Kavanah Garden Summer Update

What a summer we've been having!  Here's a look at some of the amazing things that have been happening at the Kavanah Garden :

With all the sun we've been getting, our plants are THIRSTY!  We are incredibly blessed to have a stream right beside the Kavanah Garden!  We looked on a map and discovered that our stream goes all the ways to Lake Ontario...

Just as we finished setting up our new Toad Abode (a home for toads and frogs made out of broken clay pots)....we found a toad!

Hunting for sababas (insects and other such things) at the second annual Kavanah Garden Community Festival!

Garlic scape harvest maddness!!!!  We are growing 7 different varieties of garlic this season!  Honouring the Jewish law of Ma'aser (tithing), at least 10% of the garlic scapes we harvest are donated to tzedakah.

The meadow is FILLED with wildflowers!  These yellow meadow vetchling smell absolutely amazing!  Do you know the blessing to say over wonderful smelling plants?

It's wild black raspberry season!  So far we have picked almost 4 kilograms of berries for our Jam Making Workshop next week!    We'll be saving some of the jam for making hamentashen next Purim! 

Wild turkey in the meadow!!!!  We think they love black raspberries almost as much as we do!

Painting our new SPINNING composter!  Made out of an old olive drum....

Now we can TURN our old vegetable scraps into nutrient rich compost for next season's plants!

Making fresh mint tea in our solar oven!  Delicious!

The wonderful folks from PJ Library joined us at our community festival to share a few super sweet stories (and freezies too!)

Watering the grapes growing on our arbour.  Maybe in a few years we can make grape juice for Shabbat from the grapes that will grow!

Volunteers from Green Juice spent an afternoon at the garden helping weed, water, and harvest, while learning about the different Jewish environmental teachings we model at the Kavanah Garden. 

At the Kavanah Garden....we're going back to our roots!

Such abundance we have been blessed with!  Looking forward to celebrating with our growing community in the coming weeks :)

Kavanah Garden Community Festival - Sunday, July 11

Click here to RSVP on Facebook!

Kavanah Garden Community Update

Hello Kavanah Community!

The past couple of weeks have been incredibly productive at the garden. We've had every weather system imaginable pass through - from snow and hail to blistering heat to torrential downpours, yet students, volunteers and staff have worked through it all!

Program Update

In the first week of June we hosted five programs at the garden, including an interfaith program with the grade 8 students from both the Islamic Foundation School and the Paul Penna School, and a native pollinator workshop that was open to all community members.  Students have been learning about our local water system, vermicompost and worm-bin maintenance, the law of ba'al tashchit which forbids us from being wasteful, biblical planting techniques, as well as native plants and critters.

Grade 7 and 8 students from Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School and the Islamic Foundation School.  Together the students studied Jewish environmental and Muslim environmental sources, planted our 3 Sisters garden (corn, beans, and squash), and learned about Jewish agricultural laws.

Students from the Islamic Foundation School measuring one tefach (handbreadth) of space between seeds.

Volunteers and pollinators came together to build our native pollinator garden last weekend!  We planted five kinds of native wildflowers that are rich in pollen and nectar, defined native pollinator habitat spaces, and made seed balls to help spread the native pollinator lovin' to other parts of our community!

Volunteers assemble and prepare to install our new Pollinator Palace!

Planting Update

Our garden beds have received some serious TLC in the last week, and we've planted a wide variety of delicious and deliciously beautiful plants such as...

- tomatoes - 7 varieties!

- potatoes and onions in one bed (our Chanukah bed...mmm my mouth is watering)

- beans and peas of the climbing variety

- strawberries and strawberry spinach (a new one for us)

- corn and squash in our Three Sisters bed

- wheat and barley - these are 2 of Israel's biblical 7 species that grow in Canada as well! We planted them in time for Shavuot, which is a celebration of the wheat harvest.

- bee balm in our Native Pollinator bed to attract our pollinator friends

-amaranth, sunflowers, basil...the list goes on :)

Collecting the rainwater from our makeshift roof!  Last week's rain was amazing - it looks like our garlic grew almost 6 inches overnight!

Planting spinach in our recycling bin planters!

Bnai Mitzvah students from Temple Emanuel plant soybean seedlings!

CSA Update

The first CSA pickup was last Thursday, June 3rd, and was a wonderful soggy success. It was so great having everyone at the garden and meeting our extended community.  Daniel, the fantastic farmer behind the Cutting Veg provided a gorgeous selection of asparagus, spinach, salad greens, spring onions and garlic, radishes, potatoes, rhubarb, bok choy, apples, turnips and maybe a couple things I'm forgetting too.   All of it was fresh and earthy and delicious (trust me)!

Kavanah Garden - celebrating a growthful spring season as we move into summer.  Thank you to the countless community volunteers who have helped us plant over 75 varieties of vegetables in just six short weeks!  Looking forward to the fruits of our labours (literally).  And knowing that 80% of what we harvest will be going to feed community members in need makes the work that much sweeter :)

Kavanah Garden Update

Hi everyone!

I’m Beth, one of the summer interns, and I’m so excited to be spending this growing season at the Kavanah Garden! I think it’s important to be aware of where our food comes from and how it was grown. I love how the Kavanah Garden brings the community together to grow food sustainably and engage in Tikkun Olam.

In the past few weeks we’ve been hard at work weeding, planting, preparing and running programs.  So far we've planted:
-strawberries in one of the raised beds
-beans in recycling bins with families from the Hillel Children’s Workshop
-barley and wheat in the first 2 Shemitah beds with students from Darchei Noam Supplementary School

-2 varieties of kale in one of the farm beds

-our Garden of Sages, featuring 7 kinds of sage planted alongside sagely words of wisdom

We have lots of programs and workshops coming up, and the first CSA pickup day/open garden time is this Thursday June 3rd from 3-7pm. Check out our Calendar of Events for details.

