Oshawa Community Earth Day
April 22nd is Earth Day, which since its establishment in 1970 has become recognized as a worldwide environment day for creating awareness. It is celebrated by over one billion people. The focus of Earth Day is to plant trees, which reduces carbon and increase oxygen in the air. The Oshawa Community Earth Day has hosted the following events:
2011: The Eco-Bunny Hop Trail
Face painting, pictures and planting seeds
2010: Boost Your Eco
Energy efficient truck, how to make paper
2009: Repurposing Competition
Using discarded item to make something useful.
Sprouting Greens Project launch
What a wonderful way to launch a project. The Sprouting Green Project, launched on May 29th at the Windfields Community Garden, was a tremendous success, where over 40 volunteers participated in designing, hoeing, planting, eating and drinking, and of course building community and having fun.
With 4 garden plots, measuring 5ft by 30ft, the team planted tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, zucchinis, to name a few. Everyone was so enthusiastic on this bright Sunday and all for a great cause, feeding hungry people. The produce will be donated to local food banks.
The Project is a partnership between fbsc.org, TD Canada Trust, Friends of the Environment and Meals Exchange Canada.
Watch the video
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennmcknight/sets/72157626711618145/
Congratulations to Laura and Stacy from TD Canada Trust
Community Action Days: June 17th
| June 17, 2011 |
The Oshawa Centre has partnered with fbsc.org to create Community Action Days, where groups and artists can display crafts and information for the public. This is an exciting way to promote local food and artists in our community.
Community Action Days are every third Friday of the month, from May to October, inclusive.
Visit the Farmer’s Market Arts & Crafts Facebook Page for more info.
Food and art cultivates sustainable sensibilities ans contributes to a vibrant and sufficient local community.
2011 Windfields season begins
| May 11, 2011 | to | October 14, 2011 |
An open field awaits planting!
Rain, rain and more rain
June 6, 2011 by joan
Filed under Sustainability
For the month of May, 2011 there was a lot of rain, making it muddy to work at the community garden. The upside is that the ground really had a good soaking, which saves water and the time for watering.
One really good way of saving water and money is capturing it with rain barrels. As you can see, we draped a piece of landscape cloth under the cover to ensure that we don’t encourage mosquito larvae-a problem if water stand still.
We encourage our gardeners to use an watering can and try to pour it on the roots to build a strong root system. This encourage the root to dig deeper in an effort to find water under the surface, which will take less time to water, saves money and time.
During a particularly heavy rainfall -which the gardeners got caught in at the Windfields Community Gardens, there was about 6 inches of rained in about 15 minutes, as you can see below in the wheel barrow it was quite a downpour. By the way, standing water encourage mosquitoes, so try and empty any containers with standing water in, if available in your water barrels as soon as possible.
Tracking your energy costs
June 6, 2011 by joan
Filed under Sustainability
Making the decision to save energy makes economic sense and have a direct impact on preserving our planet. There are many ways to make sustainable decisions that are easy with the results having a triple bottom line.
The new saveONenergy campaign aims to further instill a culture of conservation across the province. It not only supports a Cleaner Ontario, but also provides consumers and business owners with year-round tools, tips, and incentives to help them reduce their electricity consumption and save money.
Login to the OPA website and start conserving:
Resources
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/lighting/basic-facts.cfm?attr=4
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/services/energy_aware_oec.html
Growing vegetables can be easy
June 6, 2011 by joan
Filed under Sustainability
When considering a planting a home garden of eating, the question of what to plant always arises. Some things to consider when making that decision is that vegetables need a minimum of six hours of sunshine, and additions such as compost and manure depending on the condition of the soil.
At the Windfields Community Garden, we plant various vegetables, including carrots, beans, peppers, tomatoes, squash, corn, peas, zucchini, potatoes okra, melons and herbs.
Planting vegetables can be a simple task and this article shows how easy. These are vegetables that are good for a hearty meal.
http://www.hgtv.ca/gardening/articledetails.aspx?ContentId=2508&cat=4&by=1
Rethinking energy
June 6, 2011 by joan
Filed under Sustainability
Throughout the years, I’ve had a rough time adjusting to daylight saving time in terms of sleep. I often wondered how it came about and did a lot of research, which I find quite interesting. Amazing how one’s ability to observe and invent concepts can affect actions. Take Benjamin Franklin, who responded to an incident when he awoke and wrote about his observation of light, quite amazing.
History of daylight saving time
