Volunteer Appreciation

Greater Victoria Green (dream) Team

Not even 60km/hr winds & rain could stop us from working in the garden today! What a pleasure to work alongside the crew from the ‪#‎greatervictoriagreenteam‬. A hardworking and environmentally couscious group indeed. Drop me a line if you'd like to hear more about the organization- they do great things for this city!
Today we planted a King Fig, 3 Evergreen Huckleberries & 2 currents, as well as tidied up existing cages & checked for invasive species. Stay tuned for pictures...

Spring Planting begins

A little spring planting to kick off the week. The green thumbs of Moss Rock planted peas, strawberries and a lone kale at the food forest today. If sheer enthusiasm makes for a strong seedling, these plants are set! Thank you Moss Rock Preschool!

More Mulch!

We hope you're enjoying the cherry blossoms! If you've been by the garden lately, you may have noticed a large portion has been sheet mulched, thanks to the hard work of volunteers on February 13th. It's going to take a big push to get the rest of the area sheet mulched, but fortunately we've been approached by the Greater Victoria Green Team who would like to help out. Hurray! This is an exiting opportunity to work with a great organization. We've decided to cancel the March 12th work party in the hopes that we can concentrate our efforts on under plantings & pathways in April (April 23rd 10-1pm to be exact!). 

If you're itching to get in the garden before then, or would like to help out with the Greater Victoria Green Team work party, please email me & we'll make it happen. 

A reminder: for most current happenings & news, please "like" us on Facebook. 

Thank you!

"The Big Thank you"

A huge thank you to everybody who showed up to the work party today. 

"The Big Mulch" went quickly thanks to a very hardworking group, cooperative weather & an early morning mulch delivery from the city. We were delighted to work with a group of students from Glenlyon Norfolk School. The mountain of mulch felt small in the midst of this enthusiastic bunch!

This morning a large portion of the west side was sheet mulched, as well as a bit of clean up on the east side. Holes were marked for the remaining plants, and irrigation plans revised. The plan is to continue sheet mulching on the west side on MARCH 12th (9-12pm) and again in April. We'll be ready to plant too!

Save the date...

The Fairfield Food Forest is ready for some love. We'll send out reminders for each work party but if you like to book things into your calendar, here you go!

*Saturday February 13th "The Big Mulch"*
9-12pm
This is a party to move what we hope will be a mountain of mulch. High protein snacks will be provided! Please bring water & gloves if you have them (we'll have extra pairs).

*Saturday March 12th "Pathways & Pollinators"*
9-12pm
This party will be a continuation of the mulching session, with a focus on delineating pathways along the garden. We can disuse adding more plants to attract pollinators & make a wish list for the "planting party" to come. Please bring water & gloves if you have them (we'll have a few extra pairs). Snacks will be provided.

*Saturday April 23th "Plants & Animals"*
9-12pm
This work party will focus on getting the remaining plants planted, the existing plants fed, as well as adding a few annual understory plantings that come our way. We'll also install a few cages to keep our animal friends away from our tender plantings. Please bring water & gloves if you have them (we'll have a few extra pairs). Snacks will be provided.

Thank you for your ongoing interest & support in the garden!

Soil Sample Sunday

Soil samples off to the lab- now it's time to plan for the big mulching party on February 13th 9-12pm.

Goji lives on...

This week our Moss Rock Preschool helpers discovered a Goji hidden in a jungle of grass. They carefully weeded, then covered the area in layers of newsprint and finally tucked the Goji in for the winter. Thank you Moss Rock!

In other news, we were hoping to have a leaf mulch delivery but the ground was too saturated to hold the weight of the truck. We'll send out an email for a work bee early in the new year that will focus on moving mulch by wheelbarrow instead. Stay tuned!

Frosty mornings, sunny afternoons.

What a difference a few hours can make. The Food Forest at 8:30 am and again at 11. Thank you Geoff Johnson for the consultation in the garden on Saturday. The plants are thriving and we have more to come for 2016!

