Tamworth/Erinsville GrassRoots Growers

03/28/2026

🌿 Grassroots Growers Update! 🌿

This season, one of our steering committee members is taking part in the Seeds of Diversity Community Grow-Out Program—a national initiative dedicated to preserving rare and heirloom plant varieties. By growing them out, saving seeds, and returning them to the network, gardeners across Canada help protect biodiversity and keep these unique varieties thriving.

🍅 This year’s grow-out pick: Dwarf Russian Swirl tomatoes: a compact heirloom known for its beautiful marbled fruit and rich flavour—perfect for small gardens and anyone who appreciates a tomato with real character.

We’ll be sharing regular updates throughout the season so our whole community can follow along with the process: seed starting, plant growth, harvest, and seed-saving. With any luck, the seeds from this project will be available at the Tamworth Community Seed Library this fall, ready for more local gardeners to grow.

Stay tuned and grow with us 🌱✨

GrassrootsGrowers

03/26/2026

Looking forward to this Apr. 25th event with guest speaker Sarah Coulber, Gardening for Wildlife Specialist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation / Fédération canadienne de la faune in Ottawa, co-hosted by Friends of the Salmon River.

Gardening for Wildlife on Sat. April 25 in Tamworth: Save the date!

Join us for this exciting SPRINGTIME event: Co-hosted by the Friends of the Salmon River and the Tamworth/Erinsville GrassRoots GrowersTamworth/Erinsville GrassRoots Growers.

Sarah Coulber, Gardening for Wildlife Specialist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation in Ottawa, will present -

Creating Beautiful AND Beneficial Spaces

Canada is home to a myriad of wildlife that are both enjoyable to watch and critical to our well being. But these wild neighbours need our help. Join the Canadian Wildlife Federation as we explore a variety of ways to support pollinators, birds and other wild neighbours, right outside your door! You will see that gardening with wildlife in mind is versatile, with options that can suit any lifestyle, budget or garden style.

At the end of the presentation, Sarah will also speak about relevant programs such as CWF’s Garden Habitat Certification, Love Your Lake and iNaturalist. Afterwards, for those interested and weather permitting, Sarah can demonstrate how to use the iNaturalist and Seek apps to both identify the plants and animals around you and help support conservation research.

Sat. April 25 at about 10 am (exact time to be confirmed) at the Tamworth Legion

714 Addington St, Tamworth ON K0K 3G0

All are welcome at no charge. Donations are always appreciated. More info will be forthcoming soon.

03/24/2026

Join us on May 3rd for our next Speaker Event & Workshop: Vermicompost - The Wonderful World of Worms with Amanda Hunter, the founder of Worm Wrangler. Discover through this engaging talk, how worms can reduce waste, build healthy soil, and support thriving gardens. Then stay for an optional hands-on session where participants can build their own vermicomposting bin to take home. Sign-up in advance on our website to secure your workshop spot: www.te-grassrootsgrowers.com/events/ss-workshop-vermicomposting-2026

03/20/2026

🌱 Welcome, Spring—Even If She’s Wearing a Winter Coat ❄️

Happy spring, gardeners!
It may look like winter is still holding the reins—snow swirling, cold lingering—but don’t be fooled. Beneath that frosty blanket, the earth is waking up.

Roots are stretching.
Seeds are swelling.
Perennials are quietly gathering their strength.

This is the secret part of the season, when growth begins long before we see it. And in a way, it mirrors us too: planning, dreaming, imagining the gardens we’ll soon bring to life.

So let’s welcome spring with muddy boots waiting by the door, seed packets at the ready, and hearts full of anticipation. Warmer days are coming, and when they do, our gardens will be more than ready to burst into color.

Here’s to a new season of growing—together 🌷

03/16/2026

🌱 Calling All Gardeners, Growers & Plant Lovers! 🌱

As spring approaches, we’re gearing up for our Annual Plant Sale Fundraiser happening May 23 at The Tamworth Hotel—and we’re inviting YOU to help us make it our most abundant year yet!

