You Grow Girl™

Hello Friends,

This isn’t the sort of thing I normally post, or would make public so early in the process, but I need some help so here it goes…

I am working with a team to create a new television program (I am the host) and we need to shoot some footage. Unfortunately, it is winter here in Toronto, which means it is very cold and there is a lot of snow. To make matters worse, I moved late last fall and my new garden is nearly non-existant at this point… a blank slate minus the pear tree and a bunch of garlic and flowering bulbs we put in before the snow came and the ground froze. Our yard is not even remotely flat so we need to wait for the thaw before we can attempt to level it out enough to build raised beds, cold frames, and the like. As a result we have absolutely nothing of interest (at least in the garden) to shoot and we need to start in the first week of April. Oh and to top it off I will be on the road book promoting through much of the month of March so we’re stuck there, too.

The show is about urban food production, but not exclusively gardening or growing, although it will certainly feature growing.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Someone WITHIN urban Toronto (as in, I have to be able to bike there from my home or it doesn’t count. I think we might be able to extend it out as far as Scarborough/Etobicoke/Mississauga because I *could* in theory bike there if it were not the winter and I was in better shape! Ha!) who is growing or producing some of their food over the winter.
• You are passionate about the subject. Passion is good.
• You are willing to appear on camera and what you are doing must be “camera ready.” This doesn’t mean perfect, shiny, or glossy…. just that there is enough of interest to capture. We want the audience to be wowed and transformed about what is possible in the city or their own homes.
• We’d really like to feature urban chickens but of course it is winter (off-season) and illegal in Toronto, so you must be aware of the possibility that being on camera with chickens could result in negative consequences. We wish this was not the case but it is still the situation here in Toronto right now.

We are interested in other modes of food production, too, including but not limited to:

• Maple syrup production (possibly too late by April)
• Canning
• Mushroom growing
• Ice fishing
• Growing indoors (large scale/commercial production or feeding your family), but must be organic
• Cold frame, seasonal extending, etc if you happen to have something going by some form right now.
• You name it!

Please feel free to comment here or if you’d like to be private, just email me through the contact form. I will see it and get back to you.

Thanks for your help!

It’s that time of year, again. Seedy Saturday and Sunday events have begun across Canada in anticipation of the gardening season.

In case you missed it, the Toronto event (this Sunday!) is earlier this year, and they’ve broken it up into three locations across the Greater Toronto Area in an attempt to manage crowds. Check out the flyer for details.

I am in no way, shape, or form prepared for it this year, but I will, as always, have a table at this Sunday’s event at Hart House on the University of Toronto campus. See you there!

Thanks so much to everyone who donated to the House of Hope Drive, promoted it on their blog, retweeted etc. The total is going to convert to around $3000 EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollars). Really, really fantastic!!

I’ll have an update from Celia next week with photos.