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Days Events 2010
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Speakers
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Info for Media
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Financials / Donations

seedysaturday@theviennacafe.ca

Seedy Saturday Archives

Sites from previous events:
seeds of diversity logo!
In support of Seeds of Diversity
(from Seeds of Diversity Canada at www.seeds.ca) Seedy Saturday is not one event, but a series of independant local events, which have sprung up across the country in the past twelve years. Seedy Saturdays are public events, for the betterment of the local gardening community, often organized and operated by volunteers. They bring together home gardeners, seed savers, native plant collectors, agriculture conservation groups, and community gardeners as well as local seed companies that sell open-pollinated varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers, grains and herbs.

The event began in 1990 in Vancouver and has spread across Canada. Seedy Saturdays give people a chance to come together to learn more about seed saving and biodiversity conservation. These local seed swaps are a great place to meet people who share an interest in heritage seeds.

You can find help for your garden, swap your favourite seeds with other gardeners, and buy open-pollinated heritage seeds and plants which have not been genetically engineered, and which have been selected over many generations to grow well in your local conditions.

These events are locally organized and run, and many of them are co-sponsored by Seeds of Diversity Canada, a non-profit group of gardeners and farmers whose goal is to keep the best plants that generations of gardeners have treasured.

seedy saturday 2010 Unleash Your Inner Gardener- graphic to come
It's another Seedy Saturday! Date set for 2011: February 19th. Mark your calendars!

Here's a link to Sean's Facebook album with photos taken on the day. Videos to come... link to photo album, Seedy Saturday 2010
Port Burwell's 2011 event will again have something for everyone. Mark February 19th on your calendars and get your tickets early!

Gardeners will enjoy the "Seedy Saturday" part of the day (see sidebar on the left), which includes a seed swap table, master gardeners and seed vendors. We have speakers, a great local dinner, morning events, a great local dinner, and much more.

You're invited to spend a day learning, talking, meeting, and growing at Seedy Saturday 2011.

Trinity Hall is a lovely venue but it is small. Again this year we've decided to limit the attendance so everyone can have a seat and enjoy all the events. You must buy a ticket in advance for all events. Only if we do not sell out will tickets be available at the door. We are strictly limiting the afternoon session to 75, and the dinner to 50. Tickets are available on a first-come basis. Visit our tickets section for details and online ordering.

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Days Events 2010 (stay tuned for 2011 details)

9:00 am Nature/Bird Walk with Ron Allensen and members of the Otter Valley Naturalists Club. Free. Various distances & groups. Meet at the main office (the one on top of the hill) gate of Port Burwell Provincial Park Latecomers welcome! More details here: Morning Events
9:00 am - 12 noon Now confirmed: special opening of the Port Burwell Marine Museum and historic lighthouse. No charge for Seedy Saturday participants.
10:30 a.m.Doors open
11:00 - 12:00 Seed-starting workshop. Learn how to choose, plant and germinate seeds with materials and lights you probably already have on hand. This is a demonstration session so you can watch up close and learn how it's done.
12:00 noon
  • Lunch time. There will be home-made soup available. Bring your own bag lunch and eat in the hall, or try our local food spots: Lighthouse Restaurant and Schooners Galley. Or try Goldies in Vienna.
  • Vendors open
1:00 - 1:45Paul Geary of Petal Pushers Garden Design, Toronto. "Gardening by Feel"
1:45 - 2:00 Questions, networking, browsing
2:00 - 2:45 Daisy Moore of Gardens by Daisy Moore: "Gardening by Choice, Chance and Necessity".
2:45 - 3:00 Questions, networking, browsing
3:00 - 3:45 Kim Delaney of the National Farmers Union and Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds:Growing Your Dreams: Favourite Veggies, Herbs and Flowers.
3:45 - 4:00 Questions, networking, browsing
4:00 - 4:45 Ken McMullen of Spring Arbour Farm: "Heirloom Flowers"
4:45 - 5:00 Questions, networking, dinner setup.
Vendors pack-up, departure for "afternoon only" participants
5:00 - ? Dinner of locally grown food prepared from scratch by the volunteers at Trinity Church

Due to hall size limitations and fire codes, you must pre-register (& pre-pay) for the dinner.


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Tickets

Ticket Ticker
Speakers / Afternoon only: SOLD OUT
All inclusive:2

Ticket Type What You Get Cost
Afternoon Only
  • admission between 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
  • enjoy speakers, vendors, info tables, and seed swap
  • refreshments (organic fair trade coffee and tea, juice, snacks throughout the day
  • unlimited entry / re-entry
$10.00 SOLD OUT
All-Inclusive
  • everything above, PLUS
  • dinner, cooked from scratch, with locally grown food
$20.00

Payment Options

  • Online, using the PayPal links above.
  • In person, by cash or cheque. Call Bev at 874-1227 to arrange.
  • Canada Post, by cheque. Mail your cheque (payable to "Sean Hurley" to: Seedy Saturday Port Burwell
    c/o Sean Hurley / Bev Wagar
    P.O. Box 70
    Vienna ON   N0J 1Z0 >
Would you like to receive an e-mail notice about next year's event? Join our mailing list— one e-mail, no spam.

