Our September Meeting — A Farm Visit

 

Hello friends,

We’ll be having our Grandview Garden Club meeting on Thursday, September 14th, in person. And we’re doing something a little bit unusual this time.

We will meet at 5:00 p.m. at Katherine Oblock’s South Burnaby farm.

Katherine is inviting us to hold our September GGC meeting at her farm. September is usually a good month weather-wise, so let’s just hope the weather cooperates....

Those of us who have already visited her farm know how impressive it is, and since we didn't have a field trip this summer, this is a good opportunity to do that and also support one of our own members. 

Katherine says: 

Come join us for a fun & informative talk at Big Bend Urban Farms! Katherine Oblock will be providing a tour of this unique 2.9 acre piece of ALR land in South Burnaby, which currently has 8 different urban farming projects & a small community garden on-site. Once the site context has been established, we will learn more about the specifics of what Katherine & her husband J.P. are growing, how they are applying their values of land stewardship in this unique urban/rural/intensive agriculture environment & what they have learned over the past 2 seasons.

After the talk, we will each use fresh flowers from their field to make a small seasonal floral arrangement to take home. Please bring a pair of secateurs if you have them & a clean jar to put your floral arrangement into.  

The address for the farm is 4972 Byrne Rd. Folks can park on Byrne Rd. & enter the farm through a woodchipped driveway next to a purple shed with a red roof.  

A few safety / housekeeping notes regarding the farm: 

• Please wear closed-toed shoes that are good for walking on uneven surfaces
• There are bees & wasps on site, if anyone has a serious allergy, please come prepared
• It is a working farm with some hazards - please stay on designated paths & please don't wander into other people's fields
• We have a simple sawdust composting toilet available for folks to use if need be
• As always, please dress for the weather!

It might require a bit of car-pooling and bringing some extra chairs, but this will be a great way to round out the summer. 

Please let us know if you are coming at grandviewgardenclub@gmail.com— Katherine needs to know how many guests to expect — and if you need a ride or will provide a ride for others. If it’s easy for you to take along a chair or two, please do.

Cheers,

Penny

This Thursday, June 8th, Vicky Earle

 We’ll be having a Grandview Garden Club meeting this coming Thursday, June 8th, in person! We will meet at 7:30, at the 55+ Room at Britannia Centre, which is right across from the Info Centre at Brit on your left if you’re walking west from the Drive, before you get to the library. 

Note the time is 7:30! (There’s another Brit program in that room until 7:30.)

This month's speaker is Vicky Earle, a natural science, medical, and botanical illustrator. She delights in connecting people to nature through art. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in medical illustration and biocommunications, she moved to Vancouver. She has worked in health care for thirty years. She is now dedicated to sharing natural history stories that take place evry day all around us. Her goal is to help foster curiosity and an affinity for the natural world by encouraging people to follow their own art practice.

Vicky's preferred medium is watercolour on paper, occasionally using metalpoint and mixed media. She has kept sketchbooks throughout her career and began a dedicated sketchbook journal practice in 2014. To see her current projects and artwork, visit her website at drawinnature.com and follow her on Instagram @drawinnature.

She has recently published a new book Exploring Vancouver Naturehoods: An Artist’s Sketchbook Journal and she will bring copies of her book to sell.

Because this will be a face-to-face meeting, we will be allowing $4 drop-ins, so do bring your friends.

As usual, we’ll have tea and cookies and door prizes. Try to remember to bring your own tea cup and a sample of something from your garden that is looking splendid on the day of our meeting.

This Thursday (May 11th), Egan Davis!

 Hi Folks,

We’ll be having a Grandview Garden Club meeting this coming Thursday, May 11th, in person! We will meet at 7:30, at the 55+ Room at Britannia Centre, which is right across from the Info Centre at Brit on your left if you’re walking west from the Drive, before you get to the library. 

Note the time is 7:30! (There’s another Brit program in that room until 7:30.)

This month's speaker is the first speaker we ever had at Grandview Garden Club, the wonderful Egan Davis.

His topic will be "Plants that Thrive in Adverse Conditions”.

Gardeners have always grown plants in tough conditions, but with extreme weather associated with climate change there are more extreme horticultural challenges. Egan will discuss how to find solutions for growing landscape plants in the most adverse garden conditions. Rather than focusing on a list of good plants for tough locations, Egan will analyze principles associated with plant establishment and ecological systems.  

Egan Davis has a lifelong passion for horticulture. Currently, he is the Parks Operations Manager for the City of Richmond. As a horticulture instructor, Egan has taught the Horticulture Education Program at UBC Botanical Garden, in the UBC Urban Forestry Program and through VanDusen Botanical Garden’s Adult Education Program.As a horticulture practitioner, Egan has had leadership roles at VanDusen Botanical Garden, Park & Tilford Gardens, and in the private landscape horticulture industry. He is active in the industry on various committees and boards and has participated in local and international projects. Egan’s practical background and rich understanding of the plant world inform a unique and innovative perspective on the horticulture industry.

