Category: Gardening

Sports Gear Swap, Gardening Day May 4

Saturday, May 4, will be a busy and fun day at the park, with two events, opportunities to volunteer, and a chance to get new sports gear (and recycle old gear) for you or the family.

The 3rd Annual Sorauren Spring Sports Gear Swap is your chance to drop off gently used bicycles and sports equipment and return to find gear you need.

The drop-off period runs from 9:30 to 11:30 am on the Sorauren Town Square. You can return to pick up gear any time after 10:30 am until 12:30 pm. (Rain date: May 5.)

In addition to bicycles, the Spring Swap accepts functional camping, baseball, soccer, tennis, football, hockey and ski gear. Not accepted: helmets, kayaks, canoes, paddles, life jackets. Please ensure items are clean and in good working order.

Left-over equipment will be donated to Kids with Incarcerated Parents Canada.

Later on, the annual Gardening Day takes place from 2 – 4 pm. Join our friends from the Yale Alumni and get your hands in the dirt by helping with light gardening duties around the Fieldhouse. Bring gloves and gardening gear. Volunteer captains will assist. All ages welcome!

Gardening Dan and the Spring Swap are brought to you by Friends of Sorauren Park, your community non-profit devoted to the enjoyment and completion of Sorauren Park. Contact us if you’d like to volunteer. For updates, follow @SoraurenPark on social media and subscribe to our newsletter.

Two volunteers shovel mulch from a large pile into buckets and a wheelbarrow for distribution to the gardens around Sorauren Park.

Gardening Day May 13, all welcome

Join us Saturday, May 13 from 10 am to 12 noon for the annual Gardening Day at Sorauren Park. We’ll focus on the gardens around the Fieldhouse and also mulching trees in the park. Bring gloves and shovels.

Once again we also look forward to welcoming Yale University alumni in Toronto. Thirteen years ago they were looking for a volunteer activity to align with the Yale Day of Service held every May around the world. Ever since, the Sorauren May Gardening Day has aligned with the Yale Day of Service. You can see some of our Yale friends featured in the Sorauren Park 25th anniversary documentary, The Story of Sorauren Park.

Watch for more volunteer opportunities and be sure to sign up for the Sorauren Park News newsletter and follow us on social media @SoraurenPark.

Thanks again to Parks, Forestry and Recreation for the wood chips.

Photo of volunteers from Yale Alumni gathering outside the Sorauren Park Fieldhouse.

Exploration of Queer Botany at the park May 12

Brought to you by our neighbours and friends at the Museum of Contemporary Art, An Exploration of Queer Botany is a hands-on workshop where participants will have the opportunity to learn about the history and connection between plants and people on an outdoor tour of Sorauren Park.

Join artist, ecologist and urban wildlife behaviourist Jaylen Bastos to learn about plant anatomy and the relationship between plants and geography and to explore how plants have helped people express themselves throughout history.

This workshop connects to MOCA’s current Augmented Reality exhibition Seeing the Invisible, part of which also takes place in Sorauren Park.

Details
Event: An Exploration of Queer Botany with Jaylen Bastos
Date: Friday, May 12
Time: 6:00–8:30 pm
Admission: Pay what you can
Where: Meet at MOCA Toronto, 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto
More info: https://moca.ca/events/queer-botany-workshop/

Yale alumni return to Sorauren for 12th year of gardening

Photo of 7 volunteers, 5 adults and two kids, resting on park boulders after a morning of shovelling mulch and wood chips under a blue sky.
The Yale Day of Service is held on the same day around the world by chapters of Yale alumni.

It’s a tradition begun 12 years ago (!) when Yale University alumni in Toronto were looking for a volunteer activity to align with the Yale Day of Service held every May around the world. This year another beautiful morning greeted volunteers who spent a few hours helping to beautify the Fieldhouse garden and mulch park trees.

Our thanks to the alumni and their young family members who have grown over the years. You can see some of them featured in the Sorauren Park 25th anniversary documentary, The Story of Sorauren Park.

Watch for more volunteer opportunities and be sure to sign up for the Sorauren Park News newsletter and follow us on social media @SoraurenPark.

Thanks again to Parks, Forestry and Recreation for the mulch and wood chips.