Things to do this week

I’m interrupting my humble (and deeply, deeply humbling) trek down Lovers’ Lane to bring you some community announcements about events taking place around Ottawa this week.

Just Foods is offering free Beginner Organic Vegetable Garden Workshops which will be at various locations around the city on May 5th, 6th, 12th and 14th. There’s a free downloadable veggie growing guide specifically for Ottawa gardeners on their website too.

The annual Great Sandy Hill Garage Sale and Plant Exchange, for those of us who love community garage sales, is taking place on Saturday May 9th, throughout Sandy Hill. (There’s also one in Stittsville, same day, but my experience is that the Stittsville one is mostly about toys and baby gear.)

Bob LeDrew has asked for help in getting the word out about the 4th Annual Show Tune Showdown, which will be happening at the Bronson Centre on May 9th.

Young at Art at Ben Franklin Place in Centrepointe features art by high school students around the region, from now til May 26th. David Scrimshaw blogged about this, and offers a bit of a preview on flickr.

And of course the Tulip Festival is on until May 18th. Frankly, I’ve always thought this festival was a bit lame (even though I attended faithfully year after year because it was so inexpensive and it symbolically kicked off festival season here in Ottawa. For a mere $15 you could spend two weeks freezing your ass off in wind-whipped downpours at Major Hill Park). But now it looks completely different and better than ever. The down side? It’s not cheap anymore. But there’s a vintage carnival! And an acrobatic troupe! And Rick Mercer! And “Surveillance: a fascinating discussion of the many ways we are being watched monitored and spied upon by government and the private sector.”