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
Call for your feedback on proposed changes to bylaws
The City of Ottawa is updating a bylaw that will affect how you can grow food in your residential boulevard (the front of your front yard).
- Removing the existing prohibition on growing food in the residential boulevard
- Allowing moveable containers within the residential boulevard on a seasonal basis
- Requiring residents to sign an online letter of acknowledgement for growing food in the residential boulevard
What’s still missing from these updates:
- Allow residents to use soil retaining structures (i.e. raised beds, soil retaining walls)
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- All residential homes in Ottawa should be allowed to have non-removeable, low to the ground, permanent beds using long-lasting materials (i.e. wood, large stone, etc) to retain healthy soil to grow plants, including food
- There are thousands upon thousands of homes that already have raised beds (not just containers) and retaining walls in their front yards, including in the boulevard
- Snow plows are already managing to clear sidewalks and roads where these structures have already existed for many decades
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Additional recommendations:
- Allow residents to plant their own trees in the boulevard
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- Planting fruit/sap/nut trees in the boulevard at the residents’ expense, given the limited variety of trees from the Trees in Trust Program
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- Develop a clear outreach strategy for communications
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- A clear plan for communications that will include a letter when the bylaw is passed
- Ensure materials are available in multiple languages
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- Update height measurements for objects farther than 1m away from the road/curb
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- For yards that have larger residential boulevards, height restrictions should be increased for areas that are past 1m away from the curb/road/sidewalk, to allow greater flexibility in plant options and biodiversity while not impacting sight lines
To let the City know why you think this is important:
Click here to fill out this survey now!
Before Dec 31st, 2024
Background information:
Last year, Ottawa’s City Council passed amendments to the Use and Care of Roads By-law (By-law No. 2003-498) which allowed residents to plant gardens within the right-of-way, but did not allow for growing food. Through community efforts and advocacy, City Council directed staff to return with an updated plan to review allowing food to be grown in the right-of-way. For more information on this background, click here.
What is the Residential Boulevard?
The residential boulevard, also known as the right-of-way, is the City-owned parcel that is part of every property owner’s land, to allow for utilities, road/sidewalk maintenance, etc.
To view the right-of-way on your property, visit GeoOttawa here, enter your address, and click this icon in the top right corner.
Fill out this survey by December 31st, 2024 at 11:59pm!
Please share this survey far and wide within your networks and community. Everyone’s voice matters.
Questions? Please reach out to info@justfood.ca or communitygardening@justfood.ca.
November 17th, 2024 – Sourdough 101: From Starter to Loaf
Attention: This workshop is now FULL.
If you would like to put your name on the waiting list, please send an email to communitygardening@justfood.ca. We will contact you if a spot becomes available for this workshop.
Curious about what makes sourdough bread so uniquely delicious? Are you ready to dive into the world of wild yeast and fermentation?
Join us at the Just Food Community Farm on Sunday, November 17th for an afternoon of sourdough basics with facilitator Anjali Wildgen. This hands-on workshop will provide you with everything you need to start baking your very own delicious sourdough bread at home! Throughout this session, Anjali will teach the basics of maintaining a successful sourdough starter, as well as mixing, proofing, shaping, scoring, and baking a sourdough loaf.
All participants will take away their very own sourdough loaf to bake at home, as well as some sourdough starter and a rattan proofing basket to help you continue on your sourdough journey!
Snacks and beverages will be provided.
Tickets are $100 per person
Click here to register and claim your spot!
This workshop has a maximum capacity of 12 participants.
The deadline to register for this workshop is Wednesday, November 13th at 11:59PM EST.
All materials and take-home items will be provided through the workshop fee of $100.
If you have any questions about this workshop, please send an email to communitygardening@justfood.ca
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The Just Food Community Farm is located at 2391 Pepin Court, near Blackburn Hamlet.
Free parking is available on site. The farm is also accessible by bus routes #25 and #28.
Click here for directions on how to get to the Just Food Community Farm by car, public transit, or bike!
Accessibility Notes:
This workshop will be taking place in the catering kitchen, located on the second floor of the big red barn at the Just Food Community Farm. The barn is accessible and is equipped with a motorized lift and accessible washrooms.
