Herbs growing on a deck (Photo: Evergreen)

Urban agriculture may sound a little strange and daunting but it has become an important part of living in the city. It allows us to be more self-sufficient and puts fresh, healthy food at our fingertips. Not to mention the satisfaction you get from knowing that the vegetables and herbs you’re eating are cut from plants grown and tended by you!

With spring around the corner, now is the perfect time to start preparing for a new season of planting. If you’re eager to take part but not sure where to begin, Evergreen has a range of resources for you.

L: Planting a herb spiral R: Finished spiral (Photos: Evergreen)

From organic pest control methods for your window or balcony garden to starting your own herb spiral to storage and cooking, we’ve got you covered from seed to harvest to table.

Fresh tomatoes (Photo: Evergreen)

Visit our website to download these handy fact sheets and more. And, if you’re in the Toronto area, stay tuned for the re-opening of Evergreen Gardens in April, where you can find tools, plants, seeds and advice to get you through the year. Happy growing!

Tree Tenders ecard, Photo: L.E.A.F

Are you interested in looking after your trees but not sure where to start? Trees are a great way to beautify a neighbourhood and a little care will go a long way. Our friends at L.E.A.F. are hosting their Tree Tenders Training Course in Markham, September 2, 5, 7, and 11. Many Evergreen staff and dedicated volunteers have attended and successfully completed the course.

“I have taken the course myself and highly recommend it. We are pleased to be a partner in such a great learning opportunity!” – Lisa Fisk, Program Manager, Richmond Hill Stewardship.

“Informative, practical, great instructors and I am consistently using the information and resources I received in the course.” – Kim Sellers, Program Manager, Mississauga Stewardship.

Learn more and register for the Tree Tenders Training course at L.E.A.F!

Fall tree planting event Photo: Evergreen

Get a jump on plating in your local area and join Evergreen and our community partners at fall events!  We have many early autumn events planned for the first week of September and many more to come throughout the season across the GTA.

Join us to plant trees, shrubs and wildflowers on Saturday September 11, 10 am-12 noon in Mississauga at Shelby Park and in Scarborough at Morningside Park .  Check out our online event calendar for more on event details.

Students using their outdoor classroom at Cassandra PS, Toronto. (Photo: Cam Collyer)

With summer almost behind us (*sniff*) and September fast approaching, let’s look to the school year ahead. Have you been giving some thought to your school ground? Does it need a little green?

The Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds grant applications are now available online and will be accepted starting September 7. We are excited to say that we have been offering this program with Toyota’s support for over a decade! Since 2000, the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program has distributed $2.1 million to over 1,700 schools across Canada. In 2009/2010 alone, we awarded $260,000 in grants to 158 schools.

Join the hundreds of schools across Canada who have taken part in this program and start filling out your application today!

For more information on deadlines, eligibility and to access your application, click here.

Beaver Lodge Fort provides a shady nook for little ones at Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto, ON. (Photo: Lyle Sadavoy)

Here in Learning Grounds, we work hard to get kids outside, and shade is a big part of keeping them safe while they’re there. Escaping to shade not only feels good, it is becoming increasingly important for children’s health. According to the Canadian Dermatology Association, people born in the 1990s have a 2 to 3 times higher lifetime risk of skin cancer than those born in the 1960′s. To put it a different way, if you’re currently between 11 and 20 years old, you have a 1 in 6 lifetime risk of  skin cancer, compared to those between 41 and 50 years  old, whose lifetime risk is 1 in 20.

The good news is that anyone can create shade at home and or on school grounds. Shade structures can range in price and complexity, from a straight-forward tarp or tent to a vine-covered pergola or gazebo. Read on for inspiration and links to our free shade resources.

Inspired by cultural or natural elements, these provide shady places to gather, play, hide, or sit quietly:

:

Left: Teepee at Manglerud School, Oslo, Norway. Right: Pergola at Argyle Primary School, London, UK. (Photos: Cam Collyer)

A simple tarp can be installed and removed in minutes, and provides an effective and low-maintenance option for shading an outdoor classroom:

Neumark-Grundschule, Berlin, Germany. (Photo: Cam Collyer)

Please note: Installation of permanent shade sail does not guarantee dramatic temperature drop as pictured below!

Avalon Public School, Ottawa, ON. (Photo: Jeff Kaster)

Could your local school use a little more shade?

Even though school is out, now’s the perfect time to begin planning for a shade project at your school. School shade shelters are eligible for Evergreen funding.

Learning Grounds also has free resources to help you on your way. Download the chapter on Shade Shelters in Design Ideas for the Outdoor Classroom for tips on building both permanent and temporary shade shelters like the ones you see here.

