Author: DECA

(*South of Danforth avenue)
Today DECA will hold a grass roots visioning exercise with the community at the launch of the second master planning phase of the SoDa Barns project at the TTC site at Danforth & Coxwell, to bring local knowledge to the discussion of programming both for long term and for interim uses.

We obviously have no official role at this time in this process, but as residents we understand our community and this is very much a community building exercise!
Join us and tell us your ideas for programming for the site and the SoDa Barns!  

Your Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99174274650?pwd=cTBiRDBSaXptbTlqaU5GdE5aS3lzUT09 

Meeting ID: 991 7427 4650 Passcode: 490311

Councillor Bradford and people from the stakeholders for the site and the various city departments will attend our meeting in a listening capacity. This meeting is for the community to speak and to help compile a list of services, programs and spaces which would create a vibrant community hub! This large project has the potential of having a dynamic impact on not only the immediate area but on the east end of the city! 
Under the continued leadership of CreateTO and DTAH Architects, public consultations will be part of the process for the second master planning stage of this project, aided by knowledgeable staff and consultants.  We look forward to hearing when.

See you later today!

DECA Green partnered with the Danforth Mosaic BIA to bring you four workshops in the month of April. Each session featured a presentation from our local experts, followed by a Q&A. Below are the summaries and recordings. Thank you to everyone who participated! It was wonderful to see such a great community turnout for each event.

Mend your Clothes to Reduce Textile Waste with FABRIC SPARK

Don’t replace…repair. Shirley shows us how to make repairs to well loved clothes, with a focus on items such as leggings and pant knees. You can also check out her presentation slides with all the techniques she covered.

Bicycle Readiness with THE CYCLEPATH

April 8 was our first workshop, where we learned essentials like rules of the road, how to safely lock up a bike, and how to fix a flat from Spencer at The Cyclepath. You can watch the workshop recording here:

Stocks and soups with  DICKIE’S COOKING SCHOOL

April 15 was our stocks workshop, where Lisa Dickie taught us everything we needed to know about how to make delicious food from veggie scraps. Check out Lisa’s blog for lots of great recipes! (Sorry that we don’t have a recording for this one.)

Sustainable Living and Gardening with THE RE PLACE

This Earth Day workshop showed us how to make an herb garden out of an old trunk and gave us a great tour of The Re.Place!

You can catch the recording here (minus a couple of minutes at the beginning–sorry for the tech difficulties!)

Also: Stock School Q & A from last week

This Thursday’s workshop has two special hosts: Mira, the owner of The Re.Place and Erin from Dirty Girl Gardening. They will be showing you how to reduce your household waste and how to plan for your urban garden. Register here!

Stock School

Who knew compost could be so delicious? Lisa Dickie did, and she showed us how in last Thursday night’s vegetable stock workshop! We don’t have a recording of the workshop, but we will have Lisa’s recipe up on our site soon, and in the meantime, here are the highlights of the Q&A portion of the workshop

Q. Can you even use potato peels? And ginger peels?
A. Yes! Just give things a scrub before you peel them. You can keep your food scraps in a ziplock bag in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Q. If you’re working with frozen scraps, do you have to separate the different veg?
A. No

Q. What are some examples of neutral oils you like for stock?
A. Olive oil, coconut oil – could really use anything

Q. Do you just boil the scraps? or sauté?
A. Saute the onions, carrots

Q. Should we peel the carrots before cutting them?
A. No (just scrub)

Q. What are the health benefits of adding egg shells?
Added calcium

Q. Can you use dried egg shells? Like keeping in a container until making stock?
A. Yes

Q.Are there any vegetables that you wouldn’t put in?
A. Corn – it’s too starchy

Q. Do dried mushrooms need to be pre-soaked?
A. No

Q. How long would stock last in the fridge?
A. One week – otherwise freeze it.

Q. Can you cook the stock straight from frozen?
A. Yes

Q. After you strain the liquid stock can you put the leftovers in the compost or do you use it in some other way?
A. Into the compost!

This Thursday, April 8: BICYCLE READINESS WITH THE CYCLEPATH

Get ready to cycle! Learn essentials like rules of the road, how to safely lock up your bike, and how to fix a flat from Spencer at The Cyclepath. REGISTER HERE on Eventbrite for the 8 pm workshop. Zoom link provided with registration.

This workshop is the first in our Deca Zero Waste Workshops. Read all about them at www.deca.to!

April is Earth Month, and in this year that has drawn us together so powerfully while keeping us physically apart, we are feeling the need now more than ever to honour this planet and our place on it. The DECA Green committee is bringing you a month of “Couchside Climate Action” — small ways you can make a big difference without leaving your home/neighbourhood. Follow us on Instagram for our suggestions (and enjoy beautiful graphics from Corbin Creative!) No Instagram? No problem — we will send out a weekly summary here on our blog, so just make sure you subscribe!

“DECA ZERO” Workshops: Thursdays in April, 8-9 pm via Zoom

DECA Green has partnered with the Danforth Mosaic BIA to bring you four workshops in the month of April. Each session will feature a presentation from our local experts, followed by a Q&A. Register on Eventbrite, using the link in each workshop description below.

April 8: Bicycle Readiness with The Cyclepath

Get ready to cycle! Learn essentials like rules of the road, how to safely lock up your bike, and how to fix a flat from experts at The Cyclepath. REGISTER HERE

April 15: Stocks and Soups to Reduce Food Waste with Dickie’s Cooking School

Don’t toss those veggie scraps! Learn to make delicious, flavourful vegetable stock from vegetables peels, leaves and even eggshells! All you need is a cutting board, a medium pot, carrots, celery and herbs. REGISTER HERE

April 22: Sustainable Living and Gardening with The Re Place

Learn how to reduce your waste AND how to start your garden on this Earth Day workshop.  REGISTER HERE

April 29: Mend your Clothes to Reduce Textile Waste with FabricSpark

Don’t replace…repair. We have creative ways to upcycle your clothes. Join Shirley to learn how to make repairs to well loved clothes. She will focus on items such as leggings and pant knees. Bring your questions.

If you are willing to try during the demonstration; thread, needles, scissors, embroidery thread, fabric for patches, pins. There will be a discussion on many ways to embellish repairs. REGISTER HERE