Cornwall Seedy Saturday
During the month of March 2021, the Transition Cornwall+ Food Action Group will be supporting home and community gardeners with a series of webinars.
We hope you can join us!
Are you starting to plan your garden and looking for some advice from an expert gardener? Join us as we plan for spring with Pat Lucey.
Missed the live show? Click the image above to watch the YouTube recording or catch the TV premiere on YourTV Cornwall Tuesday, March 16th at 9:00pm.
What To Expect:
Meet Our Guest – Pat Lucey
Pat Lucey is an expert gardener and educator with Transition Cornwall+ Food Action Group and the Senior Organic Growers in Ottawa.
Pat is a retired software engineer – a wife, mother, grandmother, and longtime organic gardener. She has been growing organic gardens in a bracing northern climate for 33 years – 23 years in Eastern Ontario, and 10 years prior in southeastern Wisconsin, near the Lake Michigan shore.
Pat has offered organic gardening workshops with Canadian Organic Growers for over a decade, and is excited to bring her expertise to Cornwall Seedy Saturday. “Gardening is in my bones, heart and soul (and under my fingernails). It’s always a great pleasure for me to share my love of the soil with others!”
Pat’s Recommended Resources
Does your garden plan involve starting seeds indoors? Have you struggled with your indoor seedlings in the past? Not sure what equipment you need? Join us as we learn from Jamie MacRae and Matt Lalonde from Cornerstone Organics.
What To Expect:
Meet Our Guests – Jamie MacRae and Matt Lalonde
Jamie and Matt operate a first-generation, family run, organic farm in Long Sault. They offer CSA shares to over 30 customers, and coordinate a local food delivery hub in partnership with producers in the area.
It all started ten years ago when our son was diagnosed with a unique syndrome and allergies to a number of different foods. We started sourcing local, healthy foods and quickly realized there was a demand in our area for locally-grown, organic food.
Fast forward to today, Jamie and Matt now operate 3 greenhouses, offer a vegetable CSA, coordinate an online food delivery hub, have a line of organic teas, and offer meditation and yoga workshops in their on-farm yurt.
Find out more: www.cornerstoneorganics.com
Jamie and Matt’s Recommended Resources
Want to starting growing food and wildflowers as a family but not sure where to start? Join us with your children as we discover the exciting world of seeds and gardening with Dr. Rochelle Johnston from Family Earth.
What To Expect:
Meet Our Guest – Rochelle Johnston
Dr. Rochelle Johnston is the creator of Family Earth, a social enterprise in South Dundas working to help families heal their relationship with the natural world. Rochelle has worked for over two decades, across Canada and around the world, delivering innovative programs to build the resilience of children, youth and families.
Family Earth builds the capacities of families to mitigate and adapt to climate change through outdoor, hands-on experiences where children and adults learn and have fun together.
Most recently, Family Earth launched “Growing Families” an online workshop series + all the seeds, soil and equipment you need to start a veggie and wildflower garden indoors to plant outside in the spring.
Visit online and sign up for Family Earth’s newsletter to stay abreast of upcoming seasonal “playshops,” community and overnight events: http://www.familyearth.earth .
**Note – Registration for Webinar 3 Activity Kit has now passed. **
Rochelle’s Recommended Resources
Other Family Resources Recommended by Transition Cornwall+ Food Action Group
Local Seed, Gardening, & Produce Vendors
Beyond The Garden Gate offers a huge variety of heirloom seeds for common, rare, and wild edible plants.
They also carry a seasonal selection of jams and jellies with produce grown in the Ottawa Valley.
Bird & Bee is a small-scale seed company in Ottawa that believes in open- pollinated seeds, protecting species diversity through plant propagation and seed-saving, and in sharing the stories of seeds to bring the conversation back to local food.
All of products are certified organic by Ecocert Canada.
Bonville Garden is a market garden owned by Doug Stewart and Deb Stone, and is located in Bonville Ontario. Since 2015, they have worked hard on the land, providing the local community with fresh, organically grown produce, herbs, and flowers. Their new product, Soil Science, has been the secret ingredient to their success and is available through their online store.
Cornerstone Organics is a first-generation, family run, organic farm in Long Sault. They offer CSA shares to over 30 customers, and coordinate a local food delivery hub in partnership with producers in the area.
Join us for Webinar 2 on March 20th as we learn seed starting basics from owners Matt and Jamie, and find out how you can get your hands on some of their extra seedlings for your own garden.
We are five young farmers who met while studying agriculture at MacDonald campus of McGill university. Our interest in good food, social justice and the enviroment led us to start Tourne-Sol cooperative farm in the fall of 2004.
We strive to produce agricultural products of the highest quality according to organic standards and agro-ecological principles; to build strong community ties in our region: and to promote organic agriculture as a viable food production system.
As an organic seed company based in Ontario. Greta’s Organic Gardens assists customers in cultivating a unique and high quality garden and plants.
Evolve your garden from average to extraordinary with organic vegetable seeds. Greta’s Organic Gardens offers an assortment of seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Their many categories offer the ultimate customization of your personal organic garden.
Specialize in the propagation of rare heirloom vegetable seed without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. All varieties are isolated to ensure purity and then acclimatized to northern conditions.
Heirloom seed varieties have been grown for several generations, and are open-pollinated by wind and insects.
Kitchen Table Seed House is located on Wolfe Island, just a ferry ride from downtown Kingston, Ontario.
Kitchen Table Seed House is dedicated to providing the most productive and flavorful varieties of organic vegetables, herbs and flowers for you to grow and enjoy, both in your gardens and in your kitchen.
Pitt Street Garden is a 1 acre urban permaculture market garden farm located in Cornwall. They offer a CSA box program and participate in local farmers’ markets during the summer season.
The edge of the farm property has been developed into perennial system of fruit tress and a mixture of berry plants using permaculture design. For those looking for expertise on permaculture planning, contact Pitt Street Garden to book an appointment.
Radical Roots offers a selection of “seed bombs” crafted from red clay, worm castings and native (to Canada) wildflower seeds.
Each seed bomb is filled with a blend of wildflower seeds aimed at regenerating local ecosystems and pollinator species. With minimal effort and some patience, one seed bomb provides 1 square foot of wildflowers.
Springfield Farm is an AgriTourist destination in South Glengarry offering a myriad of vegetables and garden seeds for sale. Springfield Farm is an environmental farm oasis and proud members of OFA, COG, OFFMA and ALUS.
Seeds packets available from 2020 growing season:
-Mixed Sunflowers
-Mixed Beans
-Milkweed
Each packet is $2.
Local Gardening Partners Are Here to Help
Canadian Organic Growers (COG) is Canada’s national organic farmer and consumer association and is a registered educational charity.
COG offers training and resources to raise awareness about organics and assist farmers and gardeners in adopting sustainable and commercially viable, organic production methods. We are engaged in policy work and industry development at the local, regional and national level and offer a voice for organic farmers and consumers to governments on matters related to food and farming.
COG has a Chapter operating in the Eastern Ontario area to serve local/regional gardeners and farmers.
Free compost and wood mulch are available from the Cornwall Landfill located at 2590 Cornwall Centre Road. Open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
*Bring your own shovel and containers when picking up compost.
Seeds of Diversity is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to the conservation of agricultural and horticultural biodiversity. Our members preserve the basic building blocks of Canada’s food system: plants, seeds, and pollinators. We save and collect seeds of rare and endangered food plants, promote the health of pollinator ecosystems, help communities create local food systems, and make thousands of varieties of vegetables, fruit, and grains available that might otherwise disappear forever.
Some of what they do:
