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