Pineridge Boys and Girls club is looking for enthusiastic vegetable gardeners with a great sense of fun who would appreciate a free garden plot in exchange for spending time after school with youth curious to know how to grow food. In your free garden plot you can grow food for yourself and food to donate for snacks at the Pineridge Boys and Girls club. You will be asked to advise regarding replacing the soil in the garden plots but labour will be provided to do the work. Tools and water access are available to you. You will need to obtain a police record check and be a good fit with the organizational goals of the Boys and Girls Club.
For details contact Alexandra, Pineridge Club Program Coordinator at 403-543-9678
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Grant application approved!!
Hi everyone,
I just got a call from Julie Black from the Calgary Foundation and our grant application has been approved! Yay!!! They have approved $4,500 for fence materials and plot materials and $500 for refreshments for volunteers during building days for the fence and plots.
She will be sending out a on-page grant agreement for the church to sign - Jeanette, it will be coming to you - and if we get it back to them quickly, we can have the funds by mid to end of June. Everythings coming together nicely. :o)
Alex
I just got a call from Julie Black from the Calgary Foundation and our grant application has been approved! Yay!!! They have approved $4,500 for fence materials and plot materials and $500 for refreshments for volunteers during building days for the fence and plots.
She will be sending out a on-page grant agreement for the church to sign - Jeanette, it will be coming to you - and if we get it back to them quickly, we can have the funds by mid to end of June. Everythings coming together nicely. :o)
Alex
Request for Mulch
I put in a request to Maggie yesterday for the mulch for our various community beds. They do need topping up. I also told them I would need to be contacted for delivery because I need to be there to make sure they put the mulch somewhere far enough away from the church.
Alex
Alex
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Chain link fence imminent!
I got a call from Margo at the church and she gave me the fantastic news that Carlos, (the head of the new church moving in) has found us a donation of chainlink and he and his crew can put up a fence for us. He's even willing to lend us the money (about $1,000) to get the posts and cement. This will work out very well because we've applied to Shell for $1,000 for fence materials and if we get the grant, we can pay Carlos back with it. We also have enough money in our account to cover it if necessary.
Margo is meeting with Carlos Friday morning and she's eager to get the fence up as quickly as possible so we may have the fence up very soon. Yay!!!
The other good news is that we've got the Calgary Attendance crews coming every other Thursday throughout the summer. So for June, that will be the 11th and 25th that they'll be at the garden. I also asked them to put us on standby in case one of their other jobs get cancelled.
As a reminder, they will be at the garden tomorrow from 9-3:30.
Alex
Margo is meeting with Carlos Friday morning and she's eager to get the fence up as quickly as possible so we may have the fence up very soon. Yay!!!
The other good news is that we've got the Calgary Attendance crews coming every other Thursday throughout the summer. So for June, that will be the 11th and 25th that they'll be at the garden. I also asked them to put us on standby in case one of their other jobs get cancelled.
As a reminder, they will be at the garden tomorrow from 9-3:30.
Alex
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Update for the Robert McClure United Church
Board of Directors meeting May 26, 2009
GOVERNANCE
Board of Directors
The garden board has met three times this year and plans to continue holding regular meetings throughout the season. The board of directors for the garden currently has six members:
- President, Sheila Ford
- Vice-President, Maeve Bard
- Secretary, Joan Liland
- Treasurer, Lorna McKenzie
- Director, Alex Summerfield
- Director, Alma Newton
Incorporation
The garden has applied to Alberta Corporate Registries to be incorporated as a society. In compliance with the Societies Act, our legal name will be McClure Fellowship of Gardeners. We expect to be incorporated within a month’s time. Incorporation is important for meeting requirements for funding applications and for accessing some sources of volunteers.
Mission statement: Building Fellowship through Community Gardening
Affiliations
Joan Liland is our representative on the Core Steering Committee of the Community Garden Resource Network (CGRN). The CGRN is a project of the Calgary Horticultural Society with a mandate to strengthen and promote community gardens in Calgary. Recently the CGRN has put on workshops to teach people how to grow vegetables for the first time.
MEMBERSHIP AND PLOT RENTALS
All plots are fully rented out this year and we still have a waiting list. Demand for plots in the city is on the rise because there is increased interest from people wanting to grow their own food. It’s not uncommon for some gardens to have over 40 people on their waiting list. We didn’t have as many on our waiting list mainly because we are not yet as well known and we knew ahead of time we wouldn’t have any plots left so we didn’t go out and try to recruit new members. This garden is still the only community garden in the NE that’s open to public participation from everyone so future demand for plots will likely increase.
To try to accommodate more gardeners who may not yet be able to get a plot, our Board has created a new category of membership where people can join the garden as member for $5. They will have voting rights and can garden and have access to the orchard and the shared common plots where we grow the flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
SITE IMPROVEMENTS
Composters – Joan and Jack Liland are repairing the front composter.
Interpretive Signs – Lorna and Wayne McKenzie have built small signs that will be put up throughout the garden to identify and highlight various features.
Herb Patch – The new flower bed in front of the plots that was created last year is in the process of being transformed into an herb patch. Greengate Garden Centres has donated a whole bunch of herbs and we have transplanted other herbs from other places in the garden into the bed. Some members will also bring herbs from home to plant in that bed. Some flowers are already in the bed and more will be planted amongst the herbs.
