Sun. Aug 18- Shared Meal-Shared Stories

Neighbours:

Please RSVP by August 15th by e-mailing Jenn:  salsburypark2019@gmail.com

Let us know what favorite or cultural potluck dish you can bring to share.

Or we need  salad or potato or noodle/pasta or rice dishes.

Details at website cited below on poster.   Please bring your own blanket or chairs to sit on.  There are only a few park benches and no washroom facilities.

Also bring your own plate or bowl or cutlery to be more Eco-friendly.

Itinerary-in-Transit:

Saeid Kooshki, cultural musician will be performing on his own and Michel & Mike as a musical pair will play in the background. (Sorry no harpist this year)

 

Saeid

Michel (left), Mike (right)

 

At Salsbury Park this year due to designated location by neighbourhood small grant.

Michael at the BBQ 2017 garden party and mom, Flora helping out!

Updated Aug. 4, 2019.

The Salsbury Park link is at:

https://salsburypark2019.home.blog/

 

 

 

A different small Grant: Upcoming Salmon Picnic, Bannocks, Greens & Sharing Stories TBA 2019

 

Hi Neighbours:

Two of us received a neighbourhood small grant on the Kiwassa side of Commercial (so two blocks from the Woodland-Grandview Garden Community) to engage our First Nation neighbours to learn about their stories.  We are working on a few details and will be updating the post here due to a number of gardeners living in this area.  Salsbury Park located at 1806 Adanac (along the Bike Path) is a strong possibility.  The city says it’s categorized as an undersigned park site so generally under 150 is permissible for a picnic without a permit or rental but best to get one in case a few families need it also for that same day.

Chef Archie from Aboriginal Friendship Centre will prepare the salmon for this event at their facilities (i.e., not off-site) so as soon as we find a location and finalize details, we’ll post and promote the Picnic.  Also, in the meantime, we’ll be sourcing some great bannock makers or bakers.

Originally, the location was to be at the building which had a fire in Dec. 2017 on Frances Street near the Drive but there has been some changes in the repairs and likely to be replaced so no tenants returning.  We will endeavour to let Native Housing know so that the former neighbours can be part of this shared feast.

Updated on June 4, 2019.

In the meantime, there are a number of celebrations in East Vancouver worth checking out.

June 21st, 2019.  See Trout Lake postings for National Aboriginal Day!

National Indigenous Peoples Day in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland

 

Upcoming Open House – Sun. Sept 10th

Highlights:

Open House – in English for now and hoping for some gardeners or friends who speak other language to help with interpretations or translations.  Rain or shine?

Thank you to Vancouver Foundations for the three grants awarded to six applicants for both hoods on the west and east side of The Drive.  Many thanks for the regular volunteers who work behind the scenes for many years without much recognition.

The new members appreciate the years of the pioneers who recruited funds, resources, and volunteers to be join a great community garden with a waiting time of 2 years.

Some activities in the making…

Food & Drinks – Samples from our herb gardens of our member, Min growing the abundant shiso plant  (green perilla mint) for some Korean dishes she plans to prepare for the Special Open House day.  Also, Eden Chan from Eternal Abundance Organic Cafe & Grocer, will be present to prepare some  (brown rice) grains or pasta samples using different herbs and dressings or sauces.  Lemonade (using herbs) too!  Yoo-mi is sharing her black and red currant syrup she made and she says that can be mixed into some carbonated water or drinks.  We will be featuring our Currant berry drink here.

Extra harvests?  We can make salsa or marinara sauce if tomatoes or tomatillos are donated from the gardens. Elderberries are ripe for making jam or syrups and drying up.

 

Thank you to Siobhan (DIGA – The Disabled Independent Gardeners Association) who donated a lot of their tomatoes and veggies to our potluck dishes. They are part of the Sam Sullivan Disablility Foundation.  DIGA helps people with disabilities to garden and supplies garden beds, dirt & adaptive tools needed to grow plants.  She sends her regrets for being absence but work calls.

 

Tours – Still in the planning as our guides will be returning from summer holidays. Common areas & herbs tours featured. Danielle will conduct tours of the medicinal herb garden. We are proud of our pioneering friends who initiated Woodland-Grandview Community gardens. Flora and Divina will introduce the event with an opening to thank the Coast Salish people on whose land we tend and thank our Creator.

Music & Arts – Joshua Degroot, artist lives in the hood and plans to join us with his paints. Michel (co-applicant to the Culinary Herbs small grant with me) is the leading musician (wind instruments) who will be recruiting more.  Shalom hopes to play on her harp if it’s sunny.  Still looking for Jesus from Le Chou or Watari to participate.  I haven’t met him yet.  Ian Marcus from Woodland Grandview Food connections referred me.

Others –

Tiles Left – Linda Lewis will be setting up an area to have members complete their Tiles or help paint the rest.  She will have more details later on but she needs help to set up a market tent or just helper(s) to unload or load it. We are working on a backup plan for completing the tiles if it rains but we will still do the tours and foodie samples.

Cold frame Project – Tim Bonham is the lead applicant in this small grant and I am the co-applicant who will summarize our Open House event through two reports to Vancouver Foundations in November 2017.  He had started this project months ago and behind-the-scenes donors at work.

Starbucks will donate their used coffee grinds if anybody uses that in their soil.

Oh, I forgot to insert a map on the flyers so here it is for our guests.

