Newsletter April 2019

I know you’re enjoying spring – I’m not even going to ask. 

Gardening season is upon us and while you may not be putting seeds in the earth yet, I’m guessing you’re making plans to. If you’re not, call me, we’ll talk. In the meantime, let me inspire you with news of the Garden. It’s been a busy winter!

1. The AGM

If you were at the AGM, it was so great to see you! Thanks for joining us!

If you weren’t at the AGM, we’re so sorry to have missed you. It’s been ages and we’re dying to catch up!

Here are the highlights from the meeting:

– Srimal Ranasinghe from Sustainable Calgary gave a very interesting talk which touched on the benefits of growing food in currently underused spaces, improving community through a wide variety of revitalizing projects, and showed us some re-imagined spaces in Acadia & surrounding neighbourhoods. 

Take a look at the link for an inkling of the vision for the Anderson to Heritage project at http://www.sustainablecalgary.org/projects/2019/3/22/anderson-heritage

– We held elections and have some new Board members to introduce! Please welcome Melody Plummer to the role of Secretary and Linda Berry to the role of Director at Large. Thanks so much for stepping forward, ladies! 

2. Rentals for the 2019 Season

There are still 4) 4×6 beds and 2) 4×10 beds left to rent. Please take a look at the map below to confirm your name is on there and to see which bed you’ve been allotted. Should you have any questions about your rental, please email the Registrar, Fiona. If you have questions about your payment, please email the Treasurer, Bonnie. Thanks!

3.  Garden Opening & the Community Clean Up – all on May 11th

We’re going to have our official opener on May 11th which is the same day as Acadia’s Community Spring Clean Up (poster attached below). 

We’ve got some holes to dig, concrete to pour, and some general clean up & planting to do so for all of you who signed up for Building, Small Repairs, and Special Events, we’ll be contacting you with volunteer requests. Many hands make light work, especially in the garden! 

The veterans among you are already self-sufficient but we’d like to have our new renters come for an orientation at 1:00 pm so you can get your shed key, learn how the watering system works, and generally get the lay of the land. You’ll also get the opportunity to meet the Board, some of your fellow gardeners, and generally have a bit of a chat. It’s a fun event, rain or shine.

4. Row Covers

This year we’re offering optional row covers for your beds – either floating or hooped, as you like. We’ll talk more about this in the next few weeks so consider this a teaser.

5. New Additions to the Food Forest

We’ve got some new plants coming to the Food Forest this year including a Canada Plum, hazelbert shrubs, 3 varieties of grape vines, and hops. There has been some talk about incorporating a pear tree as well but that may be down the road still. You’ll also notice some new Food Forest signage at the opening, one of which is attached below. As part of our Vision to better interconnect our Community, we’ve received a grant from the City of Calgary’s Neighbourhood Grant Program which has allowed us to make this sign and incorporate some of the languages most spoken by residents of Acadia: Tagalog and Spanish. We’ve also included French, not only because it’s a national language but because we’re neighbours with École de la Source, a Francophone Charter School. Watch for more signage coming this year!

6. Education: Upcoming Talks & Workshops

For the 2nd year, our South Central Garden Coalition is presenting a series of talks & workshops called Garden On!

Super Seeds, presented by Janet Melrose – Calgary’s Cottage Gardener, happening April 11th from 7-9 pm at the Haysboro Community Hall.

Preregistration is required in order to obtain enough materials for all attendees. The cost is $15 and the eventbrite link is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/garden-on-super-seeds-tickets-57883151063

If you haven’t attended a gardening workshop before, this is a great one to start with. It’s a fun group and you’ll learn a tonne, even if you’re an experienced gardener.

Our Upcoming Workshops will include:

May 13th – Garden On: building Herb Planters – at The ARC – $15

June 19th – Maximizing Potential in the Garden – at The ARC – price TBD

7. 1st Annual Garden & Art Tour: a fundraiser for the Acadia Community Garden & Art Society

This is an absolute beauty of an event and the brainchild of Jill, our Volunteer Coordinator. Here’s how it works:

A. Think of all the amazing, interesting, bizarre, forward-thinking gardens in Acadia. 

B. Think of all the amazing, interesting, bizarre, forward-thinking art installations in Acadia.

C. Now imagine, for a small fee, receiving a map which located all of these gardens/art pieces for you, and having 5 hours over 2 days where you could take a self-guided tour of Acadia to see the sights and talk to the artists responsible!

That’s amazing, right!!!

Well, it’s happening this July and we want you to help us make it amazing!

Get involved by showing off your talents!

Refer your talented neighbours! Send them the poster or send us their contact info; we’d be happy to go and talk to them about showing off their spaces!

Volunteer your time! Buy a map! Tell the world!

Get in touch to participate Poster attached below.

8. Calling All Dreamers & Creative Minds: a volunteer opportunity

We’re working on building some Community Partnerships and applying for grants to access funding for upcoming projects. If you’d like to be a part of that Very Creative Team, please email Stephanie at president@growingacadia.ca. It’s a very exciting time for this Committee and the more Big Picture Thinkers we have, the better off the whole community is. 

9. Extra seeds and seedlings

We’ve got Gardeners already offering extra seedlings for transplant to any takers so I’ll put it out there now: bring all your extra seeds & seedlings to the Opener on May 11th. Trading plants/seeds is a great way to make friends and try some new things. We’ve also had a huge donation of seeds from Renee’s Seeds via Quick Grow Edmonton Trail so those will be available for the taking too.

And that’s probably enough for today. As always, if you have questions, concerns, or if you just want to chat, get in touch. We’re happy to hear from you.

Have a great weekend!

Joanne

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2019 Board of Directors

President: Stephanie Sweeney

Email:  president@growingacadia.ca 

Past President: Corinne Sandhurst

Email:  pastpresident@growingacadia.ca

Vice President: Laurie Vanderwal

Email:  vicepresident@growingacadia.ca

Secretary: Melody Plummer

Email:  secretary@growingacadia.ca

Treasurer: Bonnie Mellafont

Email:  treasurer@growingacadia.ca

Volunteer Coordinator: Jill Swingler

Email: volunteer@growingacadia.ca (or swingler.jill@gmail.com if the volunteer address bounces – we’re temporarily having trouble with it) 

Registrar: Fiona Thai

Email:  registrar@growingacadia.ca

Communications & Resident Master Gardener: Joanne Klein

Email: communications@growingacadia.ca

Web Designer: Open

Email: webmaster@growingacadia.ca (currently forwards to Joanne Klein)

Directors at Large: Linda Berry, Andy Poldaas, Dan Wray

EMERGENCY: Joanne Klein  mobile: 403-862-4789

General Garden Email: info@growingacadia.ca

General Garden Phone: 403-800-8365

Physical & Mailing Address: 332 – 94th Avenue SE  Calgary, AB  T2J0E8

Social Media

Facebook: @AcadiaCommunityGarden

Twitter: @acadiagarden

Instagram: @growingacadia

We also have a closed group on Facebook that we use as a forum and which you are welcome to join. Search ‘Friends of Acadia Community Garden & Art Society’ and request to join.

Notice: You’re receiving this email because of your membership and/or affiliation to the Garden. Should you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to this email and make the request. Thank you.

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