Pumpkin Patch and Squashing Weeds – We will be growing pumpkins and summer and winter squash in the space created when we moved the raspberries last year. This is a part of The Great Cover Up project under Fruition where we employ creative use of crops and mulches to suppress weeds.
Melon Path – The 1/3 of the flower bed next to the church that’s right next to the garden shed will be used to grow melons. It’s a sheltered microclimate that’s quite warm so we may be successful. It will be the second test site for Fruition’s The Melon Colony project.
Ground Cover – The limitation with woodchips as a mulch for weed suppression is that it breaks down over time and weeds will grow back. A more effective strategy would be to grow something that would compete with the weeds. White Dutch Clover is a perennial, low-growing legume. Once established it can successfully compete with quackgrass and broad-leafed weeds. It fixes its own nitrogen, is drought tolerant and is low maintenance because it never needs mowing. We will be putting in a small trial batch to see how it fares. If successful the woodchips between beds can be converted to clover. This will lessen the burden of having to top up the mulch every year and digging out the weeds that grow in the mulch. As a bonus, the beds will be nestled in green so the garden will be more attractive.
The pile of soil - left over from the patio construction will be moved and spread out on Thursday May 28th. The rocks will be set aside and used to create a border for the two irregularly shaped flower beds out front.
Flower beds– Rhubarb will be transplanted into the border of the bed behind the dumpster in place of the zucchinis that were grown there last year. It will carry on the edible landscaping theme for that bed. The bed currently has strawberries in it as a groundcover and it also has daylilies with edible flowers and tubers. We’ve been weeding and edging all the flower beds and will add more mulch and flowers in the future.
Transplanted tree – the tree (originally planted by the youth group) that was moved last year has survived and is now budding out. Usually it’s the last to bud out compared to other trees but it’s keeping pace this year so that could be a sign that it likes its new location. We made sure we had lots of volunteers to keep it watered last year and that has helped. We’ll do the same this year.
Construction – Building a fence will be our first priority this year. Damage continues from the cut-through traffic. Some of the transplanted raspberries have been trampled to death and there have been a lot of footprints in the beds this spring. We have applied for funding for the materials and will proceed to organize volunteers once funding is in place. New plots, a handicap access ramp, new composters and a new sign are also possibilities for this year depending on funding and volunteers.
FUNDING AND DONATIONS
Greengate Garden Centre – We are partnered with greengate for our Fruition program. They have donated seeds for the garden and will donate seeds, soil and plants for the Fruition projects. At the end of the season they are willing to donate the fruit bushes and trees that they have left to our orchard. greengate is also providing us with free web hosting and professional web design. The garden will have its site incorporated into Greengate’s. Their site is more frequently visited and we will gain greater exposure this way. They have also have a PR firm they work with and they will help us promote the garden and our programs in the media.
Greengate is a key partner for the Calgary Horticultural Society and they sponsor the Garden Show. They have been a major sponsor for community gardens like The Garden Path in Inglewood and for plant societies like the Rose Society and Orchid Society. They are a great partner to have and we’re fortunate they’re on board.
UCW – A great big thank-you for the donation to the garden for the fence. It’s wonderful to have that kind of support and to be able to show it in our recent grant application. Financial contributions from other groups carries a lot weight when applying for grants because it demonstrates that a project has interest and support from the community.
Youth Group – Thanks to the Church’s youth group for donating seeds to the garden. We’ve added them to our growing seed stash which will be shared by our members and used to for our community programs.
The Calgary Foundation Neighbour Grants – Jeanette McDonald helped us apply for a $5,000 grant for the materials to build the fence. The garden is not yet incorporated so without her help and the church’s, we would not have been eligible to apply so thank-you. We will know within a month how the application went.
Home Depot – Team Depot is a program where Home Depot employees volunteer in the community by helping non-profit and charity groups with construction projects. We’ve approached them for volunteers to help us build the fence and with our other construction projects. They are interested in helping and they have applied to headquarters for a donation of the lumber to us for the new plots. We hope to hear back in a couple of weeks time.
Shell Canada Community Service Fund – One of our members is an employee of Shell and he can apply for a $1,000 grant from his company if he volunteers a certain amount of time with the garden. Since the fence is the first priority, he will be applying for funds to cover fence materials.
VOLUNTEERING
Work bees and potlucks – Two work bees were held in May. We will hold at least one monthly for garden members to get together and do some work on the common areas and to socialize and get to know one another. They usually run on a Saturday from 9-3. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to come out and see what we’re up to.
Calgary Attendance Centre – They will be coming out again this year to help us. The first work crew is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th and we will try to schedule them in for the rest of the season as well.
Telus Day of Service – Once a year Telus posts volunteer requests from the community and their employees sign up and come and help out. We have asked them to help us plant the beds at the Leisure Centre on Saturday May 30th.
Child and Youth Friendly Calgary – We’ve posted a request for kids in grades 7-12 to come out on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to volunteer in the garden. They would come with a supervisor. The youth did take some free sweet pea seeds to help with the Peas on Earth program but did not seem as enthusiastic about doing gardening so this may not pan out. It’s important we get youth involved in gardening so we will continue to work with this group and see how it develops.
