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Garden diary 2025
August 2, 2025
Jessica has been adding new elements: a sign, a little picnic table, some berry bushes -- new surprises every day. City staff brought in wood chips and topsoil and mulch and wood chips for paths.
new gate wide enough for park trucks
new sign: "Children's Teaching Garden"
July 25, 2025
Children's garden, prepped, May 26, 2025
From Skylar: Today, Jennifer from Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club and Jessica (Forest School) met with Dave Hains and three garden co op people, discussing garden design...Jennifer was there for pizza day with Dovercourt summer camp kids (30). Anyway, Jessica is very keen to take on the children's teaching garden. In the meantime, we filled all the donated raised container beds with top soil and Jessica's two little charges planted some wild arugula in one of the beds. We also planted the two black currant bushes that were given to us, by the Saskatoon berry tree...Jessica wants raspberry bushes along the fence line there too...It will become a 'berry' area of the garden. I would like to move the raspberry bushes we have in the circle garden b/c they are too big and milkweed plants are taking over that bed. Dave is very keen to get the in-ground garden beds mapped out, so they can make the wood chips paths...we have a bunch of logs for edging given to us by one of my volunteer gardeners. Peter and I moved the logs over from where they were stored in the nettle garden at last Wednesday's garden session. The children's garden is starting to take shape.
July 19, 2025, from Skylar
quick fix by city staff, July 26
Hi Mike: The Dufferin Grove Park field water source cover is broken again. It is a hazard. Someone could put their foot through and break an ankle...Hopefully not!
In the meantime, the DGP Garden Co-op has put a temporary hazard cone and tape on top so people will avoid it.
We never had this problem before (10 years or more) until last year. I wonder if it may be the City trucks and/or the City lawn mower maintenance people that are causing the damage to the water source Cover.
Thank you for your time and the replacement COVER.
Note: The City auditor's two very critical reports on parks say that there are too many delays in addressing problems in parks. Good news: this problem was fixed within days.
Apr 24, 2025, from Skylar to Cherish King, Christine Barkhouse, John Francisco, Milton Barrera (all city encampments staff), Peter White, cc to dufferingrovefriends
Thank you for your quick response, Milton. I look forward to having this issue resolved. The park gardening sessions are in full swing now and the volunteer gardeners need a safe and comfortable environment to work in.
The campers moved their tents to a different part of the park soon after, on our request.
April 23, 2024, from Skylar to Milton Barrera (manager, Encampments), Peter White (manager, Parks). cc to dufferingrovefriends
To Whom It May Concern: The Dufferin Grove Park Garden Co-op is back in the park for the 2025 garden season. This volunteer program maintains several gardens in the park. The Garden Co-op volunteers feel strongly about keeping the park gardens looking beautiful with a focus on native and pollinator plants and shrubs.
There is an important garden issue that needs help.
There is a cluster of encampment tents that are too close to some of the Garden Co-op gardens -- specifically, the wooden fenced garden which encircles the tree nursery/spring flower garden, and the circle garden with the raised wooden planters.
The tents are too close for the garden volunteers to work in this garden area. It is a physical hazard for the volunteers, several of whom are seniors, because of the rubbish, tent pegs, and ropes attached to the garden fence.
Would it be possible for encampment staff to help the tenant occupants to move to another area of the park that does not impede park programming?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
April 22, 2024, Skylar to Parks supervisor Nancy Carneiro
We would like to take you up on your offer of 'learning how to edge gardens'. We miss the brick edging b/c park users can't tell where the gardens are anymore. Perennial plant garden beds are being compacted (walked on) and plants are struggling to sprout.
We will appreciate a training session in garden edging.
Thank you for your time and consideration. No response to this at any point.
From garden co-op coordinator Skylar:
2025 garden co-op session schedule:
Saturdays 10-12noon
Wednesdays 4-6pm
From April:
The Dufferin Grove Park Garden Co-op garden sessions will begin on Saturday, April 5 /10-12noon. Meet at the two green garden sheds/circle garden. (South of Gladstone Ave/near the brick Field House bathrooms)
Projects:
Clearing rubbish from the garden beds.
Replacing and repositioning garden bricks.
Turning the active compost.
Planning vegetable/herb schedule.
Edging gardens.
Please bring garden gloves and water to drink.
Remember: Do not 'clean up' gardens until Toronto temperatures are 10C for two weeks, to avoid disturbing pollinators.
Upcoming Toronto Gardening Events:
1. Saturday, March 22 / 10am-2pm: Scadding Court Community Centre Seedy Saturday Donation Scadding Court Seedy Saturday 2025 - Event
2. Sunday, March 30 / 11:30am-3pm Parkdale Seedy Sunday & Eco-Fair 2025 Parkdale Public Library P-W-Y-C sandrale@westnh.org
Jan.29, 2025
The city's Audit of Parks Branch Operations – Phase 2 was published today.
From the CBC, February 15, 2025: A lack of coordinated and efficient tracking of what work is being done — and whether issues are actually being resolved — is central to the issues identified by Auditor General Tara Anderson.
While the audit was being conducted last year, city parks had 8,200 open work orders, dating between 2018 and July 2024.
A review of a sample of 30 of them, from the first half of last year, found 90 per cent were in fact complete, but had never been closed in the system.