Upcoming Events
Pawpaw ParadeOn September 23rd, we kick off the Pawpaw Parade!
Let's make October Pawpaw month - in the spirit and practice of reconciliation, we are inviting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to help bring the pawpaw back to southern Ontario. This year, Carolinian Canada is distributing 500 pawpaw trees! The Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team has been invited to be a host for the parade! If you would like to apply to adopt pawpaws or a Native Plant Garden Kit from us, apply below and pick <<Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team>> as your pickup location. Submit your story, and you may be selected to receive either trees or a kit! The 2023 Pawpaw Parade will: give away 100 pawpaw trees in pairs and singles (for lonely pawpaws!) and 50 Healing Gardens Native Plant Garden Kits, and over 100 trees to Indigenous groups and communities. Apply to adopt pawpaws today: https://caroliniancanada.ca/pawpaw After your giveaway or order is confirmed, pick up will be arranged at Ethan's Garden (133 Queen St., Komoka) after October 10, 2023. Stay tuned! |
Last Day at Komoka Community MarketSaturday, October 7, 2023 will be our last day at the Komoka Community Market as the 2023 market season comes to completion.
Drop by to pick up some native plants as gifts or for your garden. This is an ideal time for planting as the plant roots will have some time before frost to grow strong before going dormant.
Here is our plant list as of September 23, 2023: |
Native Plants and Seeds ExchangeBird Friendly London is hosting a native plants and seeds exchange program. Please join us at The PATCH London on Saturday October 28 starting at 12:00 pm. This event is open to everyone at no cost.
Whether you've got native plants already growing in your garden that you wish to share, or if you're thinking of growing native plants for the first time in a garden or in containers (such as on a balcony) this is a great opportunity to learn more and share free supplies. Learn more and register here: https://www.birdfriendlylondon.ca/2023-native-plants-exchange
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Past Events of 2023
Seedy Saturday LondonOn March 4, 2023, the Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team and Ethan's Garden were thrilled to share 1,000 native plant seeds and some special native seedlings at Seedy Saturday in London, Ontario!
If picked up seeds or seedlings from us, we've posted instructions on what to do next on our Instagram account: click here. Thank you to the London Middlesex Master Gardeners for organizing a successful event! |
March Break Storytime HourMiddlesex Centre Pollinator Team Members, Pat Fowler and Christine Chappell Fonseca visited the children and parents for Storytime Hour at the Komoka Railway Museum.
Our team shared about pollinators with the children and their parents. We also gave away seeds, pots, soil and Monarch butterfly colouring pages. The little ones impressed with their knowledge about composting and other ways to care for the environment! |
Pollinator Gardens PresentationOn May 6, 2023, Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team members, Margaret Gelinas and Donna Slater, Master Gardener, presented an educational talk about Pollinator Gardens to the South Lobo Women’s Institute. It was a lovely time!
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Compost SaleWe held a successful annual Compost Fundraising Sale on May 20, 2023. Thank you to those who bought compost. We hope your gardens enjoy the wonderful nourishment!
A big thank you Try Recycling Inc for sponsoring the event with the generous amount of compost, to GHN Group for loaning us the skid steer, to the Municipality of Middlesex Centre for providing the space and to our hard-working volunteers. We raised $2,000 that will help us with community planting projects. Thank you! |
Komoka Community MarketMay 20, 2023 was first day of the Komoka Community Market season! We will be there Saturdays at our booth selling native plants. Visit us to chat all about native plants and pollinators. Bring home a plant or two... or more!
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Celebrate NatureOn June 17, 2023, the Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team and Ethan's Garden hosted a day of family fun to celebrate nature. Thank you to all who attended!
Special thanks to our keynote speakers, Larry Cornelis, Rick Gray, and Nicholas Armstrong (Nature Conservancy of Canada); our informative and generous exhibitors; the amazing growers and nurseries that participated in our Native Plant Nursery Showcase; the Warrior Womyn of Positive Drum for the opening drum & song, mayor Aina DeViet, municipal councillor Sue Cates; our planning committee and event day volunteers! |
Butterflies, Birds & Beyond! FestivalCamp Kee-Mo-Kee is hosted their annual festival on July 29, 2023, welcoming the community to experience the camp's natural habitat, learn about the Carolinian Forest and share in the spirit of environmental stewardship. The Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team was happy to be there with native pollinator plant for sale and a few giveaways!
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London Middlesex Master Gardeners Presentation and TourOn September 13, 2023, the Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team was pleased to host the London Middlesex Master Gardeners for a guided tour of Ethan's Garden, located in the heart of Komoka Park. Christine and Joe Fonseca shared about the creation of this native plant memorial garden in honour of their son, Ethan, and others from the community who have passed.
After the tour, team member, Pat Fowler, shared a presentation about winter sowing. See videos of the tour on our Facebook and Instagram. |