Tag Archives: Harvest Table

Getting into the flow

Cooling off at the harvest table

The volunteers at Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard are finally getting into the flow…of our new irrigation system that is. We raised money for it’s installation in 2009 and it was installed in October that year. But due to various circumstances we haven’t been able to use it since then. No longer! Thanks to Tom Feeney from Parks and Recreation the system is now working perfectly. Instead of dragging buckets across the park from Lynn’s house, we’ll be stretching a hose across the park to water our 14 fruit trees and we can set a sprinkler up near the pollinator garden to water that perennial bed.

Today was also a special day because we welcomed two wonderful new volunteers. Newcomers Hani and Michael joined our regulars: Lynn, Sherry, Susan, Cliff, Alex, Ildie (who came by for moral support), Debra and Rocko the dog (or is it Franco) who barked his encouragement from under a nearby shade tree. We completed the mulching of the pollinator garden and cut down any thistle as a way to weaken the plants. It is looking great and we’ll meet up next Sunday for more of the same.

Black Eyed Susan

So what’s up and out in the perennial bed? Black Eyed Susans are now blooming along with the Bee Balm and Daylillies. The sage is thriving and the lavender and thyme are digging in their little roots. Come and join us next Sunday for more stewardship. For more information look at our stewardship calender on this website.

From Wharf to Table

Alas, this is a special day. Our long awaited Harvest Table has arrived in the park. There is a story, of course that goes with this table. The heritage wood was part of Toronto’s original docks – some of them built as early as the 1830s. In the 1880s, the docks were covered with landfill so that the city could expand southwards and new docks were built further south. A century later, developers excavated the land to build new condos and found the original docks perfectly preserved. The wood was salvaged and we were lucky enough to acquire some of it from the wonderful Lambos of Canadian Salvaged Timber Corporation in Toronto. The rough design for the table was done by landscape architect Jane Hutton and OCAD graduate Casey Wong built the table with the help of Mark Wilson of Metal Art Studio. As you may have noticed in a previous blog, landscape architect Sander Freedman of Sander Design integrated our lovely tabletop into the urban forest booth of the Green Living Show where it made it’s grand debut. So what’s next for this lovely table?

Well, we’ve got some temporary benches from the Green Living show that we’ll be using with it for a while and we’re raising money to make some matching benches that go with the table. Soon Parks and Rec will put the table and the benches on concrete footing. Ultimately, it will seat up to 20 people and will be a place for orchard picnics, pruning workshop, fruit sorting, chatting, relaxing, having fun and other stuff. The wood is old pine, so each spring our volunteers will go out and sand down the wood and prepare it for the year to come. We hope the table will be a place for us to play, learn and socialize together for many years to come!

Toronto's Original Docklands...covered by landfill for over a century

Uncovering Toronto's Historic Docks

Orchard Harvest Table in Park

Orchard Harvest Table Featured at Green Living Show

Part of our beautiful harvest table, made of century-old wood salvaged from Toronto’s original historic docks, was featured at the Green Living Show this weekend in the Urban Forest Booth. In this booth, Growing for Green planned a series of workshops, activities and a jam cafe for jam tasting. Soon after the show the table will be completed and moved to Ben Nobleman Park where it will serve as a centrepiece for the community orchard providing space for orchard picnics, pruning workshops, fruit sorting and other activities. We raised the funds for this project through a grant from Live Green Toronto and we look forward to spending many hours enjoying it in our park in years to come.

The table was designed by orchard volunteer and landscape architect Jane Hutton. We got a great deal on the wood from Canadian Salvaged Timber Corporation whose proprietor, Lambos, helped us cut these huge beams to size. Casey Wong, an OCAD graduate, took on the building of the table and Sander Freedman of Sander Design, a green landscape design company, integrated it into the Urban Forest booth of the Green Living Show. At the busy show, the table and the surrounding “urban forest” landscape design attracted a lot of footsore visitors, giving them time and space to relax and regroup before plunging into their shopping and educational Green Living Show adventure again.

Soon we’ll have the whole story about our table in our About Us section. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing the completed table in our park soon….

Top of Harvest Table displayed at Green Living show..