NEWS RELEASE
STONE ROAD MALL
*************************
Partnering again with local organization, The SEED, part of the Guelph Community Health Centre, whose mission is to facilitate and distribute nutritious food to local organizations that require fresh produce for their meal services. Stone Road Mall started the season with a goal of harvesting 300 pounds of vegetables for the organization, nearly double the first year's harvest. As the harvest wrapped up earlier this month, the team at Stone Road Mall surpassed the goal with a whopping 575 pounds of vegetables harvested!
From lettuce to corn, beans and potatoes, 14 varieties of vegetables were grown in the ever-expanding garden that occupies the top level of the Stone Road Mall parkade. The addition of 10 new planter boxes for a total of 20 boxes, provided the opportunity to grow a larger selection of produce and experiment with a few new offerings. Optimizing the value and food potential of an ancestral indigenous crop system titled The Three Sisters; corn, squash and bean (The Three Sisters) were planted side-by-side to help each other during growth, resulting in better yields at harvest.
With a sustainable community connection growing fast, the Stone Road Mall team began buzzing with ideas to enhance and evolve this initiative. In July Stone Road Mall partnered with a local Beekeeper who is with Nature’s Guardian and the Ontario Bee Keeping Association to install a beehive within the Rooftop Garden. Planted wildflowers in pots within the garden area and in flower beds around the parkade structure provided the bees with an abundance of opportunities for pollination and in turn fertilization of the gardens contributing to a bounty of beautiful flowers.
"It has been very rewarding to see our Rooftop Garden flourish this year with the unwavering support and efforts of our team here at Stone Road Mall. We are very much looking forward to growing this initiative even larger next year with new partnerships and anything else we can think of to continue building a brighter, greener future," shared Christina Magee, marketing manager, Stone Road Mall.
Stone Road Mall would like to thank its partners, The Seed, for their ongoing commitment and contribution to our Guelph community, and Nature's Guardian, for working towards a more sustainable, greener tomorrow.
*************************