Heart of the NE Resource Centre & Parent Link – A group of 10 kids (3-6 years old) and their parents will help plant some squash and potatoes in the Leisure Centre beds in early June.
Volunteer Calgary – As soon as we’re incorporated we can sign up with them and post volunteer positions in their database. They will also help connect us with corporate group volunteers through the United Way Day of Caring program and with other groups such as seniors.
The Calgary Drop-In Centre – We’re arranging for volunteers from the Drop-In Centre to come on Wednesday afternoons to garden at the Leisure Centre. They have volunteers from their clients and the community. They also have the ability to pick-up donations. This gives us a couple of ways to get the produce donations from the Leisure Centre back to the Drop-In Centre.
Service Clubs, Church youth groups, kids clubs like Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, seniors groups, etc. We would like to develop a relationship with these groups so they can volunteer regularly in the garden. So far we haven’t had time to pursue this very far but we plan to.
MARKETING AND PR
Publications – a one-page information sheet on the garden has been created and made available to the public. It’s been helpful for communicating with potential donors and volunteers. A copy is attached. In the future, when we can get a volunteer who’s great a desktop publishing and a budget for printing, we hope to do up a proper pamphlet.
greengate Garden Expo – Two board members joined a representative from The Garden Path and Gael Blackhall, the coordinator for the CGRN at a table at greengate for their busy spring sale. We talked to the public about community gardens and gave out information.
Alexander Calhoun Library – Many people have never heard of a community garden. To raise public awareness, we’re participating in a series of talks at the Calgary Public Library for their Diversity Services program for seniors. Last week McClure and The Garden Path spent an hour and a half at the Alex Calhoun branch and shared stories and information on community gardening. We are presenting at four more dates at different branches in June and July.
The e-Universe – Check out our new blog! Our new board member, Alma is a whiz with all things internet and she’s designed and built a great blog to help our membership stay connected and to help promote the garden to the general public. The link is: http://mccluregardeners.blogspot.com/ Visit it often to find out all the stuff that’s happening in the garden. Construction of our website is underway and a link to our blog will be posted at the site.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH – FRUITION
Project Update
Green Cats - Greengate has donated 300 catnip seedlings and they are ready for planting
- We’re helping to train a new group of volunteers at the Inglewood garden to continue their Pet Project program which also grows catnip for the MEOW Foundation.
- So far six community gardens, three private gardeners and volunteers with MEOW will be growing catnip. This program has now successfully become city-wide. The goal is to grow the 350 pounds of nip (fresh weight) that MEOW needs.
Peas on Earth - Free seeds are now available to community and non-profit groups if they want to participate and grow some sweet peas to promote peace.
- The website is under construction and when complete, people can go there to log in the length of their rows.
The Great Cover Up - The garden will be employing three different methods of weed control this year. These include variations on planting cover crops and edible cover crops, manual removal by pulling and digging the weeds out and mulching with woodchips and other materials like granite.
Metro Grow-Ops - We’ve helped the clients at Calgary Drop-In Centre start their own community garden, The D.I. Gardens. One of their key goals was to create a quiet space for their residents where they could enjoy one of the comforts of a home – a garden. They have a container garden on the 5th floor balcony. It could very well be the city’s highest community garden. Planting has begun and the radishes and lettuces have already sprouted. It’s a south facing, glassed in balcony so it’s almost greenhouse conditions. We have high hopes for the tomatoes and peppers.
- The D.I. Gardens also wanted more space to grow fresh food for the Drop-In Centre. The balcony is too small for that purpose so we collaborated with the Village Square Leisure Centre to use their beds to grow flowers and vegetables to donate to the Drop-In Centre. Many people pass by these beds daily so it will also serve as a public learning exhibition on local food growing.
- The D.I. Gardens are doing so well that there’s interest in expanding the program to the 6th floor balcony and to the Bridgeland Manor site for their seniors.
Homegrown Goodness - greengate is designing a logo to go with the slogan. Customized row markers are in the works and in the future they will be used for promoting local food growing in Calgary.
- Eco-Pots – for those who have no garden space, container gardening is an option. In mid-June, we’re rounding up interested parties to go to greengate and reuse planters that people bring in for recycling and plant vegetables in them. They will be put on display at the front of the store and people will have the option of taking them home.
The Melon Colony - Three test sites are planned to experiment with growing watermelons and cantaloupes in Calgary’s climate. One is in the Sunnyside community garden, one at McClure and one at the Leisure Centre.
- Sunnyside is already planted from seed. Seedlings will be used at McClure and the Leisure Centre soon.
The Planting of the Red Sea - A search is underway for a person/group to lead this project. The Leisure Centre has agreed to let us use one of their beds and we’re looking at other sites as well. This project would take a lot of organization so we may have to start the process this year so it can take place next spring.
GOVERNANCE
Board of Directors
The garden board has met three times this year and plans to continue holding regular meetings throughout the season. The board of directors for the garden currently has six members:
- President, Sheila Ford
- Vice-President, Maeve Bard
- Secretary, Joan Liland
- Treasurer, Lorna McKenzie
- Director, Alex Summerfield
- Director, Alma Newton
Incorporation
The garden has applied to Alberta Corporate Registries to be incorporated as a society. In compliance with the Societies Act, our legal name will be McClure Fellowship of Gardeners. We expect to be incorporated within a month’s time. Incorporation is important for meeting requirements for funding applications and for accessing some sources of volunteers.
