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On Saving Tomato Seeds and Using Hügelkultur
In saving tomato seeds for almost 5 decades, I learned that drying seeds on paper towel works, but it’s a hassle detaching the seeds.
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The following is a summary of the most frequent comments received from 81 questionnaire responses received by Gardens Ottawa between February 8th and March 31st, 2019. Not every question was answered by each responder, so the sample size per question varies.
Responses with similar comments were grouped:
Many of the favourite gardens were also considered to be underappreciated.
Issues were communicated in the comments of all the survey questions and remarks.
There was repeated demand for a national level garden or botanic garden of significant size with some form of conservatory or greenhouse that would allow access for a year-round garden experience. People want to be able to spend a good portion of the day viewing and learning more about plants.
The need for more community gardens, where people can grow their own food, was strongly and repeatedly stated. While the Just Food Farm was praised, many cited the need for urban gardens in highly populated areas of the city where apartment dwellers, low income residents, and those without vehicles could grow food.
Poor or declining garden maintenance was a common theme. Some cited past favourite gardens which had declined.
Many of the favourite gardens, such as the CEF Ornamental Gardens and Maplelawn are maintained almost exclusively by volunteers. While volunteers are an important resource for garden maintenance, they need greater organizational and financial support.
The type of maintenance is also falling short. A lack of skill extends to all aspects of garden maintenance requiring trained horticultural knowledge. More thought needs to be given to the division of tasks between skilled and unskilled individuals, and to make the necessary funding available for proper care.
There is concern that urban intensification is happening at the cost of other important and valued components of a livable urban area, such as greenspaces, large trees, and rainfall and heat mitigation. These areas are critical in satisfying the high demand for accessible greenspace to conduct urban agriculture.
The issue of overuse of gardens was raised. As the population of the Ottawa area increases, the ability of gardens and natural areas to withstand high use without degradation has become an increasingly important issue. Increasing the resilience to high use areas requires a lot more thought and action than has previously occurred on this topic.
Responders would like to see greater municipal support for gardens in Ottawa. Preservation of existing parks and open spaces, new pocket parks in dense urban areas, including an area for community gardening in all municipal parks.
In saving tomato seeds for almost 5 decades, I learned that drying seeds on paper towel works, but it’s a hassle detaching the seeds.
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