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| Rosemary, green onions, carrots, mango & avocado |
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| Cherry tomato seedlings on bookshelf (away from our cat) |
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| Green onions from scraps grow SO fast! |
Hello everyone. Hope you are all keeping well and getting some fresh air and moments in the outside world each day. Spring is here, and it's good to see new life springing forth everywhere.
What isn't happening:
- No doubt you guessed that the workshop scheduled for this coming Saturday April 4 will not be happening with things being the way they are.
- As we get closer to the May and June scheduled workshop dates, we will update everyone on what is happening. There is also the possibility of running workshops in July and/or August -- but no guarantees of anything in the present circumstances.
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| Overwintered kale transplanted from garden box |
- The UBC Teacher Education Office has also made the decision to cancel all Community Field Experiences (CFEs), and we will very much miss working together for these lovely three-week sessions at the Orchard Garden this year!
What is happening:
- Our Guardian of the Garden, Audrey, brought home all our UBC greenhouse starts and is tending them at her home garden. At whatever time we are able to have one or two of us plant them out at the Orchard Garden (with a very safe social distance between us!), we will do so.
- We received a small grant from the Jane Goodall A.P.E. fund to start a small permaculture food forest at the Orchard Garden -- and then all grants from this fund were postponed till next year, since most are dependent on school groups meeting. Nonetheless, we may be able to plant a few more berry bushes and fruit and nut trees this spring, to get the first level of our food forest established. Again, it would have to be a small group of us working in socially distanced ways to be safe.
- As we see what is and isn't possible this year, the members of the Orchard Garden team will let you know adjustments to requirements for the informal certificate of garden-based learning. We keep track of participation in workshops and will honour your involvement!
Home follow-up on Growing Food from Scraps from our March 7 workshop:
There's lots of helpful information linked and shown on Qiaochu's previous blog post on the Orchard Garden blog if you'd like to try this at home! At my house we are really thrilled to see the green onions growing almost as we watch. A sprouting turmeric root is starting to put out leaves, and half a package of cherry tomato seeds is turning into dozens of sprouts. I highly recommend this activity for some exciting windowsill gardening!
Warm spring wishes
Susan
