Today was the first day of the children's gardening program at one of the social agencies I am volunteering with this spring/summer. Acually the program today was not at the centre but at a nearby townhouse complex. I was leading one of the activity stations for the kids to visit during the program. They came to me to plant flower seeds in little pots to take home or to plant some seeds for us to grow in the community garden. Some kids stayed at my station the whole time and made tons of seed pots to take home. Some came and went and came again. All in all, it went very well. They seemed enthusiastic and I think they really enjoyed playing with dirt and planting seeds. I am looking forward to gardening this summer with them!
They planted an assortment of leftover flower seeds that someone had donated to the social agency in their take home pots. For the community garden we planted some nasturtium seeds. Nasturtium seeds don't need to be started inside but I have not received the seeds I ordered in the mail yet so I thought we might as well get an early start on them. Plus, I like to to talk to kids about eating flowers and nasturtiums are a good flower to eat. (Speaking of flowers, I was very pleased to see that dandelions have started blooming. This year I might try out a recipe I have for dandelion wine!)
I was actually feeling very anxious all day about my M.A. thesis and so having a break to garden with kids made me feel so much more relaxed and happy. A good sign that you are doing something you are meant to do is when you feel relaxed and happy when you're doing it!
Creating beautiful, organic and regenerative gardens in London, Ontario. Check out our website for more information - www.earthmagiclondon.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Rotten potatoes!
Don't let your potato "seeds" rot. Open the box (like the sticker on the box says) and then store them in a dark, dry place until you can plant them. I forgot to do this for the potato seeds I ordered for one of the children's gardens and they rotted! I'll give them the seeds I got for my personal garden plot and order some more for myself. This time, I ordered Yukon gold potato seeds. Too bad about the rotten ones: it is such a waste and smelled horrible!
Here is where I get my organic potato seeds: https://www.westcoastseeds.com/product/Vegetable-Seeds/Potatoes/
Here is where I get my organic potato seeds: https://www.westcoastseeds.com/product/Vegetable-Seeds/Potatoes/
Co-ops
Today EB, EG, and I went to the food co-op to do our bi-weekly grocery shopping. We were (almost) the only people there and the kids impressed the managers with their history and art knowledge (they impress me too as they know way more than I do!). We biked there, EB on his bike, EG in the trailer with the groceries.
When I got home I had a bit of semi-stressful stuff to take care of for the committee I am on at my housing co-op. Sometimes belonging to co-ops feels like a lot of work especially since I always seem to be overly busy. But belonging to co-ops helps me to feel a sense of community to a degree that I don't feel in very many places. There are lots of stores, coffee shops, library branches, etc that I visit frequently and feel a sense of community about (to varying degrees) but with the co-ops I feel a real sense of belonging. With the housing, food, and learning co-ops I belong to, I am actually an integral part of their functioning. I helped with the grant that bought the food co-op's new freezers, for example, and I organize kid's activities at my housing co-op. Sometimes, co-ops can feel like a lot of extra meetings and work but they had so much depth and richness to my life (not to mention the ways in which the co-op movement more broadly helps to make the world a better place). I am lucky to have the opportunity to participate in so many co-ops and am excited to add community-supported agriculture program to the list of ways in which I live in community.
When I got home I had a bit of semi-stressful stuff to take care of for the committee I am on at my housing co-op. Sometimes belonging to co-ops feels like a lot of work especially since I always seem to be overly busy. But belonging to co-ops helps me to feel a sense of community to a degree that I don't feel in very many places. There are lots of stores, coffee shops, library branches, etc that I visit frequently and feel a sense of community about (to varying degrees) but with the co-ops I feel a real sense of belonging. With the housing, food, and learning co-ops I belong to, I am actually an integral part of their functioning. I helped with the grant that bought the food co-op's new freezers, for example, and I organize kid's activities at my housing co-op. Sometimes, co-ops can feel like a lot of extra meetings and work but they had so much depth and richness to my life (not to mention the ways in which the co-op movement more broadly helps to make the world a better place). I am lucky to have the opportunity to participate in so many co-ops and am excited to add community-supported agriculture program to the list of ways in which I live in community.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Urban Farming
I have a life plan that is just starting to manifest (it has to be held back for a while until I finish my M.A. thesis) and it is that I would like to be an urban farmer. My dream would be to have a permaculture farm in central London that is a modest CSA and has a small stall at the farmer's market but that mainly serves as a tool for environmental education. That dream is a long way off. But I do see myself designing edible landscapes for individual folks as well as creating community programs and maybe starting some sort of small spin farming enterprise over the next 5 years or so. This summer I am doing my own communtiy garden plot based on permaculture principles (as much as possible) and designing two children's gardens and gardening programs for social agencies in my city. I hope to gain experience both with environmental education and with permaculture gardening.
