Blog  November 16, 2011

Cold and tasty: The annual Harvest Celebration at Phyllis Rawlinson Park

Volunteers and community members show off their creations. (Photo: Mildred Ho)

By: Mildred Ho, Stewardship Coordinator, GTA

It was a fun, collaborative, delicious (and cold!) day for the annual Harvest Celebration at Phyllis Rawlinson Park on October 1— but it was a huge success. We had 12 very helpful volunteers to facilitate the event and more than 40 attendees!

Located on the Oak Ridges Moraine, this land was gifted to the Town of Richmond Hill by Phyllis Rawlinson in 1995 and was opened as a public park in 2001. Since 2003, Evergreen and the Town have facilitated hundreds of plantings throughout the park, paying special attention to the headwater streams. The annual harvest event marks the end of our season and celebrates the efforts of our community members.

Warming up around the fire. (Photo: Mildred Ho)

Working together, we prepared tasty dishes using local produce in our outdoor EcoKitchen and transplanted wildflowers to the Community Wildflower Garden. Face painting, crafts for children and musical entertainment by our local guitarist Mike, really made the day perfect.

All of our recipes were carefully selected to best complement local, in-season produce. We prepared six salads: tri-color beans with cherry tomatoes, beet and apple, kale and avocado, black bean and corn, tri-color cabbage coleslaw and miso-based broccoli salad. We also had finger-foods including pumpkin hummus and fresh bread! Hot apple cider infused with the wonderful fragrance of peaches and oranges was served to washed it all down.

Just a few of the tasty salads. (Photo: Mildred Ho)

If you are interested in the recipes, download them here (PDF, 583 KB).

Thanks again, Richmond Hill, for your commitment to greening your community—see you all next year!