Toronto Master Gardeners

Carrots and Parsnips

General — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:58:53 +0000

Carrot and parsnip seeds need a moist seed bed for good germination. Cover the seed bed with burlap to help retain the moisture. Always water the seedbed with a very gentle spray so that the seeds are not disturbed. Remove the burlap as soon as the seeds germinate.

Broadleaf Weeds

General — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:58:17 +0000

Hand digging broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, thistles, crabgrass and plantain out of your lawn will often leave a bare patch. Sprinkle a mix of grass seed, compost and brick sand over this bare patch so that it will be filled in by grass rather than another weed.

Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

General — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:57:51 +0000

Include some flowering herbs or annuals in your vegetable garden to attract beneficial insects to your garden. Some vegetables such as cucumbers and zucchini have both male and female flowers and require a visit from a bee or other pollinator to move the pollen from the male to the female flower so that fruit can develop.

Patience Pays Off!

General — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:57:20 +0000

Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant are very susceptible to cool temperatures. Be patient and wait to plant these vegetables until both day and night time temperatures have warmed up to at least 10 celcius. Lower temperatures can stop growth and affect pollination and fruit formation.

Grass Clippings

General — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:56:53 +0000

Leave grass clippings on your lawn as they are a natural source of nitrogen for the grass. If your clippings are unusually heavy, spread them out rather than leaving them in a pile or windrow.

Master Gardener National Awards of Excellence Honour Toronto Group

General — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:10:58 +0000

At a ceremony at the first Canadian National Master Gardeners Conference April 6, Liz Klose, Director of Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Botanical Garden presented the First Place Award for Workshops / Presentations to the Toronto Master Gardeners.

The winning endeavour was Getting Your Community Garden Project Off the Ground (While Staying Rooted), a training webinar developed by the Toronto Master Gardeners in cooperation with Greenest City with case study input from the Grey County Master Gardeners, for the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division “Minding Our Bodies” project.

In 2012, there were 20 new Minding Our Bodies projects across Ontario managed by different groups, many of which were considering community gardening initiatives. CMHA wanted to provide a learning opportunity to help those projects getting started. To meet this need, the Toronto Master Gardeners and Greenest City proposed a webinar, which was master minded by Toronto Master Gardener Emma Rooney.

The goal was to provide community groups basic information and inspiration to kick-start their community gardening projects in an educational, enjoyable format that was easy to access without travel and other cost. The presentation suggested easily accessible garden resources, including local Master Gardener groups, shared tips for getting the gardens started, and provided inspirational project examples, including the Grey County Master Gardeners’ work with CMHA Owen Sound.

Webcast on April 12, 2012, the training session was well attended by community group representatives around the province.

The Awards of Excellence judges found this project to be an excellent example of how Master Gardeners can use technology to work with community organizations to educate, motivate and inspire gardeners with accurate horticultural information.

Toronto Master Gardeners Celebrate Volunteerism

General — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:22:36 +0000

At a joyous ceremony on April 2, the Toronto Master Gardeners gathered to celebrate the induction of 10 new graduates of the Master Gardeners in Training program.

All Master Gardeners must successfully complete university horticultural studies during their 2-3 year Master Gardener in Training period. Once graduated, they must meet ongoing continuing education requirements to make sure that their advice to gardeners is based on current horticultural knowledge.

In addition to welcoming the 10 new full-fledged Master Gardeners, the group celebrated long standing volunteer service with anniversary awards to 11 five-year members, 4 ten-year members and 4 fifteen-year members. One 25-year award was given to a loyal volunteer whose dedication to serving the gardening public dates back to the organization’s founding.

Part of an international non-profit network, Toronto Master Gardeners are a group of more than 130 trained horticulturists who volunteer their time to provide advice to home gardeners in the Toronto area.

To learn more about becoming a Master Gardener, click here.

Toronto Master Gardeners Help Launch Homegrown National Park Campaign

General — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:13:43 +0000

On Sunday, April 7, representatives of Toronto Master Gardeners joined with 11 other horticulturally related community organizations to welcome and inform the volunteer “Neighbourhood Park Rangers” who will work with homeowners, businesses and other organizations in Toronto’s Ward 19 this summer, with the goal of creating what has been dubbed Canada’s first “Homegrown National Park”.

The Home Grown National Park initiative originated with The Suzuki Foundation and is designed to engage Ward 19 residents and businesses to grow, restore and enhance urban green space within the area. Studies have shown that green space can help improve the health and quality of life of local residents, reduce stress and crime and offer other benefits.

More than a dozen organizations have partnered with the Foundation to work on this 6-month campaign to create a vibrant green corridor following the former path of Garrison Creek, one of the city’s most important lost rivers.

Homegrown National Park boundaries

The Foundation hopes that the success of this pilot project in “Bringing Nature Home” will lead to similar initiatives elsewhere in Toronto and across Canada.

In addition to Toronto Master Gardeners, the organizations present at the April 7 Park Ranger training event included:

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
LEAF
Not Far from the Tree
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
The Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative
Cultivate TO
Evergreen
Fort York National Historic Site
Park People
Toronto Green Community
Bird Studies Canada

The event was designed to connect the volunteer Rangers with the services and resources available in the city. Starting April 8, the Rangers will spread the word and spur green activities, such as:

Bringing together neighbours to create a pollinator corridor on their block by adding native plants and flowers to each property;
Encouraging local businesses or institutions to plant trees or create a garden on their property;
Recruiting volunteers to clean up a local park or plant native trees and plants
Encouraging restaurants to use locally grown produce to create a “homegrown” special for their seasonal menu;
Rallying condo residents to plant balcony gardens or create a rooftop garden

The Toronto Master Gardeners’ Ask a Master Gardener InfoLine and website will be great resources for the Rangers and the estimated 2,500-3,000 individuals with whom they are expected to engage. It is anticipated that there will be several related public events between now and the end of September, where Toronto Master Gardener may be available to answer gardening questions.

Stay tuned for further announcements!

Cool Season Vegetables

General — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:22:19 +0000

Vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, beets, peas and radishes all enjoy cool soil and can be usually be planted starting in mid to late April – check the long range forecast first in case some very cool weather is coming and planting needs to be delayed. Lettuce and peas require the soil to be a little warmer than spinach, beets and radishes. Watch the weather – if a frost is predicted, cover your plants to protect them.

Mulch

General — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:21:59 +0000

If you mulch your gardens with shredded bark or leaves, you will find that the winter snow and rains have caused them to become compacted. Once the soil has dried out somewhat, use a long handled cultivator to loosen or ‘fluff’ your mulch so that air and moisture can penetrate. As you are doing so, you will be able to observe which areas will need to have the mulch topped up a little later in the season.