Bonnie and Andrea transplant bee balm seedlings into the Wilcocks commons planters.

Volunteers previously mixed compost in the planters so the soil was nutritious and ready to be seeded.

The planters were filled with a variety of veggies, herbs, berries and edible flowers. Each planter has its own plan, and each planter was planted with companion plants to ensure maximum growth and yields.

Marieme transplants corn into the planter. Pole beans and squash were planted around the corn for “three sisters” companion planting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

The Willcocks planters are sure to look great are will be overflowing with Nasturtium, Calendula, Marigolds, Bee Balm, Borage, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Basil, Tomato, Sunflower, Cucumber, Dill, White Clover, Echinacea, German Chamomile,Chives, Carrots, Flax Ground Cherry, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Basil, Tomato, Rainbow Chard, Rainbow Kale, Sage, Corn, Pole Bean, Squash, White Clover, and Borage.

seedlings in the anthropology building. The leafy greens are a salad bowl lettuce variety and were planted in the Medi Sci planters.

We started to harden off some seedlings to get ready for more transplanting. To harden off plants, bring the seedlings outside, starting off with small allotments of exposure and slowly increasing their time outside  7-10 days before transplanting to get them conditioned to the new outdoor climate.

Dig In! volunteers plant strawberries, spinach and onions into the Willcocks planters

We also seeded in the Med Sci and Willcocks planters, sowing onions, spinach and strawberries, which are companion plants. We finished by sewing peas, carrots and beets in the newly composted Hart Hose plot.

Dig In! volunteer Elie sows carrots into the Hart House plot

Elie shifts compost through a milk crate to prevent any large uncomposted pieces from getting into the garden.

volunteers clean the cold frames before installing them at the Medi Sci planters.

A cold frame is at its most basic, a bottomless box with a transparent lid. It is used to cover the plot where seeds have been planted in order to protect them from any dramatic changes in weather by acting as a mini ‘greenhouse’. The heat from the sun gets captured through the window and is circulated within the cold frame. This keeps the seeds warm which promotes early growth, extending the season for growing. For seeds that are less hearty to the extremes of weather, cold frames are a good solution for their survival.

volunteers prep the soil and sow a variety of seeds in the planters where the cold frame will cover to germinate the seeds faster.

By using cold frames, the seeds of your imagination can grow faster and longer. Such is the hope for those seeds planted on that day with names like rainbow dinosaur kale, cosmic purple carrots. The plants will be out of this world!

the cold frame sits on the prepared planter at Med Sci

We checked in on our cold frames a week after we planted seeds and many had germinated!

planting seeds

seedlings sprouting under the cold frames!

written by: Teri Ly, Undergraduate student in Women and Gender Studies.

edited by: Nicole Beuglet, Dig In! intern and Women and Gender Studies Masters Student

Seedlings started in plastic divided containers will look like this.

On March 13th, students and community members gathered in the Anthropology building greenhouse at U of T to learn how to soil block with Bonnie Scott, and to plant seeds for this year’s growing season.

Soil blocking is a technique for growing seedlings without the use of plastic pots.

Soil blocking, in contrast, looks like this:

Taken at the soil blocking workshop in the Anthropology Building Greenhouse on March 13

Blocks are made up of a combination of soil, sand and nutrients, Bonnie explained that this method of germination produces healthier seedlings because roots are able to spread out and don’t become bound and tangled in the pot, which allows for a more successful transplanting of the seedling into the ground. For this workshop, Bonnie used Eliot Coleman’s soil blocking recipe, which can be found here, there is also a useful series of videos on the internet for reference. We used Coleman’s recipe as a guide, though another great aspect is that soil blocking mixes are customizable depending on the resources you may have. For our mix, we used less then half the recommended amount of sand because the type we had was really fine. Also, lime will only have to be added if you are using peat, to balance its acidic pH. There are lots of resources available on the internet to guide you through soil blocking mixes. 

Recipe for soil blocking mixture. This mixture is important as it has to have nutrients and be compact enough to hold the shape of the block.

Soil blocking requires the use of a small soil compactor, as shown in the picture. Soil is packed into the mechanism and is extracted with a small hole in the top of the soil block where seeds can be planted. Soil is then pinched closed, to cover the seeds. Larger seeds may need to be pushed down slightly. Make sure to place soil blocks onto a container to hold excess water.

Bonnie putting the soil mix into the soil blocker

Soil blocking is a great way to seed in a cost-effective and plastic free way. Soil blockers can also be shared among community gardens or urban agriculture organizations in the city, making it a truly sustainable technique for planting.

Students plant seeds. Seeds are labeled with the name of the variety of plant and the date they were planted on wood stir sticks.