Photography & video clips of our event:  I will ask people for permission if filming them prior to posting or using the media for the summary for Vancouver Foundation.

Thank You’s: 3 small grants from Vancouver Foundations for the Tiles, Culinary Herbs, and Cold Frame grants (under $1000 in total).  The proud regular donors (Tim Bonham, Flora & Michael, West Coast Seeds, Greenest City Grants, Mainland Ceramic & Tile, Eden Chan from Eternal Abundance, Min, Yoo-mi & Mark, Linda Lewis, Stef, Sarah, and the organizing committee) and all of gardeners.

Annual traditional chicken dinner BBQ buffet picnic & musicfest, Praise in the Park follows our events, 2pm to 7pm, with kids’ games, ice cream cones & refreshments served to the public.  Hosted by the New Beginnings Baptist Church on Frances Street across from the park.

Check out the fb also at Woodland Community Garden Vancouver

Sunday’s Proposed Stations – Tours

Station 1: Info Desk, Culinary Herb – Samples of Shiso herb in Asian cuisine (Korean veggie vermicelli shiso wrap, sushi brown rice balls) and Basil Green Pesto with brown rice fusilli. Currant berry refresher samples (made from our black & red currants by Yoo-mi). Our gardener, Min and chef Eden from Eternal Abundance organic cafe will be here to answer any questions.

Station 2: Linda (Yoo-mi is away) at this table to complete the numbers (tile) for each garden bed.

Station 3: Tim’s tour will include his Cold Frame mini greenhouse and growing Hops (test pilot for Off the Railway brewery, sponsor). That is Tim above.

Station 4: Danielle’s tour of the common medicinal corner and her wealth of tips can’t be missed!

Station 5: Tour Guide (Zaena is away) for common herb boxes by the shed. TBA

Station 6: Tour Guide for outside (public) common area and some history. TBA

Quick Update on Small Grants 2017

Highlights:

1.  Yoo-Mi Lee (& Christiana also) and Linda Lewis:  Small Grant for Number Tiles $480 for its 85 members.  First workbee scheduled for Sat. June 17th from 1pm to 4pm.

Location:  Hello World Ceramics, 604 E. Hastings Street (near Princess Ave).  Pls email:   lewis@telus.net to confirm participation or details.

Grant 2:  Tim Bonham & Jenn – DIY Coldframe Greenhouse Project – $250. Status:  Materials for Cold frame stackables in process of resourcing.

Grant 3:  Culinary Herbs – Open House Tours & Potluck Planned for the Fall. $250.  Jenn & Michel.  Status:  Preparation of different herbs grown in common areas and pots. Donations of packaged seeds by West Coast Seeds for Open House & gardeners of lower-income.  Signage, map charts, sandwich boards, and tip sheets in preparation. Divina, Flora & Michael to help with Aboriginal Potluck Planning and Sample Cuisines using Culinary Herbs by Min, Jenn, & others. TBA.  Michel and musicians to play during Event.

Spring 2017

Spring has finally warmed up and the gardens are green with plant life! Dandelions are thriving in the park – important as one of the first food sources for bees.

If you haven’t already, it’s soon time to get planting! A good rule of thumb in Vancouver is that you can plant most seeds by the May long weekend. You can also buy transplants like tomatoes from many local stores.

A reminder to all gardeners that the City of Vancouver requires us to tend our plots by May 25th. It’s especially important to get weeds out before they spread to other plots. Happy gardening!

Spring 2015

We are heading into our second full year of gardening! We broke ground in June 2013 and spent the summer building the garden.

Plot renewals are underway in March. In April, vacant plots will be allocated to the next people on the waiting list. Unfortunately the waiting list is very LONG! We are a small garden. But please come visit – we are located in a public park that is open to all.

 

Le Shed

Our shed is pretty special. Designed by landscape architectures students with oversight by a professional architect, it is a sight to behold!

We have nicknamed it Le Shed or Le Ched, because it is next to Le Chou, a community groups gardening section.

Here are some of the work-in-progress pictures:

Fruit Trees planted

November 30th isn’t a day that most people think of gardening…but when you have a bunch of fruit trees, you need to plant them!

Three members came out to help plant (it was cold and rainy but that’s what rainjackets and gum boots are for!)

All the fruit trees got planted…and just in time. The ground froze solid later that week!

See the action from that day:

     

May 2013 News

The Woodland Community Garden is about to be constructed! We are crossing our fingers that the Park Board will have site preparation completed by the end of May, allowing us to hold our first work party on the weekend of June 1st.

Our list of gardeners is now quite long and there is no guarantee that you can obtain a plot this year if you add your name to the list at this time. However, there is a better chance of getting a spot if you are willing to share a plot with someone else.

Today we held a picnic in the park to celebrate the impending garden construction! A great time was had by all, thanks in large part to the presence of the Carnival Band which filled the park with its festive music. Thanks to them and to all who joined the picnic!

Picnic at Woodland Park on May 18th, 2013

Ceremonial sod-turning at Woodland Park at the site of the new community garden.

The site!

Site of the new Woodland Community Garden at Woodland Park

In May 2013, residents of northern Grandview Woodland in Vancouver will transform 750 square metres of Woodland Park into the city’s newest community garden. The garden will include gardening space for approximately 60 gardeners as well as amenities such as communal gardening spaces, benches and walkways for all to enjoy.