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Speakers

photo of Daisy Moore
Daisy Moore
Award-winning garden designer Daisy Moore will speak on Gardening by Chance, Choice, and Necessity. She'll discuss how to choose plants that are: suited to the site; provide what the gardener is looking for; and work together as a grouping. Learn about the value of using native plants and how they contribute to the long-term development and beauty of the garden.

Horticulturalist Daisy Moore operates a garden design and landscaping business from her home in Elora, Ontario. She creates beautiful and manageable urban and rural gardens that are rich in native plants. An expert in accommodating the needs of both the gardener and the site, she selects from a wide variety of plants that offer year-round interest and plenty of scope for future development. She has helped countless people improve their garden's look, reduce their workload, and add value to their properties.

Daisy is an experienced garden communicator, with many years of radio broadcasting and a weekly radio gardening show. As a garden writer, Daisy has a regular column Off the Fairway in the golf course trade magazine "Green is Beautiful", as well as a frequent newspaper feature "The Urban Forest". She is in the process of writing a gardening book.


photo of Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney is a farmer based in Palmerston ON. Her business, Hawthorn Farm produces certified organic seeds for vegetables, herbs and flowers, focusing on heirlooms and public plant breeding releases. Kim's interest in seed production came as a result of many years of seed collection and production in a tallgrass prairie restoration program based in Chatham Ontario. On-farm vegetable breeding and selection for short season growing continue to fuel her passion for seed.

Kim and her partner live off-grid, in a strawbale house surrounded by acres of meadow and woodland. She is the womens advisor the National Farmers Union of Ontario and sits on the board of the Centre for Applied Renewable Energy. Kim is committed to the production of healthy food and clean energy.

Kim presents Growing Your Dreams: Favourite Veggies, Herbs and Flowers. Back this year by popular demand, Kim Delaney shares the nitty-gritty on kitchen gardens— including flowers. She promises "seed stories", lots of advice on small-scale seed saving, and even a recipe or two.

photo of Paul Geary
Paul Geary
Paul Geary, does "garden therapy" through his garden design business "Petal Pushers" in Toronto. Paul, who has always been a passionate gardener, in 2002 was looking to leave an increasingly stressful 20-year career in the Consulting Engineering Industry designing and building road and freeway projects. His future, he was certain, would include gardening. Three days after leaving the office he ripped down a friend's fence and designed a welcoming gate and arbour. A makeover of his neighbour's property was next. The stress was dissipating, and Petal Pushers Garden Therapy was born.

Hard work and a good work ethic secured the word-of-mouth business. As his business grew so did his list of accomplishments. Among these are inclusion in many high-profile Toronto garden tours and, for three consecutive years, the Richmond Hill Garden Club award for front yard recognition. Paul has built gardens for Canada Blooms and Flora Montreal. His work has expanded to include yard maintenance and in 2008 he secured the contract to maintain the rooftop garden of the continuing care and rehab facility at Toronto East General Hospital. :

photo of Ken McMullen
Ken McMullen (photo here soon)
Ken McMullen owns and operates Spring Arbour Farm which specializes in flowers, vegetables, herbs and fruit of the late 1800s. The farm is also Canada's first C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture). Ken is the founder of Seeds of Diversity Canada and the Organic Trade Association of North America, and former national President of Canadian Organic Growers. In 2009 Ken was awarded the Premiers Award for Agri-food Innovation Excellence for his innovative marketing of local food and preservation of heirloom varieties. Spring Arbour Farm's gardens feature a collection of the flowers used at Giverny by the impressionist painter Claude Monet.

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Vendors

Hawthorn FarmCertified organic, heirloom seeds to preserve the genetic diversity of our crops and gardens. A large selection of rare and unusual seeds, mostly vegetables, will be for sale. Owner Kim Delaney will be on hand to answer your questions. www.hawthornfarm.ca
Acorus Restoration & Native PlantsAfter 11 years as wholesale nursery Acorus' new retail operations include gardens, trails, guided walks, and workshops. Acorus brings a fine range of native plant seeds for landscaping and gardens.www.ecologyart.com
Spring Arbour Farm We welcome back Ken McMullen of Spring Arbour Farm. Ken, who is a founding member of Seeds of Diversity, will be selling heirloom flower and veggie seeds and perhaps some yummy or plantable garden goodies, too.
Seeds of Diversity CanadaSeeds of Diversity will have an information table and seeds for sale.
St. Thomas Field NaturalistsSt. Thomas Field Naturalists will have an information table.

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Contact Info

The 2010 event is sponsored by Port Burwell Trinity Anglican Church (providing the beautiful and historic community hall) and the Otter Valley Naturalists Club (organizing nature walk) and EagleTree Perspectives (for technical assistance and elbow grease).

