Each May, we’ll hold an orientation session and garden tour for new members and volunteers.

Get involved

Interested in helping out at Lakeside? We’d love your help. Volunteer opportunities include:

• tending the butterfly garden
• composting
• maintaining pathways
• planting and tending the food forest
• coordinating events and educational programming
• participating in work bees
• running or helping out with special projects

We ask members to commit to a minimum of 5 hours each season towards ongoing care and maintenance of the garden. Members are also responsible for maintaining (weeding and mulching) the pathways around their plot.

If you’re interested in volunteering, email lakesidegarden70@gmail.com.

Workbees

Mark the second Saturday of the month in your calendars. This year (2025) we’re holding regular monthly workbees followed by mini-workshops or informal potlucks. Workbees are a great opportunity to get to know other gardeners, learn more about garden projects and fulfill your volunteer hour commitment. 

• Saturday May 10 (rain date 11) 10:00 am – noon
• Saturday June 14 (rain date 15) 10:00 am – noon
• Saturday July 12 (rain date 13) 10:00 am – noon
• Saturday August 9 (rain date 10) 10:00 am – noon
• Saturday September 13 (rain date 14) 10:00 am – noon
• Saturday October 11 (rain date 12) 10:00 am – noon

Growing a food forest

We are seeking your help in building and growing a food forest at Lakeside Community Garden. We’re still figuring out how to organize ourselves, but here are some initial possibilities for working groups:

• Forest stewards: care for the forest guilds, including pruning, dividing perennials, sowing seeds, weeding, mulching, watering and monitoring for pests & fallen fruit
• Biodiversity team: research how to optimize the Food Forest to create habitat for the biodiverse wildlife so critical to our food system, investigate the possibility of adding bee hives, bat houses, creature towers to the garden, monitor species diversity
• Plant team: research and maintain plant list, source plants, monitor success and update plant list based on learnings, educate forest stewards on identifying weeds and invasive or overly aggressive plants. Here is the start of a species list for Eastern Ontario., contributions by both Lakeside & Oak Street.
• Soil health & integrated pest management: monitor soil, create compost teas, plant cover crops that improve soil or attract beneficial insects
• Education & community engagement: program and host tours, workshops and gatherings, create signage
• Fundraising: write grants, donations, research fundraising activities such as plant swaps, plant sales, tree guild sales…
• Volunteer coordinator: volunteer recruitment, outreach and coordination

To get involved or receive notifications about upcoming work parties or workshops, email lakesidefoodforest@gmail.com.