Mission statement: Building Fellowship through Community Gardening
Affiliations
Joan Liland is our representative on the Core Steering Committee of the Community Garden Resource Network (CGRN). The CGRN is a project of the Calgary Horticultural Society with a mandate to strengthen and promote community gardens in Calgary. Recently the CGRN has put on workshops to teach people how to grow vegetables for the first time.
MEMBERSHIP AND PLOT RENTALS
All plots are fully rented out this year and we still have a waiting list. Demand for plots in the city is on the rise because there is increased interest from people wanting to grow their own food. It’s not uncommon for some gardens to have over 40 people on their waiting list. We didn’t have as many on our waiting list mainly because we are not yet as well known and we knew ahead of time we wouldn’t have any plots left so we didn’t go out and try to recruit new members. This garden is still the only community garden in the NE that’s open to public participation from everyone so future demand for plots will likely increase.
To try to accommodate more gardeners who may not yet be able to get a plot, our Board has created a new category of membership where people can join the garden as member for $5. They will have voting rights and can garden and have access to the orchard and the shared common plots where we grow the flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
SITE IMPROVEMENTS
Composters – Joan and Jack Liland are repairing the front composter.
Interpretive Signs – Lorna and Wayne McKenzie have built small signs that will be put up throughout the garden to identify and highlight various features.
Herb Patch – The new flower bed in front of the plots that was created last year is in the process of being transformed into an herb patch. Greengate Garden Centres has donated a whole bunch of herbs and we have transplanted other herbs from other places in the garden into the bed. Some members will also bring herbs from home to plant in that bed. Some flowers are already in the bed and more will be planted amongst the herbs.
Pumpkin Patch and Squashing Weeds – We will be growing pumpkins and summer and winter squash in the space created when we moved the raspberries last year. This is a part of The Great Cover Up project under Fruition where we employ creative use of crops and mulches to suppress weeds.
Melon Path – The 1/3 of the flower bed next to the church that’s right next to the garden shed will be used to grow melons. It’s a sheltered microclimate that’s quite warm so we may be successful. It will be the second test site for Fruition’s The Melon Colony project.
Ground Cover – The limitation with woodchips as a mulch for weed suppression is that it breaks down over time and weeds will grow back. A more effective strategy would be to grow something that would compete with the weeds. White Dutch Clover is a perennial, low-growing legume. Once established it can successfully compete with quackgrass and broad-leafed weeds. It fixes its own nitrogen, is drought tolerant and is low maintenance because it never needs mowing. We will be putting in a small trial batch to see how it fares. If successful the woodchips between beds can be converted to clover. This will lessen the burden of having to top up the mulch every year and digging out the weeds that grow in the mulch. As a bonus, the beds will be nestled in green so the garden will be more attractive.
The pile of soil - left over from the patio construction will be moved and spread out on Thursday May 28th. The rocks will be set aside and used to create a border for the two irregularly shaped flower beds out front.
Flower beds– Rhubarb will be transplanted into the border of the bed behind the dumpster in place of the zucchinis that were grown there last year. It will carry on the edible landscaping theme for that bed. The bed currently has strawberries in it as a groundcover and it also has daylilies with edible flowers and tubers. We’ve been weeding and edging all the flower beds and will add more mulch and flowers in the future.
Transplanted tree – the tree (originally planted by the youth group) that was moved last year has survived and is now budding out. Usually it’s the last to bud out compared to other trees but it’s keeping pace this year so that could be a sign that it likes its new location. We made sure we had lots of volunteers to keep it watered last year and that has helped. We’ll do the same this year.
Construction – Building a fence will be our first priority this year. Damage continues from the cut-through traffic. Some of the transplanted raspberries have been trampled to death and there have been a lot of footprints in the beds this spring. We have applied for funding for the materials and will proceed to organize volunteers once funding is in place. New plots, a handicap access ramp, new composters and a new sign are also possibilities for this year depending on funding and volunteers.
FUNDING AND DONATIONS
Greengate Garden Centre – We are partnered with greengate for our Fruition program. They have donated seeds for the garden and will donate seeds, soil and plants for the Fruition projects. At the end of the season they are willing to donate the fruit bushes and trees that they have left to our orchard. greengate is also providing us with free web hosting and professional web design. The garden will have its site incorporated into Greengate’s. Their site is more frequently visited and we will gain greater exposure this way. They have also have a PR firm they work with and they will help us promote the garden and our programs in the media.
Greengate is a key partner for the Calgary Horticultural Society and they sponsor the Garden Show. They have been a major sponsor for community gardens like The Garden Path in Inglewood and for plant societies like the Rose Society and Orchid Society. They are a great partner to have and we’re fortunate they’re on board.
UCW – A great big thank-you for the donation to the garden for the fence. It’s wonderful to have that kind of support and to be able to show it in our recent grant application. Financial contributions from other groups carries a lot weight when applying for grants because it demonstrates that a project has interest and support from the community.
Youth Group – Thanks to the Church’s youth group for donating seeds to the garden. We’ve added them to our growing seed stash which will be shared by our members and used to for our community programs.