Growing in the City

Meeting notes

After a successful meeting last Thursday, we are feeling inspired for 2016 at the Fairfield Food Forest! We are looking forward to evolving the role of the forest as an educational tool, as well as increasing community engagement through group workshops, building on last years work party success, and working on infrastructure with benches and a tool shed among the top priorities. So much to look forward to in the upcoming year. Thank you to everyone who attended, and who is interested in this project. 

Meeting- Fairfield Food Forest November 19th 7-9pm

Please join us November 19th from 7-9pm at the FGCA for tea and dessert, and help us dream up plans for 2016. Whether you’re new to the group or have been before, this meeting will be a valuable opportunity to meet and discuss ideas, ask questions and get to know each other. If you know you can make it, we’d love to hear from you. Please email fairifieldcommunitygardens@gmail.com to RSVP, or just show up- either way, we’d love to see you there.

Inspired by Nathalie

Last night's Food For Thought presentation featured Nathalie Chambers, author of "Saving Farmland: The Fight for Real Food". She spoke passionately about food systems, food security, bees, and community as well as her journey with her husband David, to take over Madrona Farms. To say her presentation was inspiring would be a understatement. So often these discussions can leave you feeling boggled and helpless, but this was not the case. If you have a chance to read her book or speak with Nathalie, do it! The discussion that followed amongst the Fairfield Gonzales community was insightful and shed light on food security issues we can tackle together. Interested in the topic of Food Security? Stay in the loop with Streetlife's Food For Thought Series. The next event will be on December 6th, 7-9pm.

Moss Rock in the Garden

Another successful Monday work-bee took place this week, thanks to the eager participants at Moss Rock Preschool. During their first work party, I asked if there were any plants they'd like to have more of, and strawberries came up. Kids have the advantage of being able to easily reach through the deer cages and clutch fruit ripe for the pickings. No strawberry goes uneaten in this garden, and it looks like it will stay that way. On Monday, we planted a couple of strawberry plants, tidied up the mulch, pulled weeds (though the ground was a bit too wet after the downpour on the weekend) and observed mushrooms of every shape, size and colour. Thank you Moss Rock!

Food For Thought- Sunday Nov 8th

Interested in food security in our community? Check out "Food For Thought" on November 8th (7-9pm, Garry Oak Room) with Nathalie Chambers, local author of "Saving Farmland: the Fight for Real Food". I happen to have this book on my nightstand at the moment, and it is a gem. You can read more about the book here. Hope to see you there!

Moss Rock in the Garden

On Monday I had the pleasure of working with a group of Moss Rock Preschool children in the garden. A spontaneous work party was born as I set out to plant a few herbs we decided were better off in the ground than overwintering in pots. This work party saw the planting of another Lemon Balm plant, as well as 3 Nettle plants. Not only were the children able to dig, collect worms, pull weeds and mulch, they were able to learn about plants that need to be handled with care. I was delighted by their enthusiasm and curiosity, as well as their knowledge of the space gathered through daily treks to the nearby playground in Porter Park. To top things off, the final crop of Evergreen Huckleberries was gleaned by these helpers- well earned, to say the least. Thank you Moss Rock!

Fungi in the Forest

Fall Fair glimmers in the background… it was a lovely afternoon. Thank you to FGCA, all of the hard working volunteers for hosting this event and the community for showing up and celebrating. 

Fall Fairfield

Could there be a more perfect day for Fall Fair? Stop by and say "hello" and pick up a scavenger hunt egg carton while you're at it! The festivities run from 1-5 today. We hope to see you there!

What a productive afternoon at the garden. We managed to trim the grass, continue our sheet mulching journey, prune the Olallieberry and tidy up the place. A heartfelt thank you to our volunteers who worked so hard- you spent the driest part of this Sunday lending a hand! We managed to pack up just in time for the big rain (which will help settle the mulch) and made it home in time for dinner.