Courtyard gardens ... archives (2023 updates will follow)
If you love gardening & growing vegetables, can spare a few hours each week for hands-on work in the courtyard, you could well be the right person to lead our crew! Experience in square foot gardening would be useful but not essential.
To ensure crops are well tended and essential work is taken on in a timely fashion, one of your jobs will include publishing a weekly schedule that lists and assigns tasks.
Work on the Courtyard is planned to start as soon as the weather permits. To boost the supply of fresh vegetables for our clients, this year’s goal includes rejuvenating a second courtyard by working and amending the soil in readiness for summer/fall planting.
A modest budget supported by Bronson Rise** makes a fixed monthly stipend possible. The contract covers the period between May 3rd and September 30th. Work hours are flexible but weekly harvesting must align with the Cupboard’s service days, so clients reap maximum benefit from the freshest produce possible.
** Bronson RISE = Real Inclusion for Seniors Everywhere. This project has been funded through ESDC New Horizons for Seniors Program with goals to reduce ageism in the not-for-profit sector and increase engagement & employment of seniors through an inter-generational spectrum of activities.
To ensure crops are well tended and essential work is taken on in a timely fashion, one of your jobs will include publishing a weekly schedule that lists and assigns tasks.
Work on the Courtyard is planned to start as soon as the weather permits. To boost the supply of fresh vegetables for our clients, this year’s goal includes rejuvenating a second courtyard by working and amending the soil in readiness for summer/fall planting.
A modest budget supported by Bronson Rise** makes a fixed monthly stipend possible. The contract covers the period between May 3rd and September 30th. Work hours are flexible but weekly harvesting must align with the Cupboard’s service days, so clients reap maximum benefit from the freshest produce possible.
** Bronson RISE = Real Inclusion for Seniors Everywhere. This project has been funded through ESDC New Horizons for Seniors Program with goals to reduce ageism in the not-for-profit sector and increase engagement & employment of seniors through an inter-generational spectrum of activities.
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Welcome to Our Garden & Recipe Blog
In Vera’s Garden Blog, we will offer garden tips and tricks, share the ups and downs of managing Dalhousie Courtyard Garden, and publish recipes for some of the vegetables we are growing
About the Garden
This garden was developed as a means to help seniors come out of isolation by inviting them to grow and share freshly picked vegetables with the clients of the Dalhousie Food Cupboard.
It is thanks to our sponsors, the Bronson Hub, that we have both the money and a space to launch this project. Despite the COVID19 pandemic and some schedule setbacks, we are determined for this pilot project to succeed. The cost of food and overall need for our clients to have a reliable source of fresh vegetables, as well as knowing that there are two more courtyards on the property begging to be noticed - this just added to our resolve to make it happen.
We opted to try our hand at Square Foot Gardening and by the end of this season should know if that was the right choice. Due to present circumstances we must wait until the end of the next season to assess if the chosen method is as comfortable as we hope for seniors and wheelchair users. However, the head gardener is in her eighties, and she uses a cane and often sits down on the job, so we are likely to be able to gauge the outcome a little ahead of time.
But, where are we now?
It is mid-June and just half of our raised beds are filled with organic soil. Some contain lettuce and onions, others cabbage, bell peppers, tomatoes, kale and an assortment of kitchen herbs. They all looked happy at last view but other vegetables were patiently sitting in a shallow pool of water, waiting to be housed.
Our brand new tumble composter has only a few wilted leaves in its belly and to test if it really does turn garden and kitchen waste into usable compost in just 2-3 weeks, we need to find a steady source for grass clipping and hidden stashes of old leaves. Well, one way to get to know our neighbours is to ask them for grass clippings, I suppose.
About the Garden
This garden was developed as a means to help seniors come out of isolation by inviting them to grow and share freshly picked vegetables with the clients of the Dalhousie Food Cupboard.
It is thanks to our sponsors, the Bronson Hub, that we have both the money and a space to launch this project. Despite the COVID19 pandemic and some schedule setbacks, we are determined for this pilot project to succeed. The cost of food and overall need for our clients to have a reliable source of fresh vegetables, as well as knowing that there are two more courtyards on the property begging to be noticed - this just added to our resolve to make it happen.
