Blog
Sunflowers... or tournesols as I first came to know them. While I like the idea that the sun seeds its own flowers, I feel more taken by the French name, tournesol (turns-towards-the-sun). With the presence of a verb, the word comes to life. It evokes a deliberate movement in a particular direction. This intention speaks to me. The capacity to oscillate in the direction of the sun is a characteristic that is known as heliotropism. It usually refers to plants. Clearly, however, they are not the only heliotropic species. Humans can fall in that category as well.
Tomorrow is May 1st. Labour Day, where I am from. I have memories of having no school that day so we could participate in political marches and/or festive outings. One lesser known tradition, the one I remember most fondly, was the practice of offering a sprig of lily-of-the-valley to friends and loved ones, as a good luck omen for the year. Something in season, something local that expresses our best wishes for hope and happiness.
Yesterday the Peterborough Community Garden Network and Nourish hosted a fun, outdoor, community garden party at St Andrew's United Church to celebrate Earth Day and mark the conclusion of the 7 Days of Green.
This week, the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough launched its newest initiative 7 Days of Green. This collaborative community endeavour aims to increase Peterborough's creative dialogue about local green activities while building awareness around green living and giving.
This new sprout in the Seasoned Spoon’s growing menu of food initiatives marks the first 10 years of a dynamic and innovative food co-op in our area.
On Tuesday, the Ontario government re-tabled a bill that had been lost to the proroguing of the legislation in 2012. The Local Food Act, also known as Bill 130, is now being reintroduced in the Ontario Legislature.
The Act starts with the following preamble:
I enjoy gardening for lots of reasons. One of them is seeing how powerful a small item, such as a seed, can be. Kale seeds, for instance, are really small, yet they have the power to yield such nutritious meals, beauty, conversations and community. Why conversations and community? Because I plant most of my kale in my front yard. As a result kids in my neighbourhood and some of their parents ask me about those strange vegetables that grow in my yard. I also get lots of questions about how to cook kale.
I mentioned in my last post that most of the seeds sold and/or exchanged at Seedy Sunday were heirloom ones. You may wonder what is meant by that. In general, heirloom seeds are defined as old, open-pollinated cultivars. In other words, these seeds were introduced before the 1950s and when planted they should grow 'true to type.'
Breaking down walls and designing a new program to meet the training needs of people with barriers to employment has led to the transformation of COIN's food services into a successful training program.