If you have any additional questions on accessibility, please contact communitygardening@justfood.ca
Food Futures Youth Council: Applications Close October 10th
Calling all passionate youth ages 18-25 in the Algonquin/Ottawa region!
Join Food Futures, a dynamic team of change makers representing the youth voice for food and farming issues in the region!
There are two ways to be involved with Food Futures. Youth can apply to be a part of the Food Futures Youth Council (5 hour total monthly commitment), or sign up for the Youth Food Crew to engage with Food Futures initiatives on a drop-in basis.
Your unique voice and perspective is invaluable to the growing food justice movement.
Apply to the Youth Council by this Thursday, October 10th! Applications close at 11:59PM.
If you have any questions about Food Futures, or would like further information about these opportunities, please reach out to youthaction@justfood.ca.
We look forward to meeting you!
Fall Farm Fest
Fall Farm Fest – EVERYONE WELCOME !
Bring your family and friends – Free to attend
In partnership with:
Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard and the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre
Enjoy live music, wagon ride farm tours, buy fresh veg at the Just Food Farm Stand, enjoy a local art show, bring your own picnic, and buy prepared, fresh and preserved foods from local vendors.
Free to attend and full of fun, there’s something for everyone!
We’ll see you there!
Questions? Contact info@justfood.ca
FREE Activities:
- Free apples and corn roast from Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre (while supplies last!)
- Live Music
- Wagon Ride Farm Tours – or walk around the farm and see what’s happening
- Scavenger hunt and crafts from Earth Path
- Gardening advice from Rob Danforth of Senior Organic Growers
- Canadian Organic Growers – Ottawa-St. Lawrence-Outaouais Chapter
- Demonstration and juice samples from Hidden Harvest
- Tour and stories from Women’s Warrior Healing Garden
- Tour of edible food forest from Forêt Capitale Forest
- Bee keeping explained by Capital Bees
- Native Plant Nursery open house from A Cultivated Art
- Bring Your Own Picnic and enjoy!
- Tour the Community Greenhouse with Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard
Prepared food, fresh & preserved food, drinks for sale from:
- Yasmin Syrian Cooking
- Dominion City Brewing
- Just Food Farm Stand vendors
Where?
At the Just Food Community Farm
Sunday, September 29th 2024
11am – 3pm
2391 Pepin Court, Ottawa (in Blackburn Hamlet, just East of Vanier)
Visit here for more information on directions.
Accessibility info:
We have an accessible lift and washroom in the Big Red Barn
Our pavilion, where most vendors are located, is paved, and will have a rubberized pathway from the parking lot for access
Our roads are compacted gravel with mixed terrain and sloping
We will have staff and volunteers on site that will be available for support
Music will be playing throughout the day, please notify a member of staff if you are in need of locating a quiet space
If you have any questions on accessibility, please contact director@justfood.ca
Just Food, the Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard and Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of Ottawa!
September 25th, 2024: Miniature Vegetable Box Workshop
Come join us in the big red barn at the Just Food Community Farm on Wednesday, September 25th from 6:00PM-8:00PM for a playful, hands-on workshop where we’ll transform polymer clay into a charming miniature vegetable box!
In this two hour workshop with miniaturist Kiana Simmons, you will learn some of the basics of creating miniature foods using polymer clay. Kiana will guide you through the magical world of crafting your very own pint-sized garden, showing you tips and tricks to sculpt, bake, and bring your veggie box to life.
Together, we will mix clay to achieve realistic colours, shape the pieces and add details using clay and clay tools. You will make your own one-of-a-kind miniature wooden box full of teeny tiny vegetables to take home. All supplies will be provided, and there may even be some extra clay to take home!
Spots for this workshop are limited, so grab your ticket and let’s get crafting!
Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased here.
The Just Food Community Farm is located at 2391 Pépin Court, Ottawa, ON, K1B 4Z3 near Blackburn Hamlet. There is free parking on site.
Click here for instructions on how to get to us by car, bus, or bike!
The barn is accessible and is equipped with a motorized lift and accessible washrooms. If you have any additional questions on accessibility, please contact communitygardening@justfood.ca.