The Calgary Foundation Neighbour Grants – Jeanette McDonald helped us apply for a $5,000 grant for the materials to build the fence. The garden is not yet incorporated so without her help and the church’s, we would not have been eligible to apply so thank-you. We will know within a month how the application went.
Home Depot – Team Depot is a program where Home Depot employees volunteer in the community by helping non-profit and charity groups with construction projects. We’ve approached them for volunteers to help us build the fence and with our other construction projects. They are interested in helping and they have applied to headquarters for a donation of the lumber to us for the new plots. We hope to hear back in a couple of weeks time.
Shell Canada Community Service Fund – One of our members is an employee of Shell and he can apply for a $1,000 grant from his company if he volunteers a certain amount of time with the garden. Since the fence is the first priority, he will be applying for funds to cover fence materials.
VOLUNTEERING
Work bees and potlucks – Two work bees were held in May. We will hold at least one monthly for garden members to get together and do some work on the common areas and to socialize and get to know one another. They usually run on a Saturday from 9-3. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to come out and see what we’re up to.
Calgary Attendance Centre – They will be coming out again this year to help us. The first work crew is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th and we will try to schedule them in for the rest of the season as well.
Telus Day of Service – Once a year Telus posts volunteer requests from the community and their employees sign up and come and help out. We have asked them to help us plant the beds at the Leisure Centre on Saturday May 30th.
Child and Youth Friendly Calgary – We’ve posted a request for kids in grades 7-12 to come out on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to volunteer in the garden. They would come with a supervisor. The youth did take some free sweet pea seeds to help with the Peas on Earth program but did not seem as enthusiastic about doing gardening so this may not pan out. It’s important we get youth involved in gardening so we will continue to work with this group and see how it develops.
Heart of the NE Resource Centre & Parent Link – A group of 10 kids (3-6 years old) and their parents will help plant some squash and potatoes in the Leisure Centre beds in early June.
Volunteer Calgary – As soon as we’re incorporated we can sign up with them and post volunteer positions in their database. They will also help connect us with corporate group volunteers through the United Way Day of Caring program and with other groups such as seniors.
The Calgary Drop-In Centre – We’re arranging for volunteers from the Drop-In Centre to come on Wednesday afternoons to garden at the Leisure Centre. They have volunteers from their clients and the community. They also have the ability to pick-up donations. This gives us a couple of ways to get the produce donations from the Leisure Centre back to the Drop-In Centre.
Service Clubs, Church youth groups, kids clubs like Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, seniors groups, etc. We would like to develop a relationship with these groups so they can volunteer regularly in the garden. So far we haven’t had time to pursue this very far but we plan to.
MARKETING AND PR
Publications – a one-page information sheet on the garden has been created and made available to the public. It’s been helpful for communicating with potential donors and volunteers. A copy is attached. In the future, when we can get a volunteer who’s great a desktop publishing and a budget for printing, we hope to do up a proper pamphlet.
greengate Garden Expo – Two board members joined a representative from The Garden Path and Gael Blackhall, the coordinator for the CGRN at a table at greengate for their busy spring sale. We talked to the public about community gardens and gave out information.
Alexander Calhoun Library – Many people have never heard of a community garden. To raise public awareness, we’re participating in a series of talks at the Calgary Public Library for their Diversity Services program for seniors. Last week McClure and The Garden Path spent an hour and a half at the Alex Calhoun branch and shared stories and information on community gardening. We are presenting at four more dates at different branches in June and July.
The e-Universe – Check out our new blog! Our new board member, Alma is a whiz with all things internet and she’s designed and built a great blog to help our membership stay connected and to help promote the garden to the general public. The link is: http://mccluregardeners.blogspot.com/ Visit it often to find out all the stuff that’s happening in the garden. Construction of our website is underway and a link to our blog will be posted at the site.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH – FRUITION
Project Update
Green Cats - Greengate has donated 300 catnip seedlings and they are ready for planting
- We’re helping to train a new group of volunteers at the Inglewood garden to continue their Pet Project program which also grows catnip for the MEOW Foundation.
- So far six community gardens, three private gardeners and volunteers with MEOW will be growing catnip. This program has now successfully become city-wide. The goal is to grow the 350 pounds of nip (fresh weight) that MEOW needs.
Peas on Earth - Free seeds are now available to community and non-profit groups if they want to participate and grow some sweet peas to promote peace.
- The website is under construction and when complete, people can go there to log in the length of their rows.
The Great Cover Up - The garden will be employing three different methods of weed control this year. These include variations on planting cover crops and edible cover crops, manual removal by pulling and digging the weeds out and mulching with woodchips and other materials like granite.
Metro Grow-Ops - We’ve helped the clients at Calgary Drop-In Centre start their own community garden, The D.I. Gardens. One of their key goals was to create a quiet space for their residents where they could enjoy one of the comforts of a home – a garden. They have a container garden on the 5th floor balcony. It could very well be the city’s highest community garden. Planting has begun and the radishes and lettuces have already sprouted. It’s a south facing, glassed in balcony so it’s almost greenhouse conditions. We have high hopes for the tomatoes and peppers.
- The D.I. Gardens also wanted more space to grow fresh food for the Drop-In Centre. The balcony is too small for that purpose so we collaborated with the Village Square Leisure Centre to use their beds to grow flowers and vegetables to donate to the Drop-In Centre. Many people pass by these beds daily so it will also serve as a public learning exhibition on local food growing.
