Everdale is hosting Seedy Saturday, an annual spring event, for everyone to buy organic and heirloom seeds and transplants for their vegetable garden.
Seedy Saturday is organized in partnership with Seeds of Diversity. The purpose is to bring together people interested in maintaining biodiversity and our rich agricultural heritage. The plants at these events are sought after because they have been grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides, and are not genetically modified.
“This year we will have more vendors, adding to the selection available to visitors” said Jennifer Lennie, Everdale’s event and workshop coordinator. “All of the businesses are from southern Ontario, and include local growers such as Willow Creek, from Erin Township.”
Not only can people buy seeds and plants, they can swap saved seeds with others. Gardeners are encouraged to trade the best seeds from their garden at the seed exchange table and pick up some new varieties to try this year.
In addition, there will be gardening workshops, tours of Home Alive (Everdale’s straw bale model home), and activities for kids.
Seedy Saturday is on April 30 from 11am to 4pm at Everdale, 5812 Sixth Line, Hillsburgh. Admission is $3 per adult, and kids are free. For more information contact Lennie at 519-855-4859 x101 or info@everdale.org. Visit www.everdale.org for the full schedule of activities.
Home Alive Tours will run from:
– 11:30am to noon, short and sweet, the family friendly version;
– 1 to 2pm, an in-depth version with all the facts; and
d- 3:30 to 4pm, the family friendly version.
Workshops during the day include:
– Growing small fruits: all about berries, noon to 12:30pm, instructor, Ann Brown, Ann the Plant Lady. Find out how to grow berries in the backyard. Brown will cover raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, explaining all the steps involved to ensure a bountiful harvest.
– Starting seeds, 1 to 1:30pm, instructor Carl Keast, Everdale farmer. Get the dirt on starting a garden off right. Learn how to start seeds, and what to do with seedlings before and after they go into the ground. Get tips on how to ensure seeds and seedlings thrive this spring.
– Vermi-composting: how to let worms eat your garbage, to 2:30pm, instructor: Cathy Nesbitt of Cathy’s Crawly Composters. Learn what it takes to set up a vermi-composter. What size? What to feed the worms? How often to feed them? See how easy it is to setup, maintain, and harvest a vermi-composting system.
– Biodiversity: why does it matter? 3 to 3:30pm instructor: Faris Ahmed, USC-Canada. What is biodiversity? Why should people care about it? Discover answers to those questions and others, including the impact biological diversity has on human health and the health of the environment. Ahmed will also cover the importance of agricultural biodiversity and how it is linked to the economy, equity, and climate change.
