2022 Year of the Ecological Garden

SOUL’s 2022 Year of the Ecological Garden

A year-long series with ecological gardening experts giving presentations about their work and answering your questions about caring for land, plants and ecosystems.

Every Tuesday at 3:00pm Eastern, noon Pacific

October: Urban Biodiversity – Native Plants, Seed Saving, Stratification and Winter Sowing

October 4th: a Presentation on the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre by Luke Jeffries

October 11th: Native plants for the vegetable, herb or forest garden by Sundaura Alford-Purvis of A Cultivated Art Inc.

October 18th: - Nurturing Native Plant Communities in Urban Spaces, By Sundaura Alford Purvis

Register for October 25th: A Winter Sowing Tutorial by Bev Wagar

November: The Right to Garden – Land Access, Bylaws and other Barriers to Practicing Land Care

Register for November 1st: Overcoming limitations in land use and access with Cate Henderson

Register for November 8th: Bylaws that get in the way and what you can do with Lorraine Johnson

Register for November 15th: Black farmers in southern Ontario: Equity and Food Sovereignty with Nicola from Grand River Forestry

Register for November 22nd: Community Farming program at Beetbox Farm with Kiana Simmons of Beetbox

Register for November 29th: Working with government to depave and regenerate with Daniel Buckles, of Champlain Park

December: Livelihoods in Ecological Land Care

Past Episodes:

You can find recordings of many of these episodes on the SOUL website

January: Developing Urban Ecology - Cultivating Ecological Relationships Close to Home

• Episode 1: Defining Ecological and Regenerative Gardening
• Episode 2: Telling the Story of Ecological Gardening
• Episode 3: Becoming a Land Care Professional

February: Greener Greenspaces – Recognizing examples of greener public spaces and speaking with some of the people who have helped in their creation and care

• Episode 4: Little Forest Wolfe Island/Kawehnóhkwes tsi kawè:note
• Episode 5: Peace Garden
• Episode 6: Pipeline Trail Pollinator Paradise
• Episode 7: Naramata Permaculture Farm Garden

March: Trees in Urban Settings

• Episode 8: Soil Health and Trees in Urban Settings
• Episode 9: Opportunities in New and Existing Landscapes
• Episode 10: Long Term Maintenance of Living Green Infrastructure
• Episode 11: What to look for when selecting trees for long term success in the landscape
• Episode 12: How trees grow and what this means for pruning

April: Urban Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

• April 5th: Urban vegetable growing with Arlene Hazzan Green of The Backyard Urban Farm Company
• April 12th: Creating an urban food forest with Phil Johnson
• April 19th: Edible Native Plants with Lorraine Johnson
• April 26th: No food security without seed security by Cathy Christie, Kingston Area Seed System Initiative

May: Soil Care and Composting

• May 3rd: Overview of healthy soil - what is it - can you build it? Mike Dorian of Living Soil Solutions
• May 10th Soil Testing by Julia Dupuis
• May 17th "3Ms" (mulch, moisture, microbes) versus the NPK paradigm
• May 24th Compost and Soil, What Gardeners can Do in the Space That They Have by David Greig
• May 31st Organic Fertilizers and Amendments by Christina Nikolic of the Organic Gardener's Pantry

June: Ecological Turf Care and Turf Alternatives

• June 7th: Mowing and foot traffic tolerant native species by Sundaura Alford-Purvis
• June 14th: Organic maintenance of existing turf by Rohan Harrison of Sunnybrook HSC
• June 21st: Turfgrass species and cultural management practices, including biologicals by Dr. Eric Lyons, Director Guelph Turfgrass Institute
• June 28th: Wildscaping design as a lawn alternative by Joyce Hostyn

July: Greener Greenspaces – Virtual tours of some of the 2021 recognition recipients

• July 5th The Greener Greenspaces program, what is it and how to participate
• July 12th Virtual tour of the Edgewood Park Pollinator Meadow
• July 19th Virtual tour of Forêt Capital Forest
• July 26th Virtual tour of Food from Home = Food for Home

August: Greener Greenspaces – Virtual tours of some of the 2021 recognition recipients

• August 2nd Virtual tour of Nature Regina's Native Plant Demonstration Garden
• August 9th Virtual tour of Petite Riviere Community Park
• August 16th To be Confirmed
• August 23rd Virtual tour of Windermere United Church Pollinator Garden
• August 30th Virtual tour of Eglinton Community Garden and Medicine Wheel Garden

September: Urban Biodiversity – Pollinators and Habitat

• Starting a native seed library in your community with Mélanie Ouellette of the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library
• Just Add Water: Creating a pollinator oasis with Sarah Valentine of Yogagardens
• Urban beekeeping realities and livestock management in the city with Eliese Watson of ABC Bees
• Working with partners and municipalities to create your own Blooming Boulevards With Jeanne McRight, President, Blooming Boulevards