Here are some easy ways to contribute:

🌼 Start a few extra seeds:
When you’re sowing veggies, herbs, or flowers this season, consider planting a few additional pots to donate.

🌿 Share your extras:
Have more seedlings than you planned for? We’ll happily take any healthy surplus!

🌸 Split your perennials:
Spring is the perfect time to divide established perennials—and those divisions make wonderful additions to the sale.

🏡 Donate houseplants or cuttings:
Rooted cuttings, small potted plants, or larger houseplants are always a hit with shoppers.

Every seedling, cutting, and perennial division helps raise funds to support our local growing initiatives and keep free community gardening events thriving.

If you’d like to grow or provide plants for the sale, please take a moment to fill out our volunteer form: https://www.te-grassrootsgrowers.com/plant-sale

Thank you for helping our community grow—quite literally! 🌿💚

03/03/2026

The days are stretching out, the sun feels a little stronger, and that itch to start seeds is kicking in. It’s the perfect time to map out your 2026 vegetable garden.

Here are a few questions to guide your planning:

- 🥕 What veggies do I actually love to eat?
Grow the things you reach for every week — plus a few fun experiments.

- 🌞 How much sun does my space get?
Most veggies need 6–8 hours of full sun; greens can handle more shade.

- 🧺 How big of a harvest do I want?
Just enough for fresh meals, or extra to freeze and can?

- 🕒 How much time can I give?
Your schedule shapes how intensive your garden should be.

- 🌱 What’s my growing zone and frost window?
Stone Mills is Zone 5 — frost dates guide when to start seeds and transplant.

- 🧪 What type of soil am I working with?
Clay, sand, or silt — or a mix of all three? Your soil texture affects drainage, root growth, and how often you’ll need to amend with compost.

- 💦 How will I water?
Consistent moisture matters — plan your setup now.

- 🐛 What pests or wildlife should I expect?
Knowing your likely visitors helps you protect your crops early.

- 🪴 How much space do I have?
Some plants sprawl, some climb, some stay compact — plan accordingly.

A thoughtful garden starts with a little winter dreaming. What’s the first veggie you’re excited to grow this year?

03/01/2026

The Seed Library at the Tamworth Library Branch is freshly restocked—just in time for some early seed starting! 🌼 Thanks to everyone’s generous donations at Seedy Saturday, we were able to purchase an amazing selection of seeds from Heirloom Seeds Canada.

We’ve added herbs, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, flowers, melons and so much more. Some of the special varieties this year include Pink Oxheart tomatoes, Tommy Toe tomatoes (grown in our community garden last summer!), Green Zebra tomatoes, Sunspot sunflowers, and Green Hubbard squash.

P.S. If you start more plants than you have room for, we’d love to include them in our annual Plant Sale Fundraiser happening May 23 in Tamworth! 🌿💚

02/18/2026

Did you know that all plants and seedlings available at our Annual Plant Sale Fundraiser are grown in advance by local community volunteers and donated just before our event in May? We accept flower, vegetable, and herb seedlings, along with split perennials, shrubs, and saplings.

Proceeds support future events, our community garden, seed library and other like-minded local initiatives. Interested in volunteering to grow or donate some plants to us this year? Let us know on our website!

Get involved with the GrassRoots Growers, a community group of gardeners in Eastern Ontario. Help out by growing plants for our annual plant sale, or volunteer at our free events and workshops to inspire a love of growing and encourage interest in local and organic gardening and food production. All

02/17/2026

🌱 SAVE THE DATE! 🌱
Our Annual Plant Sale Community Fundraiser returns to the Tamworth Hotel on May 23, 2026. Stay Tuned!

02/17/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our very first Seedy Saturday! If you were able to attend, we’d love to hear your thoughts so we can make next year even better. Please take a moment to share your feedback using the SurveyMonkey link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QNJZB9J