OTTAWA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Continuing from the previous year the hybrid AV meeting equipment continued to be tested and refined from meeting to meeting. This equipment was supported in 2023 with a grant from the Federal program the Community Services Recovery Fund. The AGM of the society was held at St Marks Church on December 12 but in the spring we moved back to the Tom Brown Arena which is a larger venue. The OHS continued to hold monthly horticultural presentations. Two examples included a presentation by Kayoki Post-Whiteduck who spoke on growing traditional Algonquin plants and preparing them for sale as teas as well as the wider issue of food security. In January Dr Andy Hammermeister gave a talk titled 'What’s new in Organic Horticulture Research.' The Grapevine email remained the main means of communicating to members via email and comes out biweekly during the autumn and winter periods. The more substantial annual newsletter also under a new editor now comes out twice a year. The advantage of electronic publication formats is that it enables more use of colour and much reduced cost. The OHS continues to support the Ottawa Regional Science Fair with a grant and also provides two cash prizes to the best horticultural presentations in the senior and junior classes. The pop-up garden tours was continued this year. This popular program has a schedule of gardens open for visit from other members on a particular day and time period

Under a new editor the OHS Annual Report was published in an electronic format and circulated to members via our website. A few paper copies were produced for those members who did not have internet access. This year the number and investment in Civic projects was increased by the OHS Board to $1 600. $300 was granted to both the Debra Dynes Family Centre for a Children’s garden and the Canadian Organic Growers to support their programs. The Glebe Centre dementia wing was granted $400 to purchase trug garden containers for their patients to use. The Forêt Capital Forest group was awarded $600 to enable a full-size potting bench for their greenhouse.