Category Archives: Community Orchards

All Hands on Deck!

Ben Nobleman Community Orchard volunteers gather for a day of scrubbing the harvest table, made from century old salvaged wood that was once part of Toronto’s first docklands.

It’s a piece of history. The harvest table in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard, is made out of salvaged wood that was part of Toronto’s first docklands in the early 1800s.  By 1850, industrialization was in full force and the docklands and the area around them needed to be expanded. So developers dumped landfill on the old docks and expanded the lakeshore 900 meters to the south.  Continue reading →

Park Tree Painting Party

Children under apricot tree canopy painting trunk

Lou, Janina and Liam painting an apricot tree in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard

Saturday June 9th was tree painting day. A team of energetic volunteers painted all of our lovely fruit trees to protect them from the sun, and prevent insects from climbing up to munch their juicy leaves. Two local children, Liam and Lou, frequent park visitors, but first-time painters, volunteered to help. After making a 1:1 mixture of water and white latex indoor paint (water-based), we started on the apricots. Keeping an eye out for any invasive gypsy moth caterpillars, we painted the trunks, making sure to cover all the cracks. Liam and Lou painted so well that I had to make sure my own painting was up to the same standards. Continue reading →

Raffle Prizes at This Saturday’s Fundraising Sale

 

The volunteers for the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in mid-town Toronto are busy preparing our park for this coming Saturday’s fundraising sale (May 5, 2018 from 9am to 1pm)! Even the daffodils in our pollinator garden are popping up for the occasion.

Free Starbucks Coffee for All at the Event

If you come and join us, we’ll have free coffee for you to enjoy – donated by our local Starbucks. We’ll have homemake baked goods that you can buy as well as plants, books, housewares and other treasures. Come and join us! All the funds raised go towards the care of our fruit trees and pollinator garden.

Buy Great Stuff for Great Prices

Vibrant red dahlias will be amongst the plants on sale at our event.

We have collected both new and gently used things to include in our sale, including dozens of great hard cover thrillers (at just $2 each), new ceramic and plastic mugs donated by Starbucks ($2 or $3 each), housewares, costume jewellery, sports items and pet accessories. We have an oval mirror from Gingers ($30), some small furniture, wicker baskets and lots more goodies. And of course then there are the yummy baked goods that will go so well with your free coffee!

Win One of Our Raffle Prizes

In addition to the sale, you can stroll around our orchard and check out our apple, cherry, asian pear, plum and apricot trees and ask the volunteers questions about what it’s like to grow fruit in the city. And of course, you’ll be able to buy tickets to this year’s raffle with great prizes donated by local businesses. Here are just a few of them:

Anna’s Pretty Nails at 1132 Eglinton Ave. West has donated two manicures, each worth $20.

Print Plus Sign at 1034 Eglinton Avenue West has donated a beautiful poster and $20 gift certificates that you can use towards printing business cards, brochures, or even printed t-shirts.

Mark’s Choice Veggie Gardener’s Prize includes a gardeners vegetable wash basket, lots of seeds, a fan nozzle and organic fertilizer.

Mark’s Choice, the brand of product selected and endorsed by Canada’s gardening guru Mark Cullen, has donated two amazing prizes for gardeners:

Simple Human is a fantastic company that makes “tools for efficient living” and they have donated three prizes, worth about $50 each. Their prizes include:

One of three Simple Human prizes is a compact wireframe dish rack.

  • A compact wireframe dishrack (value is $49)
  • A touch free soap sensor pump (value is $49.99)
  • A 10 litre chrome and steel in-cabinet garbage can (value is $39.99).

Raffle tickets are just $2 each or 3 tickets for $5. We will announce raffle winners at 12.30 pm so be sure to be there to claim your prize!

Come and Join the Fun!

This Saturday will be a great day to come to check out this beautiful community orchard, a hidden gem in our city, while meeting great people and supporting community grown fruit.

We look forward to seeing you in the orchard this Saturday!

 

Susan Poizner is the coordinator of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard. She is also the author of the award-winning fruit tree care book Growing Urban Orchards and the creator of the fruit tree care website www.orchardpeople.com. She is also the host of The Urban Forestry Radio Show on RealityRadio101.com