Spring has sprung finally and with it a bunch of tiny little sprouts that were hiding under the snow.
A lot of amazingness and learning happened for us this winter. The obvious highlights were helping to start up our non-profit, Canopée Localeaf, officially, headed up by an amazing group of women I am so fortunate to call friends and have in my life. Colin and I (though mostly Colin) built websites for both, separating our community work (and blog) from the nursery.
Speaking of.. MORE BIG NEWS: Localeaf Nursery is opening officially opening to the public this spring. We have opted for a model that works for our family, at a small pace, to start.
We will be at the Old Aylmer Market (Marche Vieux Aylmer) every Sunday this year, with a changing selection of native plants, shrubs and trees. As you can see from our fancy new Plant Database, we sowed (apparently and completely coincidentally) exactly 365 native and near-native species from seed this year.
The nursery is still a bit of a mess, but with the help of family and friends is starting to come together. We’ve expanded the footprint and the “tables” this year, and I’m hoping for an improved way of organizing the plants. We are still in search of older cinderblocks, 5 gallon buckets, milkcrates, or any other creative solutions to raise the tables from the ground away from the mini dinosaur relatives that freely roam our yard and enjoy ‘sampling” the plants.
For now, starting June 7th, come see us at the Aylmer Farmers’ Market every Sunday. Your plant purchases help support our mission and work to Pollinate Aylmer, develop and deliver community learning programs, and grow urban “Canopée” in our neighbourhoods.
Look for the orange tent, and come say hi. Our focus there will be on pollinator friendly, native plants for home gardens, as well as an opportunity to learn about the ecosystem value for each plant we bring with us, and how you can help restore wildlife habitat through small actions.
Have a look at our plant database, and let us know if there is something you see that catches your eye, and you would like us to pot it up and bring us with us sooner rather than later.
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