- The D.I. Gardens are doing so well that there’s interest in expanding the program to the 6th floor balcony and to the Bridgeland Manor site for their seniors.
Homegrown Goodness - greengate is designing a logo to go with the slogan. Customized row markers are in the works and in the future they will be used for promoting local food growing in Calgary.
- Eco-Pots – for those who have no garden space, container gardening is an option. In mid-June, we’re rounding up interested parties to go to greengate and reuse planters that people bring in for recycling and plant vegetables in them. They will be put on display at the front of the store and people will have the option of taking them home.
The Melon Colony - Three test sites are planned to experiment with growing watermelons and cantaloupes in Calgary’s climate. One is in the Sunnyside community garden, one at McClure and one at the Leisure Centre.
- Sunnyside is already planted from seed. Seedlings will be used at McClure and the Leisure Centre soon.
The Planting of the Red Sea - A search is underway for a person/group to lead this project. The Leisure Centre has agreed to let us use one of their beds and we’re looking at other sites as well. This project would take a lot of organization so we may have to start the process this year so it can take place next spring.
McClure Fellowship of Gardeners - About the Garden
Location:
5510 – 26th Avenue NE, Calgary, AB, T1Y 6S1
Contact:
Alex Summerfield Phone: (403) 467-3086 Email: galacticbugs@hotmail.com
The McClure Fellowship of Gardeners is a non-profit community garden which offers the public opportunities to participate in gardening through plot rentals, shared garden space and community outreach programs.
Opportunities for Participation
Rent a Plot
Our community garden currently rents out 30 plots (4’ x 10’) at a cost of $30 each for the season. We hold monthly potlucks and work bees so gardeners can socialize while maintaining the garden.
Garden in the Shared Garden Space
In addition to rental plots, we have common garden spaces that include:
- four flower beds
- A community orchard with apples, cherries, grapes, June berries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries.
- Community vegetable beds contain squash, herbs and whatever other vegetables gardeners put in to share with everyone
- Composters
- A shady, peaceful patio area and picnic table
If you do not rent a plot, a small $5.00 membership fee will entitle you to garden in the shared spaces and to share what’s grown there.
Volunteer in the Garden
Volunteers are always welcome. We have something for everyone. Regular volunteers we always need are:
Gardeners – to supply TLC to flowers, fruit, vegetables and trees. Duties include watering, weeding, dividing, pruning, thinning, planting, harvesting, composting and mulching.
Handymen/women – to help us build and repair plots, composters, eaves troughs, tweak motors, put up shelves and fences, pour cement and many other tasks that need someone who has tools and knows how to use them.
Educators – we need instructors to hold workshops for everything related to gardening and also for food preservation and garden tours.
Special projects – these range from small ongoing duties like picking up donations or preparing snacks for volunteers to large, one-time building projects.
Writers and shutterbugs
We need people to help document the garden’s progress and show it off to the world. Desktop publishers and graphic artists also welcome.
Fundraisers – Can you write persuasive grant applications? Can you charm birds from the trees and sell refrigerators to polar bears? If so, we need you to help us fundraise.
Customize it – is there a special skill you have that you would like to contribute? A particular way you would like to help? Talk to us. We’ll fit you in.
Volunteer in Your Community
Fruition is McClure’s community outreach program. It encourages people in the community to garden to support the environment and their favorite causes at the same time. Contact us if you want to volunteer for one of these city-wide projects or if you would like to propose your own:
1. Green Cats - growing organic catnip to donate to the MEOW Foundation charity to help with their fundraising efforts. Organic growing methods reduce energy consumption and artificial chemical inputs that can harm the environment.
2. Peas on Earth – Beautify your space by planting some sweet peas. Take a moment to smell the flowers. The more peace we can cultivate in our own lives, the more peace there will be in the world. Support the cultivation of peace by collectively growing a row of sweet peas to circle the globe. Free seeds are available to community groups. Go to www.greengate.ca to log your row.
3. The Great Cover Up – creative use of mulch and cover crops to control weeds instead of using herbicides. Edible cover crops give the added benefit of providing a source of food.
4. Metro Grow-Ops – this year’s project helps the Calgary Drop-In Centre’s clients convert a smoking balcony into an oasis of green vegetables and flowers which will help clean the air instead of pollute it.
We are also collaborating with the Village Square Leisure Centre and the Drop-In Centre to transform 2,000 square feet of under-utilized space around the Leisure Centre into an education space for growing fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Food grown in these beds will be donated to the Drop-In Centre and other high needs groups in the area.
5. Home-grown Goodness – promoting local food that is grown at home in Calgary. Food represents 1/3 of Calgary’s Eco-Footprint. Growing food conventionally and shipping it thousands of miles consumes a lot of energy. To reduce our impact on the environment we’re encouraging people to grow their own organic food. For those who don’t have gardening space, Eco-Pots are the answer. They reuse plastic nursery pots to keep them out of landfills and they are filled with potting soil and planted with vegetables.
6. The Melon Colony – a test project to grow watermelons. If successful, the melons will begin colonizing schools across Calgary next year. It’s a fun way to introduce kids to growing food and teaching them to care for plants.
7. The Planting of the Red Sea – get a group of loyal fans together and plant red flowers in a public space to show your support for your Flames.
