Edmonton teachers discover a small ecosystem. (Photo: Claudia Bolli)

“I realized that most of the [school] day could be spent outdoors with students doing various curriculum strands …and enjoying them!”  This was the glowing feedback from a participant at our recent teacher-training summer institute in Edmonton. Exactly what we were hoping to hear.

At the Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom summer institute we show teachers how to weave environmental education into their provincial curriculum. This helps not only the students who will benefit from experiential outdoor activities, but inspires the teachers as well. Another Edmonton teacher noted, “I’ve made pages and pages of connections for my class, my school Eco Kids Club, my school, my family, my life.”

This August’s three-day summer institute was held in Winnipeg (in its second year with 27 participants), Edmonton (in its first year with 25 participants) and in Toronto, in partnership with the Toronto District School Board (in its fourth year with 28 participants).

Exemplary presenters helped the teachers come up with ways to implement environmental education in various subjects including science, art, literacy and geography, while capitalizing on student curiosity and encouraging collaborative learning. All participating teachers received a wealth of lesson plans, posters and other educational resources, as well as an outdoor classroom backpack or canvas bag filled with supplies and tools to facilitate outdoor investigations and greening projects.

Looking to fund your school greening project? Applications for Toyota Evergreen School Ground Greening Grants are now available.

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.

The team at Malvern was one of three winning TakeBAC neighbourhoods. (Photo: Sarah Midanik)

Toronto’s annual TakeBAC program wrapped up on Tuesday after six exciting weeks of hard work.  An unusually hot and humid summer made the program especially challenging this year, but the 200 youth involved were undeterred from their goal to create beautiful, vibrant garden spaces in communities around Toronto.

The outstanding effort was rewarded yesterday with a lunch and awards ceremony at Evergreen Brick Works, attended by Evergreen executive director Geoff Cape and the staff from Toronto Community Housing, and Starbucks, who funded the program through their Youth Action Grant.

The Evergreen Brick Works Pavillion filled up on Tuesday for the closing ceremonies. (Photo: Evergreen)

The youth took the opportunity to showcase their work and talk about their favourite parts of TakeBAC.

Out of 26 locations, the TakeBAC judges selected three winning sites to receive additional funding:

Malvern (110 Empringham Dr.)

Coopermills (4020 Dundas St. W)

Lawrence Heights (37 Varna Dr.)

This garden at Swansea Mews won the runner-up award. (Photo: Fathima Kahn)

In reality, all the communities and participants are winners.  Small-scale greening projects give the youth an opportunity to learn skills, be creative, and take on responsibility.  With a bit of care and maintenance, the results of their hard work can be enjoyed by the communities for years to come.  Evergreen and the City of Toronto would like to congratulate all participants in TakeBAC 2010, and we can’t wait to do it again next year!

A lush community garden plot. (Photo: Evergreen)

Over the past three years, the number of community gardens in Vancouver has more than doubled, yet the wait lists show no signs of getting any shorter. Green thumbs rose to the City’s challenge of creating 2,010 gardens by 2010 to serve as a legacy of the recent Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Despite this huge increase in availability, Andrew Pask of the City’s Social Policy Division, estimates that the wait list for garden plots across the city is “at least in the thousands.”

As a Project Coordinator for the Vancouver City Hall Community Garden, I receive many requests from interested gardeners wanting to be put on the wait list. There is currently a list of close to 60 people hoping to join this garden, but many other gardens have even longer waiting lists. Want a plot at the Davie Village Community Garden? With a list of 150 interested gardeners, you might be waiting until 2022.

It’s easy to understand why these gardens have become so popular, as gardening has been shown to reduce stress, and carries the tangible reward of taking home your very own produce, even if you don’t have a backyard. In Vancouver more so than most areas, affordable land has become scarce, pushing the demand for community gardens even higher. There’s still an abundance of brown fields that could be turned into gardens, that just need the right group planning and initiative to be turned into a garden. (To learn more, download our free resource,  No Plot is Too Small.)

There’s also simple quick start-up solutions if you want to garden and live in a condo, such as woolly pockets or a simple container garden. I’d personally encourage anyone to go try and get some dirt under their fingernails –I’m almost certain you’ll be glad that you did.

Evergreen staff and volunteers building seed beds in Richmond Hill. (Photos: Evergreen)

More than 3,000 tiny trees and shrubs from staghorn sumac to white spruce are holding strong in Evergreen’s first native tree nursery, launched in Richmond Hill’s Phyllis Rawlinson Park last fall. Our second nursery, launched this spring at Downsview Park has 800 thriving seedlings of Ontario’s official tree.