Because it’s face-to-face, we will be allowing $4 drop-ins, so do bring your friends.

As usual, we’ll have tea and cookies and door prizes. If you remember, bring your own tea cup and a sample of something from your garden that is looking splendid on the day of our meeting.

Cheers,

Penny, Moira, Christine

Penny Street

grandviewgardenclub@gmail.com 

Hardy Plant Study Weekend!

 

Grandview Garden Club Plant Sale, May 7th!

 

April 13th meeting & Figaro's Garden Workshops

 Hi Folks,

We’ll be having a Grandview Garden Club meeting this coming Thursday, April 13th, in person! We will meet at 7:30, at the 55+ Room at Britannia Centre. This is right across from the Info Centre at Brit on your left if you’re walking west from the Drive, before you get to the library. 

Note the time is 7:30!

Our speaker is GGC member Betsy Jones, artist and Master Gardener. Betsy studied Graphic Design and Communication Arts at Douglas College, and has twice been invited to Stiwdio Maelor in Wales, UK as an Artist in Residence. She will share some of her botanical art as well as her experiences in Wales, including her visit to the printmaking department at the beautiful University of Aberystwyth and to Bodnant Garden, an exceptional 80-acre National Trust property. Because it’s face-to-face, we will be allowing $4 drop-ins, so bring your friends.

We’ll have tea and cookies and door prizes. It’ll be just like the old days, pre-Covid!

Also, I received this timely message from GGC member Andrea Bellamy, below, and thought you all would be keen on some of the workshops Figaro’s will be offering this spring. (Apologies if you’re already on Fig’s mailing list and receive this info twice…)

Cheers,

Penny

Penny Street

grandviewgardenclub@gmail.com

Hi Penny,

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at my first meeting with the club next week, but in the meantime I wanted to introduce myself and let you know about some upcoming events that may be of interest to members. I’ve recently joined the team at Figaro’s Garden (a dream job, really, after nearly two decades in post-secondary education coupled with a similar length of time doing garden writing and teaching). Part of my role at Fig’s is to organize workshops, and we’ve got three coming up this month:

• Houseplant Repotting Clinic - April 12
• Earth Day Tree Walk - April 22 (Free; marks the launch of our new Waste-free Growing line of products* and the kick off of our East Van Tree Mapping project**)
• Small-Space Tree & Shrub Workshop - April 26 The first in a series of small-space gardening workshops)

*A line of products packaged in responsible, plastic-free (and in some cases, refillable) packaging. The 21 products include indoor, outdoor, and specialty potting soils; fertilizers and amendments; and bird seed. 

**Hartley, the owner of Figaro’s Garden, has had the idea for an East Van Tree Map simmering at the back of his creative brain for years. Think of it as a map of interesting, rare, and unusual trees around the neighbourhood — kind of like those Hollywood Stars maps, but for stellar trees. If members know of any outstanding, publicly viewable trees in Grandview Woodlands, we’d love to hear about them.

Thanks, Penny! Please share part or all if appropriate.

Cheers,

Andrea

Upcoming Events and Activities

Hello and Happy Spring (as of 2:24 p.m. March 20th!) —

Save these Dates!  If you put them on your calendar now, you won’t forget them.

Thursday, April 13th

Our next Grandview Garden Club meeting will be Thursday, April 13th, in person & face-to-face, 7:30, at the 55+ Room at Britannia Centre. The speaker is GGC member Betsy Jones, artist and Master Gardener. Betsy studied Graphic Design and Communication Arts at Douglas College, and has twice been invited to Stiwdio Maelor in Wales, UK as an Artist in Residence. She will share some of her botanical art as well as her experiences in Wales, including her visit to the printmaking department at the beautiful University of Aberystwyth and to Bodnant Garden, an exceptional 80-acre National Trust property.  Because it’s face-to-face, we will be allowing $4 drop-ins, so you'll be welcome even if you aren't a member for 2023.

Saturday, May 6th

Grandview-Woodland Area Council (GWAC’s) Annual General Meeting. Attend! Or you may want to run or could encourage a friend to to run for the GWAC board. See the GWAC Website for details. 

Also Saturday, May 6th

The Seed to Sky Plant Sale, 11;00-2:00, Cityview Church, 4370 Sophia Street (at 28th) – A great selection of plants, including perennials, herbs, and veggie starts. Cash only and bring a container to carry your plants!

Saturday, May 13th

VanDusen is hosting a small plant sale this year, 10:00-4:00, at Bloedel Conservatory Plaza at Queen Elizabeth Park, featuring food plants for humans and pollinators. 

Sunday, May 14th, Mother’s Day 

Grandview Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale will take place at our usual location on Rose Street. A large selection of unusual plants, perennials, herbs, annual flowers, and veggie starts. Cash only and bring a container to carry your plants!

Sunday, June 18th, Father’s Day

The East Vancouver Garden Tour of a dozen or so splendid private gardens in East Van. Tickets are $20 and will be available at Figaro’s, online, and through Britannia. For more info, email or visit the website.