If you’re burning for more information on shade, here’s a list of Learning Grounds’ shade resources:

Shade for Kids Workshop-in-a-Box

Design Ideas for the Outdoor Classroom

Designing for Shade and Energy Conservation

Shade for Kids: A Policy Primer for School Boards

Before You Go Outside: Tips from the Teacher’s Corner



Healthy food grows in healthy soil. (Photo: Melissa Yu)

Looking for a summer project that will have rewards all year-long? Start your own backyard composter!

We all know the benefits: Composting creates a nutritious soil supplement while reducing the amount of kitchen waste that goes into landfill or your green bin. But where to start?

There are all kinds of books, reports, and articles that provide abundant detail. To get you on your way, we’ve put together a quick and easy Guide to Backyard Composting (PDF, 451 kB) that will have you playing in the dirt in no time.

Pathways weave through Westwood's school ground. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Meandering pathways can bring a welcoming dimension to a green space. They can provide access to nooks and crannies that you may not otherwise notice–a secret haven!  But designing these features can be a daunting task. Where should they go? What type of materials should be used? Do we really need pathways? In this post we will attempt to give you the answers, ideas and detailed instructions to help you on your way.

Why build a path?

Pathways can help to separate areas in your community park or school ground that serve different functions, or provide a boundary to areas that should not be walked through. Most importantly, though, they can help to engage people in the greening project by directing them to new places to explore.

Here are some things you may want to consider when designing your path:

• Provide a variety of path choices to enhance variations for play and exploration
• Observe where natural paths occur and try to construct your pathway in the same places
• Design pathways to form intersecting circles to allow for continuous movement
• Include pathways that provide above-grade vantage points to capture interest

What about materials?

This is the fun part, and your chance to get creative!

Westwood Elementary School in Prince George, BC took their pathway design to a whole new level by creating concrete mosaic tiles designed by the students and staff at the school and making a path out of them. Diane Sales, former teacher at the school provided us with detailed how-to instructions and photos.

You will need:

• large piece of cardboard at least 4″ bigger than the finished size of the stepping stone
• coloured glass, floor tiles, small flat stones, plastic alphabet letters and numbers, glass tiles, glass beads, other found objects such as keys, broken china etc.
• a sheet of plywood bigger than the cardboard
• clear contact paper
• duct tape
• 2′ x 4′ lumber
• nails
• concrete finishing tools and/ or a large metal drywall float
• edge tools/smoothing trowel
• chicken wire
• wire cutters
• concrete
• sanded grout
• rubber gloves
• a putty knife
• sponges
• a disposable bucket such as an ice cream pail
• hose
• Exacto knife
• short wooden stakes
• sledge hammer

Step 1: Building the frame. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 1: Using the 2′ x 4′ boards and nails, construct frames for your stepping stones. You decide how many you want and what size they should be. Having a carpenter help you with this part might help. Using wooden stakes and a sledgehammer, set the constructed frames into the ground where you want them. Be sure to dig out the gravel or dirt within the frame so that the interior surface is flat.

Step 2: Design (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 2: Design the visible surface of your stepping stone! Get the kids involved and have them design on paper first. Large, simple designs similar to colouring books work best. Transfer or redraw the finished design onto a piece of cardboard that is the size of your wood frames–leave a couple of inches around the edge of the cardboard. Place the glass or tiles on top of the cardboard design. Make sure that you leave at least a finger width between each item–otherwise the concrete will not be able to seep between the tiles.

Step 3: Placing contact paper. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 3: Cut the contact paper so that it covers the whole piece of cardboard. You may have to use several pieces to cover the whole piece, but try not to use small pieces because it will show in the cement. With the help of a buddy, lower the contact paper onto the design–make sure you lay it down straight! Rub each tile to make sure that the contact paper is sticking to the tile. If the tile doesn’t stick, cut out the piece of contact paper above it and stick some duct tape over the hole so that it is touching the tile.

Step 4: Transport. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 4: Place a sheet of plywood under the cardboard and (with your buddy) carry the stepping stone outside and set it next to the wooden frame, which should be in the place you want your stepping stone to be. Cut your chicken wire so that it will fit inside your wood frame.

Step 5: Pouring the concrete. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 5: Pour concrete into the wood frame so that it is about half full. Use shovels and rakes to even it out. Place the chicken wire in the concrete pushing it down with the shovels and rakes. Pour in more concrete to top of the wooden frame. Smooth the tops and edges. Make sure to tap the sides of the form so that trapped air moves to the top.

Step 6: Westwood used two different methods of transferring their designs that were dependent upon the weight of the tiles.

