If you’ve landed here looking for the Intro to Permaculture Design: Mitigating Climate Change Through Regenerative Soils Works workshop in Sept 2018, our apologies for the misdirect to this page. You can find the Sept workshop here!
Join fellow gardeners, community builders and permaculturalists on Sat June 16th, 10 am – 2 pm for a garden and urban farm tour & field trip by school bus. We’ll visit three exciting sites in Toronto’s West end and explore themes and topics along the way. Our stops include the High Park Children’s Garden, Rockcliffe Greenhouse, and the Black Creek Community Farm. Themes and topics include:
- Soils, Plants and Land – how to test soil, community plant id, read landscapes
- Urban Gardens, Farms and Community Development
- Permaculture design principles, approaches and design elements
- Diversity of plants, people, community, biological ecosystems and social ecosystems, design approaches to enhance diversity
- Community building with each other, including a community building “Design It Forward” challenge for the bus
- Skill building and practice: plant id, soils analysis, reading the land, permaculture design, and working together!
Itinerary
9:45 am – 10:00 am: High Park TTC Station, Quebec Ave entrance
Get on the school bus at the High Park TTC Station (bus leaves at 10:00 am sharp!)
10:00 am: Bus
Orientation to the day’s activities. Start getting to know each other.
10:05 – 10:50 am: High Park Children’s Garden
We’ll visit the Children’s Garden and the straw bale Eco-Kitchen. We’ll learn about some of the design elements, programs, as well as the site’s soil, plant species, ecosystem and social-cultural history. We’ll connect to the Permaculture Principles as they are expressed here, and bring the principles with us as we tour and build community together for the day.
10:50 – 11:15 am: Bus
We’ll spend time connecting with each other and work on a fun community bus project together.
11:15 – 12:15 pm: Rockcliffe Greenhouse
Our next stop is the Rockcliffe Greenhouse where we’ll see the home base of Toronto’s Community Gardens Program. Here you’ll have a chance to see a site very few people visit. You’ll learn about the rich history of the community work, as well as the no till plant and garden work being done at the site. We’ll look at the soil and approaches taken to maximize plant and garden health.
12:15 pm: Bus
Munch on your Litterless Lunch and chat with your neighbour. Community bus project continues.
12:40 pm: Black Creek Community Farm
At the Farm, all are invited to contribute to a Community Snacks Table and we’ll share those with each other and folks on the farm. We’ll see and learn about a site that has transitioned from fields to a community farm and learn about the variety of approaches taken to the land, urban farm model, and community development work.
1:40 pm: Bus to Jane TTC Station
Our last bit of bus time will give us the chance to finish our Design It Forward project.
2:20 pm Arrive at Jane Station
Fee
Sliding scale: $35-$75
Fee includes: bus; research, organization and facilitation of the field trip; carbon offsets; and a contribution to the Black Creek Community Farm.
What to Bring
- Lunch, water, and a snack to contribute to the Community Snack Table
- Weather appropriate clothes (hat and layers)
- Sunscreen
- Plant id books if you have them
Registration
We’re proud to be part of Canada-wide Garden Days. Learn more about them here!