Evergreen created these nurseries to improve the hardiness and genetic diversity of the native plants we use across the GTA. It’s also a chance for us to learn how to grow various native species from seeds and seedlings.

Site transformation at Downsview Park: from open field to budding tree nursery (Photo: Evergreen)

Thanks to the great efforts of our volunteers, who carefully prepared the space, planted, and tended the young growth, these trees and shrubs are taking root in plots that will be their home over the next few years until they are planted out in parks and open spaces to become the forests of tomorrow.

It is just one more way communities and nature are coming together to benefit each other in our urban spaces. To lend a hand and help us tend to the young plants, check out our online calendar for up coming events.

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.

Gardeners getting their hands in the dirt. (Photo Credit: Aimee Carson)

At Emmett Ave, there are about 40 plots that are stewarded by individuals and/or community groups. These plots engage more than 150 community members, including friends and family, who take part in weekly garden programming. Community garden members are involved in the process from start to finish—from making compost and planning their plots, to planting and harvesting, and finally, putting their gardens to bed. The result: a bounty of fresh, organic vegetables every week.

Enjoying the fruits of their labour. (Photo Credit: Aimee Carson)

One of the fantastic events that the Emmett Ave gardeners host is the annual potluck, which was extremely successful this year. On the evening of July 14, Emmett Ave Community gardeners, members of the Weston-Mount Dennis community, and Evergreen staff and volunteers came together to share fresh, organic food from the garden. Evergreen staff member Aimee Carson commented, “the potluck was a big success. Upwards of 40 community members from the Weston Mt. Dennis neighbourhood came out to enjoy a beautiful night of gardening and locally grown food.”

TVO also came down and shot footage for their Get Involved! program, which showcases intimate documentary portraits that inspire people to get involved and demonstrate the value of an active, engaged citizenry.

Enjoying delicious food, and TVO catching all the fun! (Photo Credit: Aimee Carson)

The community garden members all live within a two to three kilometer radius of the garden, and many live in the two high rise buildings nearby, with limited access to outdoor space at their own homes. For this diverse group (from age 5 to seniors, and encompassing varying cultures and backgrounds), the Emmett Ave Community Garden is an opportunity to share knowledge about indigenous food cultures and food growing techniques, and to learn from one another. While our mother tongues may differ, communicating through food is a universal language.

Beautiful garden fresh zucchini. (Photo Credit: Aimee Carson)

To learn more and find a community garden in your area, check out the Toronto Community Garden Network.

To learn about Evergreen’s connection to community gardens, see our website.

Dense yellow flowers of Canada goldenrod. (Photo: Copyright (c) by Al Schneider. Southwest Colorado Wildflowers. USAD @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)

Commonly known as Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis is a perennial herb that blooms from July to October with dense yellow flowers. As a drought tolerant plant, it enjoys sandy soils and lots of sun, and when it’s happy can grow to a meter and a half tall. It is native to most of Canada, and can be found in meadows, woodlands and roadsides, predominantly at low to middle elevations.

It gains its name “solidago” as it was believed to have medicinal qualities; solidus meaning “whole” and ago meaning “to make,” referencing that it could “make whole again.” The plant can be used to make tea, and was a popular alternative to costly English tea during the American Revolution.

Learn more about Canada goldenrod and other native wildflowers from Evergreen’s Native Plant Database.

Giant Hogweed (Photo: Joe Ferreira, IPM Specialist, City of Brampton)

You may have heard a lot of panic in the news lately about this plant. Even though today is Friday the Thirteenth, we wanted to bring you just the facts:

This towering plant with large, white, umbrella-like flowers may look harmless–or even inviting–but the reality is quite the opposite.  The giant hogweed is an invasive species that produces up to 120,000 seeds that spread by wind and water.  The seeds typically sprout in the first two years but can remain in the ground more than five years, eventually dominating a habitat.  The pesky plant also has natural defenses that can cause various skin irritations.

Originating from Asia and possibly imported as an interesting home garden plant, giant hogweed can grow in a variety of areas, but prefers moist soils with high-light levels. Its sap contains chemicals activated by sunlight to become irritants.  If these chemicals come into contact with skin, they can cause severe dermatitis such as welts, rashes, and blistering, followed by pigmented scarring.  The chemicals can be found in the leaves, stems, flowers, and roots of giant hogweed, deterring anything from eating or removing it once it becomes established in a region.

If you believe that you have seen this plant, please contact your local conservation authority to ensure proper removal and handling.  Do not try to remove this material on your own.

One way to help prevent the spread of this plant or other non-native species, use locally native flowers, trees and shrubs in your home gardens and landscapes.  Not only will native plants save on water and maintenance, but you’ll also be your local environment. To help you find which plants a native to your area, visit the Evergreen Native Plant Database.