Learn, network, train, tour… Summit programming is an action-oriented combination of workshops, panels, keynotes, tours, networking events and professional development opportunities.

Register now for the 2012 Urban Agriculture Summit, August 15 – 18 2012 in Toronto. The 2012 Urban Agriculture Summit will connect you with inspiring experts from across the spectrum of urban agriculture.

Dinner Belles and Lee Reed to Perform at 2012 Greenbelt Harvest Picnic

Call for Volunteers, Farmers, Visual Artists, Food and Craft Vendors

Saturday September 1, 2012 Gates at 11AM Christie Lake Conservation Area 1002 Highway #5 West Dundas, Ontario

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!

St. Catharines, ON The Grape Growers of Ontario, in partnership with Meridian Credit Union, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, and the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival, are pleased to announce that Steve Smith, aka ‘Red Green,’ will be the speaker at the 2012 Celebrity Luncheon which kicks off the 61st Annual Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. The event will take place at Club Roma in St. Catharines on Wednesday, September 19th at 11:30 a.m.

Greenbelt in the Bruce Peninsula

This grant will support the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association to lay the groundwork towards a shared community conservation and stewardship plan that protects ecological integrity and promotes sustainable land use on the Northern Bruce Peninsula. They will collaborate with not-for-profits and governmental organizations involved in conservation efforts on the Bruce Peninsula to develop a strategic plan which will lead to more efficient preservation and protection of water resources and natural heritage systems.

Feasibility Phase for the Greenbelt Cycling Route

Partnering with Transportation Options, this planning grant will support the initial stages of developing a 600km cycling route that traverses six Greenbelt regions from Northumberland to Niagara.  The Greenbelt Cycling Route will allow Ontarians to connect and explore the Greenbelt in a new way – by touring and exploring by bike. 

Burlington Heights Heritage Land Management Plan

With this funding, the Royal Botanical Gardens will develop a management plan for the Burlington Heights Heritage Land, one of the six core natural areas within the Cootes to Escarpment Park System.  Burlington Heights is an environmentally significant area and a National Historic Site. 

Commercialization of World Crops in Ontario's Greenbelt

This project will increase the production of ethno-cultural vegetables on Greenbelt farms and connect growers to markets.  Vineland will provide training and support for rural and peri-urban farmers in the Greenbelt to increase the production of Oriental and Indian eggplant, okra, Thai chili peppers and others.

Deep in wine and tender-fruit country in Niagara, father and daughter Ernie and Linda Grimo are growing another kind of crop. Grimo's Nut Nursery produces a huge variety of nuts, popular, obscure, native, and exotic. For more than 40 years the Grimo family has been raising nut seedlings for sale and in the process they have developed into their own research station, continuously testing new varieties, pushing the boundaries of what can be grown in Ontario, and selecting the hardiest, most productive trees.

Last week, I attended the announcement of a new Great Lakes Strategy by Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley. The setting was perfect: blue sky, Lake Ontario shimmering, the Toronto Islands as background, and even the Ministry’s Great Lakes research vessel was anchored nearby.

From left to right: Hillary Dawson, President, Wine Council of Ontario; Burkhard Mausberg, CEO, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation; Debbie Zimmerman, CEO, Grape Growers of Ontario; Bob Peters, President & CEO, LCBO

Last week, we announced the 2012 winners of the Friend of the Greenbelt Award.