We opted to try our hand at Square Foot Gardening and by the end of this season should know if that was the right choice. Due to present circumstances we must wait until the end of the next season to assess if the chosen method is as comfortable as we hope for seniors and wheelchair users. However, the head gardener is in her eighties, and she uses a cane and often sits down on the job, so we are likely to be able to gauge the outcome a little ahead of time.
But, where are we now?
It is mid-June and just half of our raised beds are filled with organic soil. Some contain lettuce and onions, others cabbage, bell peppers, tomatoes, kale and an assortment of kitchen herbs. They all looked happy at last view but other vegetables were patiently sitting in a shallow pool of water, waiting to be housed.
Our brand new tumble composter has only a few wilted leaves in its belly and to test if it really does turn garden and kitchen waste into usable compost in just 2-3 weeks, we need to find a steady source for grass clipping and hidden stashes of old leaves. Well, one way to get to know our neighbours is to ask them for grass clippings, I suppose.
Garden Recipes: Carrots
Before we share our recipe for a simple salad, here is some carrot background that bunnies instinctively know. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. They are also a good source of several B vitamins, as well as vitamin K and potassium.
Carrots don’t transplant well, but seeds can be staggered and planted in the ground from May until mid-June. They are at their most delicious in the late days of Spring. They belong to the Umbelliferae family; and, like us come in many different colours. Carrots thrive in well drained soil rich in organic matter and they do well in companionship of chives, peas, tomatoes, onions or rosemary. Please note though, adding manure before planting is a really bad idea.
Carrots have annoyingly tiny seeds but by adding a little fine soil or sand (not builders’) to the seeds helps to distribute them more evenly in 1/4” deep trenches. The square foot gardening method which prides itself on getting more out of the square foot than anyone using row planting, ordains 16 carrots seedlings per square foot. We will let you know how that worked for us. Carrots are available year round but it is quite possible to store your own for winter use, a subject we will cover in another blog.
CARROT SALAD
Here is how to turn a pound of carrots into a refreshing salad for 4:
1 lb. of washed, peeled & grated carrots
Lemon dressing: 2 tsp (Dijon) mustard, 1 tbsp (or more) freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 tbsp oil, a pinch of sugar, 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped and 2 finely sliced green onions or a shallot.
Toss salad with lemon dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Variation: In winter I increase the lemon juice, add small slices of apple, a few chopped walnuts and a few raisins. Let us know if you try one of these versions and how you liked it.
Note: Those without a grater can try shaving the carrots with a vegetable peeler using short, thin cuts. Leftover salad can be left in the fridge for a day.
Let us know if you tried either version, Vera
If you have questions or ideas about this blog space, or about the Dalhousie Courtyard Garden initiative, please contact [email protected]
Before we share our recipe for a simple salad, here is some carrot background that bunnies instinctively know. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. They are also a good source of several B vitamins, as well as vitamin K and potassium.
Carrots don’t transplant well, but seeds can be staggered and planted in the ground from May until mid-June. They are at their most delicious in the late days of Spring. They belong to the Umbelliferae family; and, like us come in many different colours. Carrots thrive in well drained soil rich in organic matter and they do well in companionship of chives, peas, tomatoes, onions or rosemary. Please note though, adding manure before planting is a really bad idea.
Carrots have annoyingly tiny seeds but by adding a little fine soil or sand (not builders’) to the seeds helps to distribute them more evenly in 1/4” deep trenches. The square foot gardening method which prides itself on getting more out of the square foot than anyone using row planting, ordains 16 carrots seedlings per square foot. We will let you know how that worked for us. Carrots are available year round but it is quite possible to store your own for winter use, a subject we will cover in another blog.
CARROT SALAD
Here is how to turn a pound of carrots into a refreshing salad for 4:
1 lb. of washed, peeled & grated carrots
Lemon dressing: 2 tsp (Dijon) mustard, 1 tbsp (or more) freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 tbsp oil, a pinch of sugar, 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped and 2 finely sliced green onions or a shallot.
Toss salad with lemon dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Variation: In winter I increase the lemon juice, add small slices of apple, a few chopped walnuts and a few raisins. Let us know if you try one of these versions and how you liked it.
Note: Those without a grater can try shaving the carrots with a vegetable peeler using short, thin cuts. Leftover salad can be left in the fridge for a day.
Let us know if you tried either version, Vera
If you have questions or ideas about this blog space, or about the Dalhousie Courtyard Garden initiative, please contact [email protected]
