Seedy Sunday Toronto Recap

We had such a great time on Seedy Sunday yesterday.  It is so much fun talking to people and selling our seeds in person. The excitement for spring is simply contagious.  Seeing friends, old Internet buddies and meeting people like Dana and Joel from Well Preserved was also great.  Getting out of our Internet bubbles and talking face-to-face is really refreshing, especially near the end of a long winter.

This year's haul

I was able to keep my own seed hording under control this year with a just a few trades and just two seed purchases: some morning glories from my booth neighbors Terra Edibles and some Black Palm Kale from matchbox gardens.

What I mainly wanted was some more blue potatoes from Cedar Grove Organic Farm but I accidently grabbed purple. They’re gorgeous but I’ll have to keep looking for blue.  I’m really excited for the Rose Finn Apple potatoes though; they’re a really nice looking reddish fingerling variety.  I’ll grow these in the old claw foot bathtub in the back yard along with a bag of red potatoes from our good food box that accidently grew a million eyes.

Some of last year's All Blues

I also picked up a bag of worm castings amended for growing tomatoes.  Its from Annelid Cycle out of London Ontario, which is apparently a great place to have a warehouse full of worms.  That’s right, a WAREHOUSE OF WORMS.   Our soil isn’t great and I’m hoping this will help. I’ll be running a few tests with this and will fill you in on the results in the spring.

The best thing we came across is this great little book by Lara Lucretia Mrosovsky.  An Illustrated Guide to Growing Food on Your Balcony is just packed with great information and really fun illustrations.  It goes through everything from what sized container to use for what plant to how to compost on your balcony.  I also like its Torontoness, the cover features an illustration of St James Town.  Lara is currently raising funds to publish a bigger run of her book over on kickstarter.  For a $10 contribution to her campaign you’ll get your own copy when she hits her target.  I’ll be talking about this again in a few weeks.

Here’s a video that shows the whole project in great detail:

Here are a few photos of the event:

Again, I cannot work without the Ergo

Messy seeds are serious business

Hart House was a really nice venue

Seed browsing at our table

We'll be at both the North York and Scarborough Events in the next few weeks. Swing by and talk carrots.

Event: Seedy Saturday (on a Sunday)

Being a foot deep in snow, it is hard to believe that spring is around the corner.

The first definitive sign for us is always Seedy Saturday and it is coming up in just a few days.

Put together by Seeds of Diversity, Seedy Saturday events happen all over Canada and we're excited to once again be participating in the Toronto and Scarborough events. We'll also be at the North York event for the first time.

There will be a huge market place of heirloom seeds, books, great tools and interesting gardening supplies, information from government and non-government organizations, and the biggest seed swap you could ever imagine.

Get there early, garlic and seed potatoes tend to sell out with in the first hour.

Here’s a great photo from last year's event at the Wychwood Art Barns.  
Doesn't everybody have a huge anti-Monsato banner in their family portraits?

The details:

Seedy Saturday (on a Sunday) Toronto 

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

12:30pm - 6:00pm

Hart House, University of Toronto

7 Hart House Circle

Toronto, On

RSVP to the facebook event.

Seedy Saturday Scarborough 

Saturday March 12, 2011

12:00pm - 4:00pm

Heron Park Community Centre

292 Manse Road

Scarborough, On



North York Seedy Sunday 

Sunday, March 27th

1:00 to 5:00

Lawrence Heights Community Centre

5 Replin Road, just off Lawrence Avenue West

North York, On

Event: Thanksgiving in the City: A Celebration of the Urban Harvest

Cubit’s is happy to have donated some prizes and seeds to a great East End Toronto Community Event and Fundraiser for Out of the Cold.  We are not regular church goers, but love to support local events and this one's right up our alley.

Eastminster United Church is hosting Thanksgiving in the City: A Celebration of the Urban Harvest.  A special two-day event on Saturday October 9th and Sunday October 10th.  

Thanksgiving in the City: A Celebration of the Urban Harvest kicks off on Saturday with an Open House / Fall Fair. Inspired by the harvest season, the event will spread through Eastminster’s heritage building on the Danforth.  Events include musical acts, an art show and sale, activities for kids, a bake and craft sale, dance, theatre and an opportunity to learn more about local harvest initiatives from groups like Not Far From The Tree.

A special Thanksgiving feature will be a Blessing of the Animals where pet lovers of all ages are invited to bring your beloved dog, cat, ferret, reptile, rabbit or bird to the Sanctuary on Saturday for this special service.  We hope to take part in this and promise photos of Hazel misbehaving at church will follow.

The celebration continues on Sunday when Eastminster invites all their neighbours to a special service of Thanksgiving at 10:30 am with an Open House and light lunch to follow.

Eastminster is located 1 block west of Chester Subway station, directly across the street from the carrot common.  The events will run from 10am -4pm and with all proceeds going to Out of the Cold, a local initiative that provides meals and temporary lodging for the homeless.

Questions?  Check out their facebook event.

Here's a great photo from the City of Toronto Archives of the Church in 1924.