Students returned after the work shop to plant more seeds. Between the two work days we planted a variety of tomatoes, herbs, squash, cucumbers, hot and sweet peppers, greens such as swiss shard and kale. Other veggies and herbs will be sown directly into the gardens

Students, faculty and notable alumni including Margaret Atwood have voiced their opposition to this project, citing its historic significance and reduced public accessibility as concerns.  Another major point of contention is the environmental and health consequences of the proposition: apparently the new surface will require periodic watering, and herbicidal treatments to prevent the growth of algae.  The project may also endanger certain existing Ash and Elm stands, which may soon be officially designated as heritage trees.

Renderings of the proposed space are available online.

Questions raised by the controversy:

1) What type of decision making processes should be invoked in situations affecting public and student use of large spaces?

2) What is the relative value of professional sports venues, vs public space?

3) How else might value be added to the back campus area?  Might it be valuable as a space for hyper-local, on campus food production?  Native habitat reclamation?

4) What do YOU think?

On Wednesday February 27th, Dig In! was lucky enough to be able to co-host a workshop on Seed Saving with Seth Wright.  Seth brings five years of experience farming on the BC coast including 3 years managing Stowel Lake Farm, a certified organic vegetable and seed production farm producing over 200 varieties of seeds and produce. Seth is now a student in the University of Toronto’s Master of Science program in Planning.

For those who missed the event or wanted a copy of the presentation, here it is!:

Seed Saving for Security and Autonomy

Wikipedia defines fermentation as: Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alchols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol.

There are as many ways to ferment as there is food! So much so you’ve probably had fermented food, and didn’t realize they were fermented. Some common fermented foods are: breads, cheeses, yogurts, beer, fish sauce, pickles, vinegar, kimchi, mead, soy sauce, sour cream, and sauerkraut.

Chris also spoke about the historical and cultural significance of fermentation. Most cultures have a fermented food this is culturally specific and has a long history rooted in that culture. With fermentation you can experience the history of these cultures.

Fermentation is super easy to do yourself. Here are some instructions that Chris made for us on how to make soda, sauerkraut, and yogurt. Can you trace where these foods are from?

By Erica Angers, Dig In! Community Food Animator

I recently saw a Ted Talk entitled Green Bronx Machine-Growing Our Way Into A New Economy. The speaker was Stephen Ritz, a long-time teacher and resident of the Bronx. Having worked and lived in the neighbourhood for many years, he noticed that the kids he was teaching had an increase in the number and severity of problems they were facing, which include obesity, learning disabilities, homelessness, and poverty. In the hope of combating some of these issues, he took the initiative to start an urban garden at the school with the participation of his students. What he discovered was that the gardens were generating excitement amongst his students, so he decided to use this excitement to build green walls inside the school. The kids loved it and were getting the chance to learn how to plant, take care of, and harvest plants at school

The project grew and the students were asked to build green roofs for houses in the Hamptons. Then they started working on gardening, green walls and green roof projects in different parts of the Bronx, as well as sustainable and affordable housing for the community.

All of the food from the gardens is sold to fund the projects, or is donated to local food banks. Class attendance has skyrocketed from 40% to 93%. The kids are learning skills that they would likely not otherwise have the opportunity to learn living in New York City. The gardens provide enough food for the school cafeteria daily, thus pushing out some of the junk food that is being sold. Local food banks benefit from the influx of fresh and free local produce. The whole community benefits from having more gardens around them everyday. A story to be inspired by! And the project continues to grow! Check out their facebook page!

Now the question is, could something like this happen in Toronto? There’s lots of great stuff happening in this city too; who knows, maybe soon we’ll have the walls and roofs of our buildings growing greens!

Dig In! is looking to hire!:

Food Security Project Coordinator
Casual part-time position: 18 hours per week
6 month contract
$15 per hour
Closing Date for Applications: Monday March 4th 2013
Start Date: Monday March 18th 2013

Description

The Food Security Project Coordinator works to create opportunities for experiential
learning, student engagement, and educational programming based around urban
agriculture and sustainable food policy at UofT.

