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. 

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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!