Rhubarb Chutney Canning Workshop & Spring Snapshots

Preparing salad for Thursday's Community Lunch using freshly picked radishes from the Rooftop Garden.

We are celebrating the third birthday of our Rooftop Garden rhubarb plant with a rhubarb chutney canning workshop. Please join us to meet new neighbours, learn the basics of canning, and try a delicious new recipe.


Happy birthday Rhubarb! We are going to eat you.

Wednesday May 18
2-5pm
Collingwood Neighbourhood House (5288 Joyce St.)
FREE - Registration Required
Email Stephanie to register.


Garlic (picture taken May 3). Small sprouts on the left planted March 1. Larger garlic leaves on the right planted in July 2010. Garlic matures from clove to head in 9 months.

Blueberry flowers with chervil in the background.

Chayotes (also known as sayote, christophine, fó shǒu guā, and assorted other names), sprouted and donated by one of our local Chinese seniors. They are a popular garden vegetable and can be seen growing in backyards across Renfrew-Collingwood.

This is what the sprouts look like. They have a climbing habit like other squash plants and one plant can bear 80-100 fruits. We planted them out under cover on April 27.

Ladybug on spearmint. Ladybugs are one of many beneficial insects to have around the garden. Plant-destroying aphids are a ladybug's favourite food.

Overwintered leeks waiting to be picked.

Radishes sprouting up under protective netting. The netting help protect young seedlings from birds.

Red Russian kale (seeds donated from the generous folks at Salt Spring Seeds. Easy to grow and very prolific, kale can be planted early in the growing season. You can also see collards coming up. The seeds were packaged for 2006 and surprised us with a fairly high germination rate. You can also see some borage, cornflowers, and calendula that self-seeded from last year's crop of edible flowers.

West Coast Seeds "Stir-Fry Mixed Greens" with pots of mint in the background. Mint is a vigorous perennial and is easily divided and potted up for gifts, transplanting, and herb sales.

The Stir Fry Mix includes bok choy, giant red mustard, and tatsoi. We have planted them close together and will harvest the leaves when they are young to add to salads. Given more space, the same plants can grow to a few feet tall and their flavours get more intense.

A young volunteer at our annual seed swap and sale.

Our seed sales are generously supported by West Coast Seeds.

Neighbourhood seniors planting a persimmon tree in the Slocan Park fruit tree circle. Unfortunately due to vandalism and heat waves we have had to replace several of the fruit trees.

More tree planting in Slocan Park.