas, restrict plant height (recommended to 60cm) instead of restricting plant type (i.e. allow for plants other than turfgrass).
- Restrict the use of chemicals in the residential boulevard.
- Provide a mechanism by which residents can plant their own trees in the residential boulevard, with an approval process; increase variety of trees offered through Trees in Trust.
- Decrease setbacks for permanent structures/non-moveable containers where there’s no sidewalk from 1.5m to 1.0m
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
We recorded the presentation from March 18th Click here to view [approx 30 mins]
Can you take any of these next steps to support residents growing food in their residential boulevard?
1) E-mail your City Councillor:
- Use this e-mail template to send to your City Councillor before March 26th
- Find your City Councillor’s information here
2) Share widely!
- Get your circles mobilized to send letters of their own!
4) Looking for more detail?
- Check out these documents for additional information:
- a) Residential Boulevard Bylaw Update: Requested Changes
b) “Why I care” – prepared by Nadine O, for inspiration
- a) Residential Boulevard Bylaw Update: Requested Changes
5) Have questions or need support?
- E-mail communitygardening@justfood.ca with:
– any questions or comments you have
– details if you have set a meeting with your Councillor
– if you are interested to sign up as a delegate on March 27th
– request for support on writing letters, delegating, speaking to Councillors, etc
We have come so far and can win this!
Please share amongst your circles and spread the message far and wide!
Resident Meeting March 18 2025: Garden Boulevard Bylaw Update
This meeting, brought to you by the Peoples’ Official Plan Plant Strategy Working Group, with this policy piece led by For Our Kids Ottawa/Gatineau and Just Food, is your chance to get involved!
March 18th, 7:30 pm – 8:30pm via Zoom
Click Here to Register
