Those who joined us for Growing for Green’s Beginners Fruit Tree Care workshops this spring might have been forgiven for thinking they had signed up for a course on fruit tree care in Siberia. It was April 22nd, in one of the warmest springs many of us can remember, but unfortunately that day there was an unexpected bitter wind and few were prepared for the unseasonal, biting cold.

And yet, of the 33 attendees who signed up for the workshop, all but one showed up on the day AND not one of them snuck out early to warm up with a hot chocolate at one of the cafe’s on Eglinton West. It turns out fruit tree enthusiasts are made of tough stuff.  And our wonderful teacher, Ken Slingerland, retired soft fruit expert from the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs, was also captivating enough to keep his shivering students engaged.

Lessons learned here at Growing for Green….next year if we have an unbearably cold workshop day, we will have a warm living room to retire to for part of the class – or we will conduct part of the workshop at our favorite local pub, The Thirsty Fox. Coming up next is Herbalist Danette Steele’s Edible Weed Walk on Sunday May 27th at 10.00 a.m to 1.00 p.m.. Let’s hope for a lovely warm, dry day. See you then!