Peace and Environment News* March 1999
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Peace and Environment News * March 1999 |
Note: Several of the community gardens are currently discussing a fledgling network that would draw on information and availability of many of the community gardens in the Ottawa-Carleton region.
 Photo: Linda Archibald. |
Bytowne Urban Gardens
Location: Near Metcalfe & Catherine
Number of plots: 22
Size of plots: 10' x 10'
Cost: Free, but volunteers must perform 15 hours per season towards gardening tasks. Example: everyone helps fill the water barrels and turn compost.
Types of gardening: Organic only. Most people plant vegetables and herbs with some companion planting.
Availability of plots: Available to anyone, but there is currently a waiting list.
Volunteer needs: BUGS is always looking for help with the Food Bank garden plots.
Contact: Centretown Community Health Centre BUGS line: 563-4771 (ask for the BUGS line).
Other Information: Workshops are sometimes available in cooperation with Centretown Community Health Centre. The workshops are open to all. Last year there were workshops on organic gardening and one on making jams and jellies. This year they hope to do a workshop on how to prepare the plots for the season.
Gloucester Allotment Gardens
Location: Two sites.Number of Plots: 225 (total number for the two sites)
Size of Plots: Full plot 20' x 40'; half plot 10' x 20'
Cost: Full plot $40; half plot $20
Types of gardening: annuals and perennials (mostly vegetables, some flowers)
Amenities: Water is piped in at the plot inside Blackburn Hamlet; water is trucked in at the Anderson Road site.
Contact: Skip Leary at 841-7893; plots are available.
The Gloucester Allotment Gardens are non-profit,
cooperative gardens that utilize their membership
to perform many of the labour tasks. The tilling
is hired out in the spring, and in the fall there
is a "members clean up." Although it is not required
for members to help out with the clean up, a very
modest reduction in the cost of their next year's
plot is given to those who help out. As Skip Leary
says, "We like to get dirt on our hands!"
City of Ottawa Allotment Gardens
Location: runs between Pleasant Park and Kilborn Avenue
Number of plots: 350; one plot has a raised bed for people with disabilities (this always goes to a non-profit group)
Size of plots: approximately 25' x 50'
Cost: $52, no volunteer hours required
Availability of plots: Plots open on May 7, and you can register as a new gardener as of April 6, 1999. Last year about 40 plots were left over; there are usually about 270 gardeners, with lots of calls in the spring, but the plots are not yet filled up.
Amenities: Free parking. There is water, but gardeners must provide their own hose and garden tools. Rent a shed for your tools for $15.75 each.
Contact: Dempsey Community Centre, 247-4846, ask for David Duffy.
Carlington Community Garden
Location: 900 Merivale Road (in former school yard)
Number of Plots: 160
Size of plots: 10' x 12'
Cost: Free
Types of gardening: Organic only, no chemicals. Carlington discourages gardeners from growing corn and cautions that gardeners should think twice about growing some crops that may be "unfriendly." Gardeners can keep the same plot from year to year.
Availability of plots: It is not necessary to live in the area, but it is better if you do because people who live close tend to come more often.
Volunteer information: Volunteer labour is required. Gardeners are expected to help out in some way with the general work of the garden by donating 10 hours of garden service per season. Staff members of the Carlington Community Health Centre also volunteer.
Volunteer needs: Watering cans, compost, manure, use of a truck (the Centre has access to free materials, but they have to transport them), bedding plants
WARNING: severe tomato blight problem in 1998
Contact: Karen Wiss, 722-4000
Other activities: Food preservation workshops, trips to you-pick farms, occasional gleaning trips to area farmers who have surplus produce. You don't have to be a gardener at Carlington to join these trips or attend the workshops.
Other information: Frances Tanner of the Centre says, "The garden is very multicultural...if you ever wanted to learn how to grow vegetables from a culture other than your own, this is the place to learn!"
Nepean Allotment Garden Association
Location: Viewmount Drive between Merivale Road and Fisher
Number of plots: 150
Size of plots: annual plots full size 20' x 30'; perennial half plots 10' x 15'
Cost: Annual full size plots $25 ($20 seniors, $30 non-Nepean residents); perennial plots half that amount
Amenities: Association prepares the plots in spring and fall. Water is available.
Other information: Last year's members have first right of refusal and preference goes to residents of Nepean. They are now taking calls and the plots fill up very fast.
Contact: Mary St. Jean, 224-9169
Three Sisters Organic Community Garden
Location: Henderson Avenue in Sandy Hill (near University of Ottawa)
Size of plots: Average size is 8.5' X 22'.
Cost: Plots are $20 per season.
Amenities: Cost includes water and compost.
Contact: Nancy Shaver [2001 update]: Julia Faulkner, 244-2804
Converted October 11, 1999 - Lg
To follow up on this article, contact the author or the organizations/individuals mentioned; do not contact the Peace and Environment Resource Centre - we cannot provide follow up or contact information. This article is an archival copy of the printed one in the Peace and Environment News (PEN). Viewpoints expressed should not be taken to represent the opinions of the Peace and Environment Resource Centre, the PEN, or our supporters.
