Dunsmuir Community Garden Group

Applications for New Membership  is CLOSED  until further notice

  Hello Dunsmuir Gardeners! Whew... we have made it through a challenging season and we wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season and want to extend our warmest regards and safe wishes during this difficult time. We still managed to complete an awful lot this year and the garden is looking fabulous! Many of us dug in to keep the grounds organized and tidy and many little and big jobs have been tackled.  Apple Trees We have Apple Trees! Our President worked together with both Vancity Savings and the City of Surrey to create our new APPLE ORCHARD! Yes!! Our awesome Apple Co-ordinators purchased an amazing array of Apple Trees and organized the planting. Some fantastic volunteers nurtured the little trees as they waited for the city to prepare the area. We hope that 2021 brings us lots of volunteers to keep our little trees healthy and safe during the coming season. When the trees finally fruit we will be all enjoying the fruits of our labour... terribly punny right? New Roof Some...

 Winter Inspection is Completed! Most gardens have been put to bed or are working hard at outputting some winter goodness! The Garden looks GREAT!!! Especially considering it's winter.  We will be re-inspecting the few notices that went out on the 24th. Remember if you got a note... don't be alarmed! Just fix up the little bit or email us and we can work something out. A group of volunteers goes out in this miserable weather and kindly treks through the mud to keep us all on track. If you feel you have received an email in error... just let us know. Sometimes Errors are made :) :)  Thank you for being a member of our lovely garden community! All the best & Holiday Cheer!

  Winter Inspection      The chill is in the air and the nights are coming earlier...brrr. It's time for winter inspection. Official Winter Inspection will be happening this November 15-16. Winter Inspection Criteria: West & North Paths Weed Free Garden Tidy Garden Weed Free Cleared of Crops. (EXCEPT winter gardening and perennials) Other:  NO use of paint or stains permitted in garden plots (exception is bird houses, but must be mounted on untreated, unstained and unpainted poles). NO chemically treated wood. Immediately remove. Trees & Shrubs must be in southwest corner of plot or else approved location by board, They should not shade or create damage or root problems for neighbours. They should not overhang onto paths. Max Height 6 foot 6 for Green Houses and must be pre-approved by board BEFORE construction. No storage of excess rubbish such as boards, boxes, plastic or metal Plot holders must remove their own garbage from the garden site. Thats It! ...

  Dunsmuir Garden Group         SATURDAY Day of Painting!         Sept 5 11am – 3pm Main SHED       Open to All Members! Please practice Social Distancing if you show up     Show up this Saturday to the Main Shed and grab (or bring your own) a paint brush     remember let us know via email if you  volunteered!   

 Whew... Are we out of the Weeds? Well our Summer Inspection has been completed and those not complying have received an email or a phone call. Re-Inspection of those plots will commence  between August 28 - August 31. Inspectors this year are gardeners who volunteered to step up and help out by checking plots. We really appreciate that you all made their job quite easy this season! Our gardens look great! Thank You!

 Summer Inspection      The summer growing season is in full swing! This is just a reminder of our basic summer criteria.  Official Summer Inspection will be happening this August 13-15. Summer Inspection Criteria: West & North Paths Weed Free Garden Fully Planted Garden Weed Free Perimeter of fence Weed Free Active Gardening In Play (harvesting, weeding, care taking) Other:  NO use of paint or stains permitted in garden plots (exception is bird houses, but must be mounted on untreated, unstained and unpainted poles). NO chemically treated wood. Immediately remove. Trees & Shrubs must be in southwest corner of plot or else approved location by board, They should not shade or create damage or root problems for neighbours. They should not overhang onto paths. Max Height 6 foot 6 for Green Houses and must be pre-approved by board BEFORE construction. No storage of excess rubbish such as boards, boxes, plastic or metal Plot holders must remove their own...

CARROTS So why feature carrots this week? Well... because CARROTS are great for succession planting. We all plant them and then have delicious bounty. We put a row in the ground, let them start, thin them out and voila... wait. What we often don't remember is that we can keep planting them every two weeks from Spring to mid summer. So break out that seed packet and repeat!   What about those little thinning carrots you have pulled? Those little thinning can be replanted! So don't just throw them out try thinning and taking the little guys to a new spot. How? Select a spot and push a pencil down about the depth of your little carrot sprout, pop it in and repeat every inch or so.  I will be trying this out next week... As it looks like I have a carpet of carrots growing in patches.

July In the Vegetable Garden Why is it time to pick your courgettes? ... Because if you don't they will become Zuchinni's... ha ha ha! Sometimes,  when I arrive at my plot I water, I weed, I harvest then… I fuss with something that was not on ANY to do list. I treasure that time, the absolute sense of peaceful purpose.  Yet, like every gardener, I am forever learning. I like reminders and refreshers so I thought I would look up what other gardeners thought should be done in July.  I also  explored what else we can be planting or planning.    Squash:  Nip off the growing tips of squash and courgette plants to encourage branching. Cucumbers:  train stems upwards instead of trailing over the ground, to make the most of the space available.  Aubergines:  pinch out the growing tip once they have 5 or 6 fruits. You can expect to start harvesting young plants mid- to late summer. Broad Beans:  Tackle blackfly by pi...