My educational goal is to finish my M.A. and then begin the (very part-time) certificate program in Sustainable Urban Agricultue at the University of Guelph while gaining the much needed practical experience described above. I hope to get my kids as involved in this as they want to be but at the moment EB doesn't seem that interested. EG is quite enthusiastic about planting seeds which is great. I hope I can invovle them in a way that makes gardening/farming fun and fullfilling. But if I can't, our communtiy garden is right beside a playground and close to a splash pad so that should ensure I get my gardening time in while they play.
My educational goal is to finish my M.A. and then begin the (very part-time) certificate program in Sustainable Urban Agricultue at the University of Guelph while gaining the much needed practical experience described above. I hope to get my kids as involved in this as they want to be but at the moment EB doesn't seem that interested. EG is quite enthusiastic about planting seeds which is great. I hope I can invovle them in a way that makes gardening/farming fun and fullfilling. But if I can't, our communtiy garden is right beside a playground and close to a splash pad so that should ensure I get my gardening time in while they play.
Why I started this blog
I started this blog because my son cries when he thinks about the damage that humans are doing to the earth and he wants us to not just do things in our personal lives but to inspire other people to live more sustainably as well. I have been an activist of all kinds for many years and I will continue to be an activist but I also feel drawn to help inspire/teach people how to live differently through my writing.
I am not an ecological superstar - I'm not perfect but I try to always learn and change. I am immensely inspired by permaculture - I just completed Earth Activist Training with Starhawk which was an amazing life experience. My calling, I am starting to realize, is being an activist and advocate for and participant in urban agriculture. A lot of this blog will focus on environmental education of children, my family's gardening experiences, and my attempts to become an urban farmer.
My family is also car-free (and neither adult even knows how to drive) by choice which I think is unusual for families in my medium-sized city. This blog will be a place for me to write about what it really means to be a car-free family - how we shop, how we get around the city, how we travel, and, the trickiest of all, how we camp!
We are an unschooling, co-parenting family. Unschooling means the kids are not in school but are free to pursue their interests in thier own way, at their own pace. Their dad and I provide guidance and resources and help our kids to live a full, rich life. Co-parenting means that their dad and I are not a couple but instead we are co-parents. We live close to each other, share custody of the kids, and most importantly, we are friends. My family includes myself, my kids,and my co-parent (and our two bunnies, my co-parent's cat, and 100s of red wriggler worms).
I want this to be a public blog but I don't really want to use my kid's real names. So, my 4 year old daughter will be refered to as Earth Girl (EG for short), My 8 year old son will be Earth Boy (EB), my co-parent is Zen dad (ZD), and I'm Earthy Mama (my real name is Becky!).
I am not an ecological superstar - I'm not perfect but I try to always learn and change. I am immensely inspired by permaculture - I just completed Earth Activist Training with Starhawk which was an amazing life experience. My calling, I am starting to realize, is being an activist and advocate for and participant in urban agriculture. A lot of this blog will focus on environmental education of children, my family's gardening experiences, and my attempts to become an urban farmer.
My family is also car-free (and neither adult even knows how to drive) by choice which I think is unusual for families in my medium-sized city. This blog will be a place for me to write about what it really means to be a car-free family - how we shop, how we get around the city, how we travel, and, the trickiest of all, how we camp!
We are an unschooling, co-parenting family. Unschooling means the kids are not in school but are free to pursue their interests in thier own way, at their own pace. Their dad and I provide guidance and resources and help our kids to live a full, rich life. Co-parenting means that their dad and I are not a couple but instead we are co-parents. We live close to each other, share custody of the kids, and most importantly, we are friends. My family includes myself, my kids,and my co-parent (and our two bunnies, my co-parent's cat, and 100s of red wriggler worms).
I want this to be a public blog but I don't really want to use my kid's real names. So, my 4 year old daughter will be refered to as Earth Girl (EG for short), My 8 year old son will be Earth Boy (EB), my co-parent is Zen dad (ZD), and I'm Earthy Mama (my real name is Becky!).
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