My husband and I recently joined a local organic community garden, and were pleased to find when we paid our seasonal rate for the plot, that we had also acquired membership in Canadian Organic Growers–the national information network for organic gardeners, farmers and consumers.
The local group meets once a month on the fourth Wednesday of the month from September to May, excluding December. There are speakers present, too. The autumn lineup includes a lecture entitled, “Weeds: The Treasures we Toss” and a video presentation of “The Future of Food”. There’s a seed swap in January, newsletter and a lending library all included in the membership.
I’m really looking forward to meeting some other local gardeners and increasing my focus on organic gardening, even throughout the winter.
Incidentally, the plot we got for $40 is huge…it’s a corner plot, 30 x 30′, and in the corner, so we can grow up the chain link fence, too, if we like. I’m leaning towards growing a whole whack of gourds, pumpkins, zucchini, etc. over there, since this fall I’m wishing I had more than one pumpkin to grace the front porch!
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Hello:
I am interested in buying locally organic grown fruits and vegetables. Would I be able to buy from your community garden without growing my own?
I hope so. I believe there is not an organic farm in Durham and the produce I buy from Loblaws is brought from all over the world, hardly any canadian grown.
Would you be also able to tell me if there is any organic grown produce at the Oshawa Centre’s Farmer’s Market?
Last year I asked around the market and I got a few sarcastic comments. I’d love to buy local but I don’t feel comfortable if they use pesticides.
Thank you so much for any information you can provide.
Sincerely,
Selva.
Hi Selva,
The community gardeners only grow enough food for their own households, usually, so unfortunately no, the fruits of their labours are not for sale.
I found a link this morning to this website, which lists organic farms in the Gold Horseshoe: http://www.consumerhealth.org/links/organic.html#GOLDEN. There is an organic vegetable farm listed in Port Perry, maybe you could check that one out. Hopefully with the onset of vegetable gardening season in Ontario, you’ll start to see more locally-grown produce in the organic vegetable section in your local grocery store.
The only way I’m aware of to determine whether the vegetables sold at the OC Farmer’s Market would be to ask the grower, as you’ve done. You could also call 905-686-6408 ext 224 to ask the OC administration if they know.
There is another excellent website, http://www.farmersmarketsontario.com/market_list.php that lists all of the local farmer’s markets in Ontario. I’m not sure where you live but around Bowmanville I know of several good ones. I rarely go to the one at the Oshawa Centre.
Thanks for reading Playing in the Dirt. I hope this message is helpful to you!
Good luck on your quest for organic veggies.
Amy.