Spring 2020! Wow... it's been quite the start to the new season. Our gardens are looking beautiful! Please make sure you stay safe and enjoy your gardens responsibly. COVID Update: Please remember to continue to keep 2m (6ft) apart from other gardeners. DO NOT share tools. Our wheelbarrows are locked up as well as the community tool shed. Please do not wheel the green bins to your plot, they are not wheelbarrows. We need to comply with the NO SHARING per our city guidelines, we want to keep gardening.  Our AGM is still on hold. Other News: Our Spring NEWSLETTER has just been released! WE HAVE NO GARBAGE. Please take home your garbage do not put in the GREY BINS. This is not collected. Please do not leave things in the waste bin... I spy two car batteries and garden chairs... please take things you do not want home to dispose of.... don't dump them at our lovely garden. The Large City Bin is just for WOOD. WOOD ONLY. :) Please Sign up to Volunteer...we ...

Best practice guidelines for community gardens during COVID-19 Community gardens are a key component to neighbourhood food security. While we are in an ever- evolving situation, it is important that community garden coordinators, members and volunteers change the way we organize based on the most recent public health information. The City of Surrey encourages community gardeners to monitor the following resources for COVID-19 updates: ➢  City of Surrey ➢  Fraser Health ➢  BC Centre for Disease Control ➢  Public Health Agency of Canada Public health advice may change, so please check the above resources for the most current information to protect you, your family and fellow community gardeners. Keeping each other safe in the community garden Every person entering the garden is responsible for preventing the spread of infection. Here’s how you can safely tend the community garden: ➢   Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds ➢ ...

Hello Dunsmuir Garden members, There are activities this week that everyone needs to be aware of: 1. With the postponement of the AGM we did not have the opportunity to distribute 2020 membership cards so this Wednesday March 25 they will be placed in a box inside the small tool shed. If you wish to obtain your new card please look for it there. Please only take your card. 2.  On Thursday March 26 the City of Surrey will be blocking the road at our driveway in order to remove trees that were felled and bucked up some time ago. The garden will remain open but there will be no vehicle traffic permitted while this work is underway. 3. Please review the attached  Bee Announcement prepared by Bee Coordinator Dave Hoffman. Also, review Asian Giant Hornet Alert from the Province of BC. 4. Currently Blackie Spit Park remains open as does the Dunsmuir Gardens. Please diligently observe all precautions, personal protection and social distancing during this Covid-1...

Hello Gardeners! Please note the following two important dates: January 21, 2020 (Tuesday) the road down to the garden will be shut down as the city is working on some old trees. March 21, 2020 (Saturday) AGM! 9-12 at Ocean Park Hall (16th Ave & 128th street) Members Only Happy Winter Days!

Check out our latest newsletter! June 2019 Newsletter

Please share with your contacts! Due to a couple of withdrawals, we have two plots available to lease at Crescent Park Community Garden, located at 128th and 25th. Given the advancing season, they are available at a discounted price of $15 plus $10 membership in Alexandra Neighbourhood House (a $10 saving). If you are interested, email Neil at  communityprograms@alexhouse.net . Applications including payment will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. The only requirement is that the applicant may NOT already have a community garden plot.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN  for THE VANCOUVER MASTER GARDENERS | BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM STARTING IN JANUARY 2020 Hello Gardeners, If you are a beginner, a long time gardener or anyone in between, this course will provide you with a solid grounding in the basics (~ which even experienced gardeners will learn from), the most up to date horticultural information, resource material, contacts and a large gardening, environmentally focused network. We have heard many students who have been gardening for years say they wished that they had taken this course sooner as it would have saved them time, energy and money … given them more creative or feasible gardening ideas/solutions … very much shortened their learning curves … and corrected or improved their long-standing horticultural practices. We are facing new challenges in gardening i.e. climate change, sustainability, regeneration, smaller or no yards, food security and evolving ecologically sensitive ways to deal with pests ...

SPRING CLEAN UP!!   Saturday April 27th, 2019 9am - 1pm Time to Get our Hands DIRTY & BAND together to make for another SUCCESSFUL Gardening Season! You are NEEDED to Help! It's our annual Spring Clean Up! Please report to the Garden Shed Welcome BOOTH to sign in! Wear your gardening clothes and gloves! You will be directed to where you can help! You will be entered to WIN!!... what?? well an AWESOME T-shirt!

Hello Dunsmuir Gardeners! We cannot wait to see everyone at our:  Dunsmuir Garden Group Annual General Meeting , Saturday March 9, 2019 9:30am – 12pm Ocean Park Community Hall 1577 128th St, Surrey, BC V4A 3V1 The Homework …. yes… unfortunately a little pre-reading is required this year! To preserve paper we have sent the following documents for you to review before attendance. We will be voting on these changes. •        AGM Minutes from 2018 - These will not be read at the meeting. Please review. This will be voted on at the meeting. •        AGM Agenda for 2019 - This document will be printed out and available at the meeting. To be Accepted at Meeting. •        Fiscal Financial Report for 2018 - This document will not be printed out. Please review, to be discussed at meeting. •        Dunsmuir Garden Group Constitution -...