Butterfly Sighting in Riley Park Community Garden

Pollinator Week 🦋 🌱

We’ve had daily sightings of several species of butterflies in the garden this week. Master gardener, Selina, shares, "the pictured orange Painted Lady Butterfly is starting to feel like an old friend as she seems to seek me out in the garden now."

We’ve also had many sightings of our iconic Western Tiger Swallowtail, but the elusive high flying and ever-moving swallowtail have been more challenging to photograph.

Restarting in the Garden and Park

The Riley Park Community Garden is under stewardship of the Vancouver Park Board. We want to update our community on how Step 2 Restart impacts our activities in the garden and park. Step 2 does allow up to 50 people outdoors so that the number of participants at events can increase to 50, where previously VPB were recommending 10. Please note that the garden does require distancing and the numbers will continue to be limited for our activities.

 We - that is LMNH and the RPCG - have been asked that all activities continue to involve:

  • creating a COVID safety plan;

  • providing training for the groups/program leaders on the safety plan;

  • having on site signage reminding people to distance, use PPE and sanitize/wash hands and shared surfaces (e.g., tools) frequently;

  • having each participant complete a health declaration at the start of your activity by acknowledgement orally or by initialling a sign in sheet;

  • ensuring all participants are pre-registered so contact tracing information is available if needed

  • avoiding sharing food.

We are all in this together and will continue to host small group gardening sessions. We are adding activities for seniors and other groups on the plaza. If you have any questions please email info@rileyparkgarden.org

Be sure to sign up, join us and check our website for self-guided walks and other resources.

Pollinator Week

Madame Beespeaker, Lori Weidenhammer says in support for the Native Bee House, "We are establishing a comprehensive set of tools for educating local families about pollinators, including seasonal maps that show all of the pollinator plants in our garden. Our garden was designed to provide a feast for pollinators and birds as well as food for humans. We are passionate about sharing our knowledge and appreciation for bees, and we’d love to host and steward this lovely home for solitary bees. We can provide the bees with plenty of floral hosts for their larvae."

The Riley Park Community Garden Learning Resources page provides education focusing on 6 areas,1 is Pollinators. This year we have funding from TD Parks People to add a Butterflyway Map, Spring Map and Bingo cards and enhance the summer map. https://www.rileyparkgarden.org/learning-resources With Covid and pivoting more to digital engagement, we've provided self-guided seasonal tours, maps, bingo cards and activity packages for the broader community to learn about our local pollinators.

This week during Pollinator Week, Master Gardener and Butterflyway Ranger, Selina Pope is hosting rangers in training for tours and information sharing; we will film the “Follow the Swallowtail” in the garden (by drone); and install our native bee house we received from the Bee Conservancy.

Thank you TD Parks People for the funding.

Plaza Party

Join us Monday on the plaza. Let us know what you want to see and do. 4-6pm Monday, learn about Jane;’s Walk QR’ed; wall mural, participatory art project, pop-up share your ideas, pollinator boulevard, music and more. Covid protocols will apply. The square is co-managed by Little Mountain Neighbourhood House and Coco e Olive.

Eid Ramadan Event Updates & Resources

Thank you to everyone who attended the Eid Ramadan event and celebrated with us! If you were unable to attend, check out some updates of the successful event:

Our Arabic Settlement worker, Silva put together a lovely video of a tour of the Riley Park Community Garden showing the produce we are growing that is commonly used in Arabic dishes including swiss chard and mint. Check out the video below:

Silvana shared a presentation on our step-by-step guide for a DIY garden planter to grow fresh herbs that can be used in Arabic dishes. The container planter guide was created by Master Gardener Selina Pope. If you are interested in creating your own DIY garden planter, (a great gardening option for any living situation!) check out our step-by-step guide here.

Havris showed us how to cook Dolma, Middle Eastern stuffed vegetables, and it looked delicious! Silva also showed us how to cook Baklava with pistachios. Try out these amazing recipes with friends and family. You can find the recipes here.

We gave away 10 planters that were assembled by South Van Learning Centre and facilitated by Garden Master, Selina Pope! Thank you to all involved in creating the planters and congratulations to the winners!

A huge thank you to TD Parks People for funding this event allowing the community to connect, learn and build relationships by understanding and celebrating ethno-cultural diversity. Check out the other initiatives Parks People are doing for our community here.