Are you interested in gardening? Would you like to improve on your garden skills and knowledge? Well we are happy to introduce a series of garden workshops up on Renfrew Collingwood’s rooftop garden (5288 Joyce St) from 5:00pm -7:00pm, July 25- August 29, 2012. Wait, there’s more! If you attend at least August 1, August 15, and August 22, you will be eligible for a certificate upon completion of your gardening apprenticeship! Combining both knowledge and practical skills, it is our hope to ensure that everyone has the ability to either improve their own garden, or create/design their own garden sanctuary!
Below are the weekly lesson topics:
Wed July 25:
Lesson: Soil
The life and diversity of soil is what keeps this planet alive, therefore, soil is key to a healthy and sustainable garden. Not only is soil full of millions of organisms that help clean, filter, and breakdown organic matter, but is also an ecosystem that is unknown and full of learning opportunities. Soil is alive, and ensuring a healthy soil will not only make your war against weeds easier, but also provide healthy communities of root systems and organisms that will take care of your plants.
Wed Aug 1:
Lesson: Introduction to Permaculture Part 1 (what is it, plants for many uses -fixers, accumulators, insects, birds, medicinal)
Permaculture is the idea of design that works with nature in a way that is sustainable. Although big in scope, this idea is grounded in nature’s wisdom and can be applied to agriculture and gardens to create ecological gardens that in the long-term, are high yielding and low maintenance. All about the connections between plants, humans, and soil, permaculture will help you understand that gardening is more than just planting, but more like a complicated matrix that can link the many pieces in a garden to create healthy ecosystems which fit your needs. This week will focus on opening one’s eyes to the many uses of a plant and how many plants can serve needs other than being food. One things certain, this week will be an eye opener that will get you thinking about all the different possibilities a plant can have and serve.
Wed Aug 8:
Lesson: Introduction to Permaculture Part 2 (plant guilds, design)
The goal of the week before was to get you to see that gardening is a set of relationships between you, the plant, and your environment. Keeping those connections in mind, it is time to get into creative ways to design your own garden. With the goal to create gardens that maximize all levels of the garden, feed the soil, and provide healthy habitats for beneficial insects and microorganisms, you can create more than just a garden, but a whole ecosystem.
Wed Aug 15:
Lesson: Garden Design
This week, we will drafting up plans for a fantasy garden using all the knowledge learnt so far. Split into groups, each group will come up with one design to be presented to everyone next week.
Wed Aug 22:
Lesson: Graduation
Graduation day! Today, presentations of designs will take place, and everyone will vote on a winning design. It will be our hope to implement that design as much as possible in our demonstration garden in the rooftop garden. Certificates will be given out, and we will share our last lesson together sharing stories and having fun!
Hope to see you up on the rooftop!
Mulch love
1 comment:
Any chance you will be doing this again? I'm interested in putting a rooftop garden in but I'm lacking the knowledge and know how to get it started.
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