Gallery Exhibition
It's not at all related to gardening but I will be showing 20 of my photos in a group show alongside 3 other photographers entitled PHOTOGRAMMETRY opening this Friday at Harbourfront Centre here in Toronto.
What: An active public space exhibition of urban photography.
When: May 13-July 9 (Opening Friday, May 12, 7-9pm)
Where: Service Canada building at Harbourfront Centre.
Leafscapes | Chicago
Leafscapes Spring in Chicago
Thursday, May 18. 4 – 7 P.M.
1820 North Wells Building (N. Wells & N. Lincoln)
Please RSVP to attend (Note that you must be 21 years of ago or older to attend).
I'll be giving urban gardening demonstrations at four Leafscapes events this year. Take a look at the schedule to see if one is coming to your area.
Earth Day: Toronto
Come out to Earth Day Spring Festival events this weekend at Budapest Park here in Toronto!
When: Sat, April 22. 2006.
10:30 am - 4 pm
Where: Budapest Park (on the waterfront at the bottome of Roncessvalles Ave., just east of Sunnyside Park and west of the Palais Royale.)
Stop by the You Grow Girl tent. We'll be selling the You Grow Girl book, t-shirts, buttons and more at event prices. I will also be giving a hands-on seed-starting workshop at 11:00 am. Bring a container (poke some holes in a margarine container) and take home a seedling in the making.
Admission is FREE!
Canada Blooms: Herbs & Edibles
I gave a workshop/demonstration today at Canada Blooms on growing herbs and other edibles in a strawberry pot but I ran out of handouts. I wasn't expecting such a great turnout! Thanks to everyone who came.
As promised I have posted a printable version of the handout here for those who missed out.
Thanks to Richters for the herbs and to Collette Murphy of Urban Harvest who supplied her fantastic organic fertilizers: "Kelp Meal" and "Green Wisdom Herbal Plant Food."
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Updated: Some photos from today's workshop. I'll be giving a presentation this Friday on Guerilla Gardening. Fri. March 10 (11:30 am). Or see me afterwards at the Toronto Botanical Gardens booth (on the 700 level) for book signing.
The tiny human picture.
The stage was so far back from the audience I invited people to come up afterwards to look at the project and the plants. Because really herbs are all about smelling and touching.
The Youth aka my most excellent assistant for the day Jay (who also took most of the pictures) want to say that the fake graffiti wall is kinda dumb/lame.
EVENT: The Stratford Gardening Festival
Join me for two events on Friday March 3
Coffee with Gayla: 2:00 pm
An informal chat in which I will talk about my own gardening story and life; my personal passions; why I garden the way I do and what gardening means to me.
Urban Gardening: 3:30 pm
An intro to organic gardening in the city that covers non-traditional gardening spaces, challanges and how to work with them, how to access your space, inspirational and thrifty ideas, growing food, unusual (yet easy) plants, and more.
Sat. March 4 (11:30 am)
Enjoy a three course organic lunch as panel members discuss "What I Love About Gardening" and "Current Gardening Trends."
For more info visit: The Stratford Garden Festival
OREGON
Sat. Feb. 11, 2006.
Clackmas Community College, Gregory Forum
8 am to 4 pm
This event includes a selection of wonderful speakers on varied topics related to growing food [See link above for full listing]
I will be giving a presentation called, "Gardening with Limited Resources and Challenging Spaces" (Pretty self-explanatory) at Noon followed by a Panel Discussion/ Q & A with other speakers at 3:00pm.
Registration includes lunch and refreshments. See here for details.
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Sunday Feb. 12, 2006
Book Signing & Seed-Starting Workshop
3:30-5pm
PISTILS Nursery
3811 N. Mississippi Ave. Portland, Oregon. (503) 288-4889
Learn the ins and outs of starting veggies and flowers from seed. Thrifty hints and tips for beginners, apartment dwellers and small space gardeners. I'll be signing books and answering gardening questions.
Admission is FREE!
Visiting the Book
I know it's geeky but I like to stop in bookstores to check for the book. If I'm in a new city I'll check in stores I pass on the street, and in my own city I'll check in stores I know carry it just to see it on the shelf. It's still a huge thrill almost a year later. One time my brother was with me and he yelled out, "This is my sister's book!"
Here I am in the Chapters in Ottawa:
Here it is in a store window:
And taken with a really bad camera phone:
Chatelaine: Fall Splendour
Chatelaine magazine online has a fall gardening feature that includes some of my tips on preparing your garden for winter.
Note: click "Show me my fall garden!" to launch.
Ladyfest Guelph
I've been busy over the last few months with a number of workshops and projects but thought I would take a moment to document some of that here before the experiences escape me.
I did a workshop called "Grocery Store Gardening" at Ladyfest Guelph back in Sept. Here's the promo:
"Turn the waste from tonight’s meal into totally free, yet extraordinary houseplants. In this workshop you will learn how to grow unusual fruit trees, groovy houseplants, and edible herbs from the stuff that is normally thrown into the compost bin. Participants will take plants home with them at the end of the workshop. Please bring along any of the following items, if you’ve got them: empty margarine containers or old plant pots, left-over fruit seeds: mango pits, pineapple tops, avocado pits."
The prep work for the workshop was a bit more intense than usual as I had to make a few shopping trips for supplies and prepare some of the plant matter ahead of time but the overall experience was a lot of fun. It was just fun watching reactions to some of the unusual fruits I brought along.
I had to carry my materials on the Greyhound to Guelph which was an experience in itself. I took large cuttings of several pungent herbs including African blue basil minutes before I left and the smell emminating from my person was quite intense.
There was a Bonsai show taking place in the University Centre at the same time as Ladyfest and I must confess that I couldn't resist and bought a Boweia aka False Sea Onion. It was too crazy to pass up and I'm too much of a succulent addict. Can't stop the plant mania! Thankfully (or sadly) the Cactus and Succulent Society show & sale was not on. I've heard they tag-team it with the Orchid Society show & sale. Temptation like that would have meant sudden death to my bank account.
Unfortunately, I did not take any photos (kind of hard to do in the middle of giving a workshop). However, if you'd like to try your hand at growing your own grocery store plants, I have posted a few articles on this site over the years that delve into the subject. See:
Leafscapes | New York City
To attend please RSVP Amanda La Polla by Sept 30: email or call 212-679-6600 x.218
