September 04, 2013
Robyn Stewart
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Last Saturday our popular Edible Tree Tour returned, offering some unexpected tastes from the urban forest. A group of interested nibblers met Amanda Gomm (LEAF), Susan Poizner (Orchard People) and Becky Thomas (Not Far From The Tree) in Ben Nobleman Park, home to one of Canada’s first community orchards. There was a wide variety of fruit-bearing trees as well as a pollinator garden to attract bees and ensure a good harvest! Soon over 100 people had gathered, each of us ready to learn, taste, explore and pick!
August 30, 2013
Barkley
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Growing up as a sapling in Toronto can be rough, and if you’re a street tree like me, the first few years are the toughest. There’s never any guarantee we’ll grow to be majestic like our old-growth cousins. Some of us are given tiny cement apartments with hardly any room to stretch out. Others have to deal with constantly getting our roots stomped on, garbage thrown our way, heavy bikes locked to our trunks, and dogs treating us with no respect. Oh, what it must be like to grow up in a park!
August 29, 2013
Andrea Bake
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If you’ve been following my blog entries, you may have picked up on my frustration with the introduction of non-native species to our region throughout the ages. Sure they can be cute and cool looking, or fast growing and shady, but more times than not, they wreak havoc when we’re not looking.
August 22, 2013
Victoria Badham
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As I walk through Wychwood Barns, I am struck by the beauty of the building; the seamless intersection of past and present, the way modern glass touches century-old brick walls and the quiet that radiates from artists’ workshops in a place where streetcar bells once chimed.
August 20, 2013
Matthew Higginson
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This year we’ve been selected to be in the running for Toronto’s Best Enviro Group in NOW Magazine’s Best Of. And if you’re familiar with LEAF, you know we can be pretty stubborn when it comes to certain things. We’re no good at leaving trees to fend for themselves. We spend time making sure they have what they need – space, mulch, water… And we have a terrible habit of leaving behind habitat wherever we go. This photo highlights the transformation that can occur when we bring together the right tools, the right people and the expertise.
August 19, 2013
Robyn Stewart
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Have you ever been to the Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG)? With 17 gardens over four acres, and lots of tree species, it’s a perfect setting for this fall’s Tree Tenders Volunteer Training Program. There are tons of reasons to take LEAF’s Tree Tenders Volunteer Training Program at the Toronto Botanical Garden – here are my top five!
August 13, 2013
Matthew Higginson
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One of the best vacations I took this summer was going up along the Bruce Trail with my fiancé. The Bruce Peninsula was something we had talked about visiting for ages, so we finally packed up the car and got on the road. Here’s why you should pack up your bags and visit too!
August 12, 2013
Robyn Stewart
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In an ideal world, we’d keep every tree in the city alive and healthy. But realistically, some trees must come down. When this happens, the trunk and branches are often chipped for mulch or composted, but wouldn’t it be great if we could give the tree a second life? On Wednesday, July 3, LEAF hosted the Salvaging Urban Wood Tree Tour and we took a closer look at what goes into transforming urban trees into beautiful furniture, utensils, and art.
August 09, 2013
Matthew Higginson
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At a regular checkup a couple of weeks ago, my doctor asked how my allergies were doing. “August 15,” he said, “mark it off in your calendar – you’re going to have a bad day.” It’s only recently I’ve started to experience the symptoms of my allergies – puffy eyes, itchy skin and uncooperative sinuses. Maybe you stepped outside last April to breathe in the fresh, blossom-scented air only to be instantly itchy in the eyes and a stuffed up beyond belief? Or was a camping trip in June slightly annoying because your tent was pitched next to a birch tree? Each spring brings signs both good and bad, and the summer months don’t get much better. But at least there’s comfort in knowing that we’re not alone.
August 02, 2013
Matthew Higginson
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The first Edible Tree Tour began outside the Spadina Museum on a sunny September day in 2008. Participants shared freshly picked apples and discovered a new way to look at urban fruit trees with Laura Rainsborough, who had just founded Not Far From The Tree. A year later, the tour moved to Ben Nobleman Park and Cedarvale Ravine, and Susan Poizner, Director of Orchard People shared information on the first community orchard, and how to care for existing fruit trees. Now five years later, the Edible Tree Tour at its heart still carries the same message: the urban forest provides.