The University of Ottawa community garden on King Edward has been around for some time. It is a place where staff, students, and Sandy Hill community members are encouraged to grow their own food and preserve green spaces. Not everyone has the opportunity or space to garden; it is therefore very important to have community gardens as they give individuals the ability to grow and have access to their organic fruits and vegetables. Recently, the University of Ottawa has constructed seven raised bed gardens, built with the help of some reused materials on campus (old banners from Alumni week are being used as moisture barriers). For those who don’t know, raised bed gardens are elevated boxes filled with soil separated from the ground to grow plants. This method of gardening comes with many advantages. First, gardeners tend to suffer from less back pain because they do not have to bend over as much to do their gardening. It also makes it easier to access if you are in a wheelchair o...

Gardens have so many benefits that we often forget about some of them. For me one of the biggest benefits of gardening, and a reason why I am so hooked, is the amazing feeling it gives me: Stress relieving.  I have one garden in pots at home, I have a plot in the community garden, and I help take care of the Sustainability Centre’s teaching plot. I am actually looking into planting at my friend’s house and my mom’s yard, plus I spend time helping some other friends with their gardens. Anyways, I just cannot get enough of gardening.  And I am not the only one talking about the stress relieving benefits. “A recent study in the Netherlands suggests that gardening can fight stress even better than other relaxing leisure activities. After completing a stressful task, two groups of people were instructed to either read indoors or garden for 30 minutes. Afterward, the group that gardened reported being in a better mood than the reading group, and they also had lower lev...

Gardening is both an enjoyable pastime and a great way to make your own delicious food. If you’re a parent like online savings guru Kate Sorenson, maintaining your garden can be a fun family activity and learning experience. But sometimes the costs can be overwhelming and you might prefer to just stay inside. Before taking your gloves off, however, learn the tricks to maintaining your hobby for as little money as possible. Seeds, Seeds, Seeds! When starting next year’s garden, you might be tempted to buy an already grown seedling plant and save yourself some trouble. FabulesslyFrugal.com warns against this, pointing out that a $2 package of seeds often costs the same as a single plant. They go on to suggest buying heirloom seeds, which can be harvested every year and will save you money in the long run. A recently published article on the Sacramento Bee also explains the importance of seeds, advising to take seeds from your full grown plants and using them next year. Once you ...

Let's talk about last summer. Last summer we inaugurated the community garden in its new space at 649 King Edward (that's right, we won the lottery with that space). It replaced the old location which has become the building footprint for the CAPEA building. Thirty five glorious plots to serve the campus community, not bad. But we already knew that we wouldn't have enough space to meet the demand of the campus and the Sandy Hill community. So while discussing the issue with the Director of Physical Resources Service , he mentioned how McGill University was toying around with the idea of having planters that could be moved around when needed. Mobile gardens... brilliant! So the group got together and we talked about want this could look like. We had a few ideas but unfortunately there were so many things to do to get our current community garden off the ground, that we quickly forgot about the mobile gardens idea. That is until an opportunity to look at them again ...

Photo credit: www.redbubble.com Suis-je un fruit ou un légume? Qu’importe! Je suis délicieuse, juteuse et riche en antioxydants. J’aime prendre mon temps à me préparer avant de sortir de terre. Je préfère être planté à l’intérieur pour 4 à 6 semaines avant d’être transposée dehors. Parfois, quand mes fruits m’épuisent je fais la paresse et je plis. Sans bâton ou treillis sur lequel m’appuyer je prendrai des poses courbées à mesure de ma croissance. À cause de cela des jaloux disent parfois de moi que je suis difficile. Ce n’est pas tout le monde qui goûte bon dans presque toutes les recettes et ce n’est pas de ma faute si je suis géniale ;) ***** Am I a fruit or a vegetable? Nonetheless, I am delicious, juicy and antioxidant rich. I like to take my time sprouting and prefer to be started indoors 4-6 weeks before planting outside. Unless you want to buy me pre-started in which case, simply plant me somewhere that receives lots of sun and eventually I’ll be ripe for the pickings. Someti...

Photo credit: unknown Si tu ne cherches pas à t’impliquer dans une relation à long terme avec tes légumes, je suis fait pour toi. J’ai un cycle de croissance de courte durée (3-4 semaines) et un besoin de lumière modéré. Les radis atteignent leur maximum de confort à 6 pouces sous terre et ont besoin d’être tailler fréquemment pour assurer l’atteinte d’une taille maximale. Laisse-toi charmer par le Raphanus Sativus : un légume plein de vitamine C, d’acide folique et de potassium qui ajoute une saveur épicée et une texture croustillante à toutes salades ou sautés. Pour profiter de moi toute l’été, plante-moi tout de suite et jusqu’en septembre à toutes les 3 semaines. If you are not looking for a long term commitment, I’m the vegetable for you. With a short growing season of three to four weeks and requiring moderate sunlight, radishes are perfect to quench your vegetable desires. We enjoy depths of 6 inches and to be thinned out during our growing season to ensure maximum growth. Radi...

Photo credit: Cafepress.ca Étant un pilier de base pour toute vie épanouie, je suis l’élément clé de toutes vos salades et sandwichs. J’ai plusieurs personnalités : romaine, frisée, boston, iceberg. À toi de les découvrir et d’adapter ton jardinage à mes humeurs. Je pousse en moins de deux semaines et c’est possible de me planter en continuité toute l’été à intervalles de 3 semaines. Bien que je sois friand de soleil, ne me laisse pas poireauter au chaud et récolte-moi une fois que j’atteins mon optimum de saveur si tu ne veux pas que je te fasse la moue. A basic food staple, I provide the main component of your salads and sandwiches. I come in many different varieties and thrive in sunlight, sprouting within 1-2 weeks. Continue seeding every 3 weeks for continuous yield throughout the summer. Being so diverse, check the packaging to see our spatial requirements. Remember to harvest us quickly because we don’t like waiting around under the hot sun after reaching our height of tastiness...

Photo credit: unknown As planting season gets closer and closer we decided that we would have a series of blog posts dedicated to gardening. But since this can sometimes be a dry subject, we decided to spice things with out sexy vegetables series. La carotte Je vaux la peine. Je raffole du soleil, je suis riche en Vitamine A et ta mère t’a toujours dit que j’étais bonne pour les yeux ;) Plante mes graines en rangée, à un quart de pouce de la surface et dans un sol fin car les sols ardus briment ma peau douce. Après ce premier contact, tu ne me verras pas ne serais-ce que sortir de terre avant 3 semaines mais quand finalement j’apparaîtrai tu pourras me déguster dans toutes sortes de plats. Pèle-moi pour des collations rapides à tout moment de la journée, coupe-moi en rondelles dans des salades, bouille-moi pour des potages, mélangeons-nous à des patates pilées, Laisse-moi baigner dans un rôti ou un crockpot… Les possibilités abondent avec moi : la carotte! The carrot I’m worth the wait...