5510 – 26th Avenue NE, Calgary, AB, T1Y 6S1
Contact:
Alex Summerfield Phone: (403) 467-3086 Email: galacticbugs@hotmail.com
The McClure Fellowship of Gardeners is a non-profit community garden which offers the public opportunities to participate in gardening through plot rentals, shared garden space and community outreach programs.
Opportunities for Participation
Rent a Plot
Our community garden currently rents out 30 plots (4’ x 10’) at a cost of $30 each for the season. We hold monthly potlucks and work bees so gardeners can socialize while maintaining the garden.
Garden in the Shared Garden Space
In addition to rental plots, we have common garden spaces that include:
- four flower beds
- A community orchard with apples, cherries, grapes, June berries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries.
- Community vegetable beds contain squash, herbs and whatever other vegetables gardeners put in to share with everyone
- Composters
- A shady, peaceful patio area and picnic table
If you do not rent a plot, a small $5.00 membership fee will entitle you to garden in the shared spaces and to share what’s grown there.
Volunteer in the Garden
Volunteers are always welcome. We have something for everyone. Regular volunteers we always need are:
Gardeners – to supply TLC to flowers, fruit, vegetables and trees. Duties include watering, weeding, dividing, pruning, thinning, planting, harvesting, composting and mulching.
Handymen/women – to help us build and repair plots, composters, eaves troughs, tweak motors, put up shelves and fences, pour cement and many other tasks that need someone who has tools and knows how to use them.
Educators – we need instructors to hold workshops for everything related to gardening and also for food preservation and garden tours.
Special projects – these range from small ongoing duties like picking up donations or preparing snacks for volunteers to large, one-time building projects.
Writers and shutterbugs
We need people to help document the garden’s progress and show it off to the world. Desktop publishers and graphic artists also welcome.
Fundraisers – Can you write persuasive grant applications? Can you charm birds from the trees and sell refrigerators to polar bears? If so, we need you to help us fundraise.
Customize it – is there a special skill you have that you would like to contribute? A particular way you would like to help? Talk to us. We’ll fit you in.
Volunteer in Your Community
Fruition is McClure’s community outreach program. It encourages people in the community to garden to support the environment and their favorite causes at the same time. Contact us if you want to volunteer for one of these city-wide projects or if you would like to propose your own:
1. Green Cats - growing organic catnip to donate to the MEOW Foundation charity to help with their fundraising efforts. Organic growing methods reduce energy consumption and artificial chemical inputs that can harm the environment.
2. Peas on Earth – Beautify your space by planting some sweet peas. Take a moment to smell the flowers. The more peace we can cultivate in our own lives, the more peace there will be in the world. Support the cultivation of peace by collectively growing a row of sweet peas to circle the globe. Free seeds are available to community groups. Go to www.greengate.ca to log your row.
3. The Great Cover Up – creative use of mulch and cover crops to control weeds instead of using herbicides. Edible cover crops give the added benefit of providing a source of food.
4. Metro Grow-Ops – this year’s project helps the Calgary Drop-In Centre’s clients convert a smoking balcony into an oasis of green vegetables and flowers which will help clean the air instead of pollute it.
We are also collaborating with the Village Square Leisure Centre and the Drop-In Centre to transform 2,000 square feet of under-utilized space around the Leisure Centre into an education space for growing fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Food grown in these beds will be donated to the Drop-In Centre and other high needs groups in the area.
5. Home-grown Goodness – promoting local food that is grown at home in Calgary. Food represents 1/3 of Calgary’s Eco-Footprint. Growing food conventionally and shipping it thousands of miles consumes a lot of energy. To reduce our impact on the environment we’re encouraging people to grow their own organic food. For those who don’t have gardening space, Eco-Pots are the answer. They reuse plastic nursery pots to keep them out of landfills and they are filled with potting soil and planted with vegetables.
6. The Melon Colony – a test project to grow watermelons. If successful, the melons will begin colonizing schools across Calgary next year. It’s a fun way to introduce kids to growing food and teaching them to care for plants.
7. The Planting of the Red Sea – get a group of loyal fans together and plant red flowers in a public space to show your support for your Flames.
Minutes of May 23rd Meeting
Meeting attended by Alex Summerfield, Sheila Ford, Alma Newton, Joan Liland, and Maeve Bard (first part). Regrets Lorna McKenzie.
1. Calgary Attendance will be at the garden on May 28/09. Joan will be there at 9:00 AM to show them what to do. Sheila will relieve Joan at noon. Jobs for the volunteers include:
• Dig and transplant raspberries to replace dead plants at the back of the property.
• Transplant rhubarb to plot behind the dumpster.
• Move the dirt from the pile to fill in low spots on the path and spread it evenly in the old raspberry bed.
• Weeding between beds.
2. Alex will try a test strip of clover as ground cover by the raspberries.
3. Alex is attending the community garden sessions with the library.
4. Alex is working with the Drop-InIn centre to plant the beds by village square. Telus has been applied to for volunteers to come plant on Sat. May 30th.
5. Alma presented her idea for a blog. Agreed. The blog will accessible to all gardeners. The blog will provide general information for gardeners, a calendar of events and links to other sites such Calgary Horticulture Association and Community Garden Resource Network. The blog could also be used for Surveys. Alma has volunteered to manage the blog.
