Sycamore Commons Permaculture

Hey All, In these strange and potentially stressful times, please remember that Sycamore Commons is a community resource for all. Located at the Anglican Church in Townsite, there is always a plethora of useful and edible species available freely to all. All we ask is that you take just what you need and remember that others have needs too. If you are starting your seedlings now, please consider a few extra starts that we can plant out in these gardens so there will be plent...y of food for anyone who needs it in the months ahead. Right now available there are some hardy greens (kale, chard, etc) an emerging patch of nettles, and plenty of herbs: thyme, comfrey, oregano, sage, rosemary, lavender, etc that can be harvested for your calming teas, immuno-boosters or for flavouring all those delicious meals you are preparing at home right now. All of the stone fruits are flowering, garlic is up, and the haskaps will be blooming soon. There will be much food throughout the spring and summer. You are also welcome, as always, to come and enjoy some solitude in the garden or to walk the labyrinth. Peace and wellness to all!

Hi friends! Since we are not able to use our usual strategy of work party potlucks to care for the garden this year, we want to try something new: a virtual work party! Here's how it works: Below, there's a list of tasks that we would normally save for a work party. But instead of all of us being there at the same time, we invite you to pick a task on the list, drop by the garden alone or with folks from your quarantine bubble, and take on some or all of whatever task appeals... to you. We can use this post as a thread to keep in touch about which tasks have been done, ask questions, and coordinate working together without all being there at the same time. Here are some things that can be done at the Commons right now: - Cutting blackberry from the slope below the Kitchen Garden fence, and piling it along the fence near the mulch stash so Ron can take it home and turn it into biochar. - Weeding in the Kitchen Garden. - Weeding out grass here and there in the forest garden and the fruit tree guilds at the front of the building. - Planting seeds in the Kitchen Garden. Things that we can plant right now include peas, beans, chard, beets, carrots, lettuce, and lots of others as well. Starting Wednesday the 13th there will be a waterproof box by the chalkboard with seeds for folks to use, or you can bring your own seeds if you have extras. - Spotting runaway nettles that are escaping the nettle patch, digging them out, and either eating them or potting them up to take away and plant. - Bringing down any extra veggie starts and finding homes for them in the Kitchen Garden. Remember that this garden is a collective endeavour that we're co-creating together, so there's no one right way to do things and you don't need to ask permission of anybody or wait for instructions to take on a task or decide where something should get planted. Use your gardener's intuition and remember there's no such thing as failure in gardening, because you always learn something. Try to label things as you plant them so others can work around them later on. Let's see what this experiment can teach us! Stay well and happy gardening.

Edible Garden Tour on today! Drop by Sycamore Commons for a stroll through this years beauty and abundance! Enjoy a garden snack or some baked goods!

Join us this Sunday from 9-12 at Sycamore Commons (Anglican church in Townsite) for this year's Edible Garden Tour. Come sample some wonderful exotic fruits like mulberry, see our diverse perennial and annual gardens all providing food and medicine for a neighbourhood!