The Project Coordinator collaborates with Hart House staff and student food leaders to:
1) increase the visibility and accessibility of good food projects on campus (via
demonstration garden plots, a campus ag web portal, print resources)
2) coordinate the Dig In! Campus Agriculture Network (DICAN), a collective of food-
focused student organizations that encourages resource-sharing and collaborative
event-planning
3) perform necessary administrative duties, including the hiring and supervision of
workstudy students and the procurement of necessary financial/material resources
4) help organize and host Hart House workshops and events on sustainable agriculture
and food issues
5) Support the organizational development of DICAN to facilitate the success of the
above goals

Responsibilities
Garden Coordination
● Oversee the installation and ongoing maintenance of 4 DICAN
“demonstration plots”
● Coordinate weekly gardening days during growing season
● Expand the scope and scale of the demonstration plot program
● Oversee the continuation of other DICAN initiatives (composting, tool-
sharing, seed bank)
Encouraging Inter-project Dialogue and Collaboration
● Attend internal meetings of DICAN network gardens and parent
organizations
● Engage in outreach activities on behalf of DICAN network gardens,
including tabling at key food-related campus events (Clubs Day, Seedy
Saturday, World Food Week, etc.).
● Maintaining key off-campus food movement links (Toronto Youth Food
Policy Council, Toronto Urban Growers, etc)
● Act as the main contact person for relevant UofT administrators

Support the creation of new campus food projects; help emerging project
leaders connect to on-campus networks, resources, and information

●

Media and Communications
● Update and expand the UofT Campus Ag. website
● Write and distribute the weekly campus ag newsletter
● Aggregate news, event listings, and job postings for the website and
newsletter
● Create an end-of-season report

Fundraising and Staffing
● Create an annual budget for staff, programming, and material-related
expenses
● Identify, catalog, and apply for relevant funding/in-kind donations
● Create, hire, and supervise workstudy, service-learning, internship,
and/or staff positions based at Hart House and related to food security;
delegate tasks and responsibilities accordingly

Workshop & Events
• Organize relevant workshops, workshop series, and events depending on
DICAN and partner funding, and priorities
• Seek partnership and collaboration opportunities with campus and
community groups
• Participate in relevant partner workshops and events

Organizational Development
• Reviewing the organizational structure of DICAN to ensure it provides
robust volunteer and leadership opportunities for students, opportunities
for strategic planning, and to ensure the long term continuity and success
of the group.

Qualifications (minimum)
Education: University degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
Experience: Relevant experience and demonstrated knowledge of issues pertaining to
urban agriculture and food security
Skills: Computer skills, including MS Suite (word, excel, powerpoint).
Other: Demonstrated ability to assume responsibility and work on own initiative,
setting priorities and making sounds independent judgments on sensitive matters.
Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; demonstrated ability for
organization; demonstrated interpersonal skills; superior planning and facilitation skills.

Please send your application with a resume and cover letter to jenifer[dot]newcombe[at]utoronto[dot]ca.

First Nations issues are being talked about a lot as of late. Aboriginal Awareness
Week took place at UofT earlier this month, with a number of events on First
Nations culture, history, and current issues being held. For the AGO’s 1st Thursday
event this month the Ottawa-based Aboriginal group A Tribe Called Red spun
their blend of electronic and First Nations music to a sold out audience.
They are also featured on the cover of the weekly Toronto newspaper Now, with an article about the group alongside one about Idle No More, featuring a number
of prominent Aboriginal activists commenting on the importance and future of this
movement.

Having attended the Idle No More National Day of Action on December 10, 2012, as well
as attempting to follow what has been going on with this movement, it has been truly
inspirational to see people come out and show their support. There are many issues
which on which this movement is based, however it has been interesting to see how the
environment has become a central focus around which people are rallying.

The two major environmental issues at stake relate to the federal omnibus
budget legislation Bill C45 Jobs and Growth Act. The first of these is the change of the
Navigable Waters Protection Act into the Navigation Protection Act, which significantly
decreases the number of waterways that fall under federal jurisdiction. This in turn
means that there are far fewer waterways which will trigger the enactment of federal
environmental assessments when development projects are being proposed. Ultimately
these changes will exclude 97.9% of Canadian lakes and 99.9% of Canadian rivers
from federal environmental protection. This allows for large projects such, as tar sands
development, to gain approval much easier and quicker.

Another negative aspect of the bill is the change to the requirements for majority agreement when leasing out reserve land. This would allow minimal numbers of residents of a reserve to vote to allow parts of reserve lands to be leased out, in contrast to previously requiring a majority of the residents to make a decision of this nature. The objective of this would be to allow leasing agreements to become much easier to attain, including agreements for natural resource developers.

In terms of how all of this relates to food and
agriculture, loss of clean waterways has the potential to impact our food systems in a
myriad of ways. We run the risk of having farmland, and in turn our food, contaminated
with unclean water from more industrial projects. If less land is subject to environmental
assessment then more land that may be used for farmland could be used for industry. All
of this could increase the price of our food, while decreasing the quality.

While it is not yet known what the outcomes of the Idle No More movement will be, it remains important to watch it unfold.

Now, over to you: How will these changes in the way we regulate water affect Canadians’ abilities to grow and access food?