Port Burwell Seedy Saturdays are planned and organized by Bev Wagar and Sean Hurley of Vienna* Ontario. For more information, please send us an e-mail at seedysaturday@theviennacafe.ca

* visit beautiful Vienna, the gateway to Port Burwell :-)

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Maps and Directions

map of downtown Port Burwell
Street map. Click for larger image.
maps to Port Burwell
Printer-friendly maps as PDF. Click to view or print.
photo of Trinity Port Burwell parish hall
Unleash Your Inner Gardener will be held at the Parish Hall of Trinity Anglican Church in Port Burwell, 25 km. south of Tillsonburg in Southwestern Ontario.



View Larger Map


26 Strachan Street
Port Burwell, ON
N0J 1T0

Phone: (519) 429-3443
Web site: www.pbtrinityanglican.ca

Parking There is a small parking lot just east of the hall. You may also park on the street. Another larger parking lot is located at the museum, a few blocks west on Robinson Street,

Driving directions

-from London: Go east on the 401 and take exit #216 at Hwy (Culloden Road). Proceed SOUTH on Culloden Road, through Brownsville, and cross Hwy. 3 / Talbot Line. Continue south on Culloden to where it ends at Heritage Line/ CR 38. Turn left / west until you reach Straffordville. In Straffordville, turn right/south onto Hwy 19 (Plank Road) and proceed south, through Vienna, to Port Burwell. Where the road splits at the top of the hill, go straight ( becomes Victoria Street) and continue to Wellington Street (gas station at corner). Turn right and look for the hall on yor left.
-from points east: take the 401 to the Woodstock area. Take exit #232 (Hwy. 59 (Norwich Ave.) and proceed SOUTH. At Salford Road take CR 13 (Rock Mills Rd,) south through Springford. Proceed south, cross Hwy. 3 in Courtland, and turn right/west onto Colonel Talbot (CR 38/Heritage Line). In Straffordville turn left / south onto Hwy 19/ Plank Rd. and continue south through Vienna into Port Burwell.

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small image of media release
View or download the media release as PDF (3.1 MB)



small image of flyer
View or download the event flyer as PDF (3.1 MB)

Info for Media

Here's the media release:

Port Burwell Seedy Saturday has taken root

In its third year, event routinely sells out

Even if spring is still just a glimmer on the frosty cold horizon, Port Burwell will warm you up with a busy day of blooming inspiration at its annual Seedy Saturday event.

Held on Saturday, February 20th at the Trinity Parish Hall in Port Burwell, Seedy Saturday aims to Unleash Your Inner Gardener with a theme focusing on the creative and expressive sides of gardening. The speaker roster includes four inspiring gardening experts: award-winning gardener Daisy Moore of Elora will present Gardening by Choice, Chance and Necessity. Paul Geary of Toronto's Petal Pushers Garden Design, a self-admitted garden therapist who helps people really enjoy gardening, brings us Gardening by Feel.

Back by popular demand is Kim Delaney of Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds. Delaney is an off-grid farmer and seed retailer who will speak on Growing Your Dreams: Favourite Veggies, Herbs and Flowers. Also speaking at this year's event is Seeds of Diversity founder Ken McMullen of Spring Arbour Farm who will tell us about his original collection of heirloom flowers.

Seedy Saturday will again include a guided nature walk through Port Burwell Provincial Park. New this year is a special morning opening of the Port Burwell Marine Museum and historic lighthouse. A hands-on seed starting workshop is an added bonus this year.

Seedy Saturday is part of a series of independent local events which have sprung up across the country in the past twelve years. They are public events, for the betterment of the local gardening community, organized and operated by volunteers.

They bring together home gardeners, seed savers, native plant collectors, agriculture conservation groups, and community gardeners as well as local seed companies that sell open-pollinated varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers, grains and herbs.

Admission to the Port Burwell event is $10 or $20 depending on whether dinner is included. Tickets must be purchased in advance (the event regularly sells out) and proceeds go to Seeds of Diversity, a charitable organization dedicated to the conservation, documentation and use of public-domain non-hybrid plants of Canadian significance.

The event is being organized by local citizens in partnership with Port Burwell Trinity Anglican Church and the Otter Valley Naturalists Club. Contact Bev Wagar or Sean Hurley for details (874-1227) or visit www.theviennacafe.ca/seedysaturdays/ for information and online ticket sales.

--30--

Contact: Bev Wagar, organizer: 519-874-1227 seedysaturday@theviennacafe.ca


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Financials 2010

Sean and I organize an annual Seedy Saturday event as citizens and Seeds of Diversity members. We are not under the umbrella or auspices of an organization, church, or service club. Our relationship with Trinity Church arises from our use of Trinity Parish Hall, which they allow us to use free of charge, and the provision of dinner for participants.

Here is how we split the total income for this event: 35% is donated to Seeds of Diversity; 10% goes to expenses (tea, coffee, honoraria); 55% to Trinity Church for the supper.

Bev Wagar, organizer: 519-874-1227 seedysaturday@theviennacafe.ca

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