Planting trees with NWCGS

On a very snow day this November me and Brennan, from The New Westminster Community Gardening Society, went to check out some trees that had been offered to us for transplanting. The home owners were remodelling their back yard and didn't want everything to go to waste.
I had posted an ad on the Shared Harvest website in the fall looking for trees and shrubs for the garden that is planted at St. Mary's Church on Columbia.
This garden, called The Mary Mount Garden, is the first of two community gardens started last year. It has 15 plots and plans to double in size this spring. The Shared Harvest site allows you to post if you are looking or have items for sale, barter or to give away. It is one more step in creating a secure local food system.

We decided to take some smaller shrubs, wood we could reuse to build more beds, some jasmine plants, lily's, five cherry trees and one magnolia.
We planned to do the work this winter, and on February 5th we had a work party!

We arrived at the home with a half dozen other members and the home owner. We dug out and moved everything quite efficiently. The owners also generously donated a bench and arbour as well as stones to use for building beds.

Ava and Brady dug for worms and checked out the beds back at the garden.

Mark and Brennan staking out spots.

Brady and Autumn are finishing up with this small cherry tree.
The soil was really beautiful here, there was even a lot of compost in the composter and we added some of that as well.

This was a really big worm, it was fully twice this size when we first pulled it out of the ground!

When the gardening society was still forming member and co-founder David Maidman had the idea to build a public orchard. Well we are one step, and six trees closer to that dream today!

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds.
A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy
reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.- Basil

Community Garden Harvest 2010

Community Garden 2010

everyone helped out

We built key hole style garden beds.

Things grew and grew...

Beyond our wildest imaginations!

garden meeting

Our first pot-luck!

Community Garden Pot Luck

Last Friday we celebrated our community garden with a pot luck. The New Westminster Community Gardening Society is in it's first year. We have successfully started two community gardens this year. After many meetings, fund-raisers and the hard work of many individuals the dream of a community garden is a reality!

The design came together under the supervision of some innovated individuals, this garden has 15 plots and the plan includes another 15 for next year. We also plan to have fruit trees and an herb garden.

We have been sharing tips and I have already learned a lot from the more experienced gardeners in the group.

We enjoyed all these different foods, the mayor Wayne Wright also attended! The pot luck was held in the church hall, this garden is on the front lawn of the church!