Senior Organic Gardeners [SOG] would like to thank and congratulate Rob Danforth. Our very own Garden Coach gave a series of well attended demonstrations under the new Just Food pergola on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
The workshops were part of the Just Food Seedling Saturday event at the farm in Blackburn Hamlet. Participants were treated to Rob‘s expertise, superb organization and demonstration skills, answers to all their questions, props and demonstration equipment, and Rob‘s excellent public speaking skills developed from his many years of giving workshops on growing organic vegetables. Rob gave five back-to-back demonstrations: “Test for Seed Viability”, “Plant & Support a Tomato”, “Make Your Own Paper Seedling Pots”, “Soap Spray & Rinse a Plant Infested With Insects”, and “How to Buy Organic Seedlings/Plants”. Thank you Rob for making SOG’s participation in the event a success.
SOG has many people to recognize and to thank for their help and inspiration: volunteers Rita and Betty had an inspiring start to the growing season. The generous funding from RTOERO and NHS allowed us to help many senior gardeners to enjoy the organic vegetables that they grow where they live: seniors residences, balcony gardens, private homes, and community gardens.
Big thank you goes to Catherine of Northern Seeds 
for growing the most consistently beautiful seedlings, for the seeds and for the visit to her greenhouse on May 19. It was a beautiful day for the drive to Farrellton, Quebec.
Thank you to Manish at Gaia Organic Seeds for providing us with a wide variety of organic herbs for our gardeners. We went twice to his farm on River Road.
Thanks also to Mathew Levinson for his patience and thoroughness in preparing our order at Slow Roots Farm in Kemptville. We picked up the seedlings on another beautiful day, the 23rd of May.
It was with joy that we reconnected with our garden volunteers on Clementine Blvd. Most of the seedlings we picked up from Northern Seeds went straight to either the building’s raised beds or on balconies. Thank you to Cathy and her volunteers for distributing the plants, soil, pots, and tools we delivered.
Thank you to Norah, organizer of the outdoor raised beds for allocating the plants and the garden supplies we delivered. We wish them a bountiful harvest and will return to allow the gardeners to share their success.
We made many deliveries on May 23rd, after the pickup in Kemptville, but we did not have to deliver to the Ottawa Community Housing [OCH] gardeners on Somerset, McLaren, and Gladstone.
Thank you to Amanda and Adham 
from OCH who met us in Kemptville with a truck to pick up supplies and seedlings. They took the long scenic road back to town to preserve the integrity of the seedlings. Betty and Rita wish to thank Safia from Jewish Family Services Ottawa for receiving our big delivery and distributing all to individual seniors. Finally Rita dropped off seedlings at Regina Towers to plant in the new compost we supplied and then went to the Dalhousie Food Cupboard on Bronson the following day.
Betty took the last of the seedlings to Sarah, the horticultural therapist at Perley Health as she is planning a multisensory garden for the seniors residents.
We wish all our gardeners a very happy growing season and a successful harvest.
Our suppliers and our gardeners have planted joy in our hearts. For this we thank them