6. Volunteer hours need to be recorded as this is useful when applying for grants.
7. Alma will work on a logo design for the garden.
8. Joan and Alma have come up with a mission statement: Building fellowship through community gardening.
9. Alma knows someone who is willing to donate perennials if we can come dig them up.
1. Calgary Attendance will be at the garden on May 28/09. Joan will be there at 9:00 AM to show them what to do. Sheila will relieve Joan at noon. Jobs for the volunteers include:
• Dig and transplant raspberries to replace dead plants at the back of the property.
• Transplant rhubarb to plot behind the dumpster.
• Move the dirt from the pile to fill in low spots on the path and spread it evenly in the old raspberry bed.
• Weeding between beds.
2. Alex will try a test strip of clover as ground cover by the raspberries.
3. Alex is attending the community garden sessions with the library.
4. Alex is working with the Drop-InIn centre to plant the beds by village square. Telus has been applied to for volunteers to come plant on Sat. May 30th.
5. Alma presented her idea for a blog. Agreed. The blog will accessible to all gardeners. The blog will provide general information for gardeners, a calendar of events and links to other sites such Calgary Horticulture Association and Community Garden Resource Network. The blog could also be used for Surveys. Alma has volunteered to manage the blog.
6. Volunteer hours need to be recorded as this is useful when applying for grants.
7. Alma will work on a logo design for the garden.
8. Joan and Alma have come up with a mission statement: Building fellowship through community gardening.
9. Alma knows someone who is willing to donate perennials if we can come dig them up.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Growing Food for the First Time Part 2: Raising Fruit and Herbs in Calgary
Wednesday June 3, 2009
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Scarboro Community Hall
1727 - 14 Avenue SW
Parking is free, transit is nearby and there is wheelchair access.
Join master gardener and organic market gardener, Elaine Rude, to learn how to grow organic herbs and fruit in Calgary.
Elaine has extensive experience with hardy varieties of fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, native plants, water-wise food gardening and high-yield intensive planting methods.
This workshop is designed for community gardeners new to growing fruit and herbs and covers garden preparation, soil amending, getting the most from your garden and individual fruit and herb varieties that thrive in Calgary.
A suggested donation of $5 is requested for this educational workshop. Light refreshments will be provided.
RSVP by Monday June 1, 2009 to communitygardens@calhort.org or 403-287-3469
ext 227.
In the event that you are not able to attend, please cancel your reservation to accommodate gardeners on the waiting list.
This workshop is made possible by the Community Garden Resource Network (a project supported by The Calgary Horticultural Society, The Calgary Foundation and evergreen).
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Scarboro Community Hall
1727 - 14 Avenue SW
Parking is free, transit is nearby and there is wheelchair access.
Join master gardener and organic market gardener, Elaine Rude, to learn how to grow organic herbs and fruit in Calgary.
Elaine has extensive experience with hardy varieties of fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, native plants, water-wise food gardening and high-yield intensive planting methods.
This workshop is designed for community gardeners new to growing fruit and herbs and covers garden preparation, soil amending, getting the most from your garden and individual fruit and herb varieties that thrive in Calgary.
A suggested donation of $5 is requested for this educational workshop. Light refreshments will be provided.
RSVP by Monday June 1, 2009 to communitygardens@calhort.org or 403-287-3469
ext 227.
In the event that you are not able to attend, please cancel your reservation to accommodate gardeners on the waiting list.
This workshop is made possible by the Community Garden Resource Network (a project supported by The Calgary Horticultural Society, The Calgary Foundation and evergreen).
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
An update
I met with Child and Youth Friendly Calgary this morning and they seem quite enthusiastic about getting kids out to the garden to volunteer. They've been looking for environment-related volunteering opportunities so we fit the bill nicely. I'm signing us up for a crew of 6 kids on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons from July onward. I can be there for those times and if some of you can be there as well, that would be fantastic. This is something we can sign up for every year and we can vary the time and frequency to suit. Should help keep the weeds down and keep thing watered. :o)
I called the Calgary Attendance Centre. John Lee, the person who does their booking is away until May 26th. I'm trying to reach someone else sooner and left a message. I'll try to get crews out for June.
I picked up some herb donations from greengate yesterday. I'll get them to the garden as soon as we get past the -2 predicted for the next little while. I'll likely drop off the sweetpea seeds by Thursday if not sooner. In case you're curious, we got the following: thyme, tri-colour sage, rosemary, oregano, French Taragon and pineapple sage. I haven't put in our big donation request to greengate yet (the one that includes all the seedlings for planting the Leisure Centre) so if there's any other herbs you can think of that you would like to have, please let me know.
I called the Calgary Attendance Centre. John Lee, the person who does their booking is away until May 26th. I'm trying to reach someone else sooner and left a message. I'll try to get crews out for June.
I picked up some herb donations from greengate yesterday. I'll get them to the garden as soon as we get past the -2 predicted for the next little while. I'll likely drop off the sweetpea seeds by Thursday if not sooner. In case you're curious, we got the following: thyme, tri-colour sage, rosemary, oregano, French Taragon and pineapple sage. I haven't put in our big donation request to greengate yet (the one that includes all the seedlings for planting the Leisure Centre) so if there's any other herbs you can think of that you would like to have, please let me know.
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