Looking forward to growing with all of you this season!
 

Beth with our first harvest of the season!  Rhubarb!

Five of the seven plots in our Shmitah bed....numbered and ready to be planted! 

Saying a bracha (blessing) on wild lilac growing in the ravine.

Serving raw chocolate banana coconut almond smoothie in Chocolate Making 101,

part of the Jewish Urban Homesteading Workshop Series, in partnership with Makom!

Seedlings!  10 different kinds of tomato, 6 different kinds of peppers,

2 different kinds of basil, ground cherries, tomatillos, wildflowers, and more! 

All ready to be planted by school, congregational, and volunteer groups

in the next couple of weeks!

Looking forward to an epic few weeks at the Kavanah Garden!!!

Lag Ba'Omer Volunteer Day!

Kavanh Garden is officially open and our first Volunteer day was a huge success!

About 25 new and returning community members came out to the garden on Sunday May 2nd and laboured through the morning's ominous rainclouds into the afternoon's sunny skies. We tackled a number of big projects and are ready for the educational and growing season. A HUGE thanks to everyone who came out and made this possible! Here's the recap of what went down:

1. We installed a roof on our pergola, which acts as class-room and picnic area, so that we have shade and/or rain protection other than our greenhouse-oven!

2. We turned over all the beds so they are officially ready to receive our seedlings;

3. We dug two brand new farm beds which increase our planting area in a big way;

4. We built 3 raised beds for the native pollinator garden;

5. With some extreme muscle power we levelled an area for our new and improved shed which will house gardening tools and program supplies;

6. We transplanted our prickly berry bushes to a larger, more detached area where they can thrive (yet be avoided when necessary);

7. We painted signage for our Shemitah bed, which has been divided into 7 sections with one lying fallow each year;

8. We lugged many buckets of water up from the river to keep our current plants happy and to prepare for all the transplanting in the weeks to come!

The excitement about the upcoming season was palpable, and we are so looking forward to getting our tomatoes, tomatillos, kale, kholrabi, cauliflower, ground-cherries, beans, and more into the soil!

Check out our Calendar page for upcoming volunteer opportunities, workshops, etc., or sign up for our newsletter by clicking the link on the right side of the page.

Looking forward to growing with all of you this season!

Tamara Wise
Kavanah Garden Assistant Director

Turning the soil in our Pe'ah bed.

Removing the straw mulch from our garden beds.

Weeding the pathways.

Building raised beds for our native pollinator garden.

Digging out the footprint for our new storage shed.

Painting numbered rocks for our Shemitah bed. Can you guess how many?

Checking out some of the creatures and critters that call the Kavanah Garden home.

Even the Rogers TV News Crew came to help out! Well...at least they filmed and interviewed the people who came to help out....

Kavanah Garden is open for the 2010 growing season!

Jewish Urban Homesteading Workshop Series

Kavanah Garden, in partnership with Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism, is proud to present:

Jewish Urban Homesteading Workshop Series!

Urban homesteading is a movement that promotes sustainable, self-reliant, urban living. This workshop series will introduce participants to some of the skills that can help us live more sustainably in an urban context, honouring the Jewish values of caring for our earth and community. We're going back to our roots!

All workshops will take place at the Kiever Synagogue in Kensington Market at 25 Bellevue Avenue, unless otherwise indicated.

All workshops are $25/person. Register for 4 workshops for $90 or all 8 for $175.

For more information, please contact Risa at 416-805-8382 or risa@torathateva.org.

Pre-registration and payment are required to confirm your place.

__________________________________________________

Organic Gardening 101: Planning & Planting
Wednesday, April 28, 7-9pm
Discover how to grow your very own Garden of Eden! This workshop will address the basics of planning and planting your own urban food garden.
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/ylrlg8t

Chocolate Making 101
Wednesday, May 26, 7-9pm
Wouldn’t Chanukah gelt taste so much better if it was made from raw, vegan, fair-trade ingredients? Make chocolate that nourishes your body and spirit!
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/ygez2rd

Composting 101
Wednesday, June 23, 7-9pm
According to our rabbis, a righteous person does not waste even a mustard seed! Discover how to turn your vegetables scraps into nutrient-rich soil!
*Special Location – Bathurst and Dundas Area
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/yzurfr5

Jam Making and Canning 101
Wednesday, July 28, 7-9pm
Who doesn’t love strawberry hamentashen!?! Learn how to make and can your own jam so you can enjoy a little taste of summer goodness next Purim.
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/yzlvput

Herbal Salve Making 101
Wednesday, August 25, 7-9pm
In addition to Bubbie’s chick soup, local herbs can be used to encourage health and healing! Learn how to make your own herbal salves to nourish your skin.
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/yj9jx29


Pickling 101
Wednesday, September 15, 7-9pm
No deli sandwich is complete without a kosher dill pickle! Learn how to make your own pickled products such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickled beans.
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/yhgak2p

Seed Saving 101
Wednesday, October 20, 7-9pm
In Bereshit/Genesis it is written, “To your seed I will give this land” (12:7). Learn how to save seed from this year’s harvest for next year’s vegetable garden!
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/ykcn6o5

Beer and Kombucha Brewing 101
Wednesday, November 17, 7-9pm
Hebrew? Webrew! Or at least we will brew….beer and komucha that is! Learn how to make your own deliciously fermented beverages! L’Chayim!
Click here to register for this workshop: http://tinyurl.com/yler43l



Click here to register for 4 workshops: http://tinyurl.com/yjyvq94
*Please note that you will be contacted to indicate which 4 workshops.



Click here to register for all 8 workshops: http://tinyurl.com/yzlggul
*Yeah for you!