
GWA Durham Garden Tour/Meeting
June 24-26, 2005
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Group photo courtesy
of Andrea
and Jan from Durham Region |
It may not seem like a long time, but one
thing you will find when you are a member of the Garden Writers Association
and you attend a meeting - you will see so much, eat great food, meet old
friends and make new ones, plus network! These meetings are so important so
I try to make as many as possible. Our region is Region 7 - that covers
Canada and International. We have a huge diversity of places to meet and
they are so much fun!
Veronica Sliva is one of our Directors - she not only puts together our
meeting at Canada Blooms, but also put this weekend together. What a super
time we all had - She worked very hard to put together a wonderful mix and I
hope you enjoy this recap.
I left Edmonton early Friday morning and arrived into Toronto where my
friend Wendy picked me up at the airport and off we set for Oshawa. Now I
had never been to this part of Ontario before and was looking forward to
seeing it. Half of us were in the Holiday Inn Express and the other half
were in the Travelodge, a few minutes away from each other. Oshawa Transit
Commission provided the bus for us this weekend and after getting settled
into our rooms we headed to Tyrone Church to see their wonderful little
garden before Archibald Orchards and Estate Winery for dessert and wine
tasting.
Tyrone Church used to have a big shed behind it housing horses and carriages
... it was built in 1926 and was much needed at that time. Over the years it
was used for other purposes like an ice skating rink, church suppers and
dances and in 1952 the top part of it was sold. This left the concrete walls
with the tie rings still in the cement walls where the horses were tied up.
What a wonderful start to the enclosed 'Foundation' garden! What they then
did was take it and divide it up into little seating areas, little gardens
within a larger garden. There is one there for children as well, so they can
have their tea parties. Delightful and people can come in little groups and
sit and chat. This is truly a community garden as many hands and hearts went
into its creation.
Our next stop was to the Archibald Orchards and Estate Winery ... we were
toured around a bit of the orchard to see the various types of apples being
grown, then we were treated to desert - wonderful deserts complemented with
suitable wines for each one ... delicious! Of course many of us took the
opportunity to purchase wines to take home ... including a wonderful apple
cider perfect with savory cookies we had also tasted. All locally produced.
http://www.archibalds-estatewinery.on.ca/ Thank you to Fred and Sandy
Archibald and the Municipality of Clarington for this lovely evening.
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