Show your support for Loving Spoonful by purchasing tickets for this Saturday’s Shout Sister! Concert.

When: Saturday, June 4th at 8pm – doors at 7:30pm
Where: Syndenham St. United Church – 82 Sydenham St.
Tickets: $15.00 – children 8 and under free
Tickets are available at the door or at one of the following locations:
Brianʼs Record Option, Tara Foods, Novel Idea

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Loving Spoonful in support of its mission to increase access to healthy food for all. Hope to see you there!

Workshop participants learn how to best plant tomato seedlings

The first workshop of the Community Gardens Network Spring/Summer workshop series was a big success. 9 participants attended the 2-hr workshop on Tuesday at the Acorn Garden. They took part in hands-on activities like pinching soil, double-digging a garden plot and properly planting tomato seedlings.

Double-digging: Hard work but worth the effort!

Participants received a wealth of gardening tips on a range of topics like mulching, pest control, soil amendment and how to harvest different veggies in your garden.

A big thanks to volunteer extraordinaire Megan Hamilton for sharing her expertise in a fun and highly informative workshop – the group consensus was that the workshop was very useful but too short!

For a list of upcoming workshops in the 2011 series please visit: http://kingstoncommunitygardens.ca and look under the “Upcoming Events” tab

Hands-on learning

Soil pinch test

The Kingston Community Gardens Network is hosting a series of FREE gardening workshops throughout the spring and summer!

Check out the Beginners Gardening Workshop this Tuesday, May 24th from 6-8p.m at the Oak St. Community Garden (Acorn Garden plot).

This workshop will cover the basics of getting your garden plot started – from soil preparation to tips and techniques for achieving success with common vegetable crops like tomatoes, greens and beans. Learning will happen in a hands on way, so be ready to dig in and plant seeds in Loving Spoonful’s donation garden plot.

All welcome!

Meet our Grow a Row Coordinator, Kate, at the Acorn Garden this Saturday to help get the beds prepared for planting. We’ve been rained out the last two times, so here’s hoping to a productive day tomorrow!

When: Saturday, May 21st 10a.m.-2p.m.

Where: Acorn Garden (map to the garden is here: http://oakstreetgarden.wordpress.com/)

Grow a Row has local and organic tomato seedlings for sale - you can buy four seedlings for $2, supporting an important local initiative and getting a head start on your garden!

KCHC, in partnership with the Community Harvest Working Group, is seeking a coordinator for the Community Harvest Market located in Rideau Heights.

Location: North Kingston
Position Type: Independent Contract (May – October 2011)
Start Date: As Soon as Possible
Salary: $3,000

With the support of CHWG members, the Community Harvest Market Organizer/Facilitator will:

• Recruit, support, and coordinate vendors, musicians, local organizations/groups and volunteers
• Attend and oversee market days (including set up, take down, coordinate volunteers, etc.)
• Organize four (4) special events (e.g.  food, entertainment, advertising, fund-raising, evaluation survey and vouchers, etc)
• Assist with gathering feedback and collating information (each Market day and at special events)
• Create and distribute flyers, posters, and public service announcements to promote and publicize the market
• Meet with CHWG members for organizational support on a regular basis
• Report, if available, at monthly meetings of the CHWG

Click on the link to find out more information about this exciting opportunity: http://www.kchc.ca/emp_commHMO.shtml

All inquiries should be directed to KCHC as instructed in the job posting.

When: Sat. June 4th 2011 – Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Concert at 8 p.m.

Where: Sydenham Street United Church (82 Sydenham St.)

Tickets: $15 (children 8 and under free)

Kingston’s popular Shout Sister! Choir will be donating a portion of the proceeds from their upcoming concert to Loving Spoonful!

Shout Sister! was formed in 2002 by Kingston’s favorite blues and jazz lady – Juno nominee Georgette Fry – and focuses on the joyful love of singing. Georgette is an active participant in Loving Spoonful’s Grow a Row campaign, and many choir members have helped out with past fundraising efforts such as our highly successful Apple of my Pie fundraiser last October. Loving Spoonful founder Susan Belyea has been singing with Shout Sister! since its founding, so the relationship between Loving Spoonful and the choir is a long standing one.

This is a wonderful opportunity come out and enjoy a fun-filled night of music while supporting Loving Spoonful in delivering its mandate of enhancing access to healthy food for all in an inclusive and sustainable way. Encourage everyone you know to attend!!!

Tickets can be purchased at the following locations:

Brian’s Record Option – 381 Princess St.

Novel Idea – 156 Princess St.

Tara Foods – 91 Princess St.

From Choir Members and at the door

From Loving Spoonful -  info@lovingspoonful.org (613)546-4291 ext. 1871

Join Loving Spoonful staff and volunteers as we prepare the ACORN garden for another season of growing vegetables for the Grow a Row campaign.

When: Saturday, May 14th  10a.m.-2p.m.

Where: Oak Street Community Garden

Details: We will be preparing the ACORN garden plot for planting, working alongside other Oak Street gardeners as part in the OSG opening party and workbee. People are also encouraged to attend two free workshops being offered by veteran OSG gardeners and to take part in the potluck at 12p.m. All are welcome!

Gardening Workshops:

11 a.m. Composting – Learn basic construction and strategies for dealing with common concerns such as heat and rodents

1 p.m. Alternatives to Tilling – Explore alternatives to tilling garden plots, such as sheet mulching

We hope to see you there!

The ACORN Garden is a family-friendly donation and learning garden hosted by Loving Spoonful at the Oak Street Community Garden. It provides a place where everyone can volunteer to help grow food for donation to local meal programs and food banks. It is a great opportunity to learn about growing food, to meet other gardeners, and to share with the community. Experienced gardeners are encouraged to take part and share their knowledge and skills with new gardeners.