Step 6: Transferring tile design. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 6a) For lighter tiles: If you can pick up the contact paper without the tiles falling off, stretch the contact paper over the concrete and gently lower the tiles onto the concrete. Rub and press tiles into place. Use a concrete or drywall float to even press tiles into concrete.

Step 6: Press tiles into cement. (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 6b) For heavier tiles: Leave the cardboard or plywood under the design. Lay the cardboard on top of the finished concrete. Have two people firmly hold the contact paper in the correct spot and carefully slide the cardboard out from under the contact paper. Lower the tiles on top of the concrete and press tiles in as above.

Step 7: The Big Reveal! (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 7: Allow the stepping stones to dry for a couple of days (depending on weather) before removing contact paper. Then, carefully peel back the paper…

Step 8: Take time for troubleshooting. If any tiles have not adhered, use a strong exterior adhesive to glue the tile in place. If there is concrete covering the tiles, use a putty knife or scissors to scrape it off. If there are large gaps between the tiles, wait another couple of days and then fill gaps with sanded grout (an adult job).

Step 9: You're done! (Photo: Diane Sales)

Step 9: Enjoy your beautiful new stepping stones!

Protect biodiversity by collecting seeds. (Photo: Evergreen)

Save your spot in our Seed Collecting Certification workshop on August 26 and 27.  For more information, visit Evergreen’s online event calendar or download our flyer.

Johnny Appleseed, American folk legend, may have had the right idea in collecting and planting apple seeds all across the landscape.  Today, certified seed collectors assist in tracking seed availability for future planting use. Information about seed availability, location, type and quantity enables these trained individuals  to collect and store seed and helps ensure that the appropriate stock is available to meet long term demands. Whether plants are for community restoration, outdoor classrooms or you own native plant backyard oasis, using plants sourced from certified seed grown in a local nursery is a great start to any project.

Purple Blooms of a large leaf lupine. (Photo: Copyright (c) by Gary A. Monroe. USDA @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)

Happy International Pollinator Week!

Introducing a native plant that is also friendly to birds and bees. Lupinus polyphyllus, as it’s scientifically known, is a wildflower native to much of Canada, excluding the prairies and territories. Lupine flowers bloom in brilliant blues, purples, and pinks in long dense clusters along the plant’s stem. They can be spotted in moist and open habitats from June to September and attract hummingbirds and butterflies, making them a great choice for your bird and butterfly gardens.

Are you in or around Toronto? Join Evergreen for the Pollinator Festival at Evergreen Brick Works this Sunday.

Learn more about the large leaf lupine and other native wildflowers from Evergreen’s Native Plant Database.

What's a green and leak-free way to 500 gardening gloves on a budget? (Photos: Laura Smit)

Everyone is welcome to take part in Evergreen’s stewardship and planting events. You bring the cheery attitude and we’ll bring everything you need, from the trees and tools to the gloves. And here in Evergreen BC, sometimes this means bringing up to 500 gloves, so all of our volunteers can get their hands in the dirt and keep their fingernails clean. It makes it easy for everyone to take part, but it also means we have a lot of laundry.

We knew there had to be a greener way than sending the soiled gloves out for dry-cleaning. It seemed to fit into Evergreen BC’s green office policy (and budget) to just wash them ourselves in the office.

Putting our best green practices into action, we found a used, energy-efficient, stackable washer and dryer from Craigslist. We even picked it up using a car-share service. We borrowed tools from our friendly BCIT neighbours, set the machine up in our back room, connected the hoses, and ran the first load.

And then we noticed the leak.

The first little drip seemed like a fair price to pay for an inexpensive, second-hand machine. Maybe it would be worth mopping up the puddle if it meant we were saving ourselves and the environment exposure to dry-cleaning chemicals like perchloroethylene.

But the the puddle soon turned into a lake, and besides being annoying, it became a slippery safety issue. Determined not to let this stop us (we needed 500 gloves for our event that weekend) we rolled up our pants, checked hoses, wrestled out parts, ran test loads, emptied drip pans, stopped floods and finally found the source of our problem: a small hole right in the pump.

We attacked our adversary with an ancient home remedy: a dab of superglue and some aluminum foil. And It worked. We were tired, wet, and our emails were piling up, but the leak was patched. We avoided washing 500 gloves, well, by hand.

It’s been said many times, but maybe because it’s true: It’s not always easy being green. Sometimes it’s hard to see the benefits of changing behaviour when you run into tricky situations, or find it difficult to solve problems using the same principles that created them. We’re convinced it makes a difference, though – from reusing (and repairing) washing machines to planting and caring for a tree.

Ever experienced a red wriggler exodus? Found yourself knee-deep in garbage while finding material for that perfect eco-craft? Have any lessons learned the hard way to help the rest of us green up our acts?

Share a story here. We promise to laugh with you.