Queen Bee Tea Event

Hey garden friends, you are invited to a fun and informative interactive tea party at the Riley Park Community Garden. It’s free and suitable for the whole family! We will be showcasing our new pollinator maps and Bingo cards. We will also be unveiling our produce library art panels. Delicious tea and treats will be served. Costumes encouraged: Be a bee, butterfly or bug! Wear your best florals and garden hats!

Activities:

🐝 Pollinator Bingo led by Lori aka Madame Beespeaker

🐝 Herbal garden and butterfly path tour led by Selina the master gardener

🐝 Pollinator art & crafts station led by Shahira, Family Support Worker

🐝 Unveiling of our art panels by Robin Hastings

🐝 Honey themed tea and snacks from The Honey Shoppe and Silva, Arabic Settlement Worker @ LMNHS

RSVP: https://signup.com/go/VfZUOKY

If you have any questions please contact info@RileyParkGarden.org

Food Distribution: July 16

Thank you to our food programs Yard Gardens and RPCG as well as UBC Farm and East West Market for contributing produce to our food distribution program to feed those who are food insecure within our community.

If you are interesting in volunteering with our food distribution team please contact fooddistribution@lmnhs.bc.ca

Cooking In The Garden: Middle Eastern Pickled Jars

We had a pickling workshop in the garden on Sunday July 18th. Thank you to Havris for teaching us how to make pickled turnip, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, and turnip jars! The celery came straight from our garden and the other ingredients were from the East West Market. Each attendee got to take home a pickled jar of their own. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the event.

For more workshops and events, visit our event calendar at www.RileyParkGarden.org/events

SGGS: Large Harvest & A Falafel Lunch!

🌱 Sun July 18, Small Group Gardening Session at RPCG 🌱

Another hot sunny day. The rest of the leek seedlings were planted out (totalling about 75) except for a few that are not yet to size. Celeriac outer leaves continue to be removed to help the stems swell, and more seeds were added to the roots bed which now contains beets, turnips, carrots and rutabaga. We admired the wonderful variety of squashes being grown on the straw bales, and marvelled at the size of the Tromboncino, already over half a metre long!

The harvest included a large quantity of blueberries, raspberries, tayberries, various types of onion, two zucchini, some small beets and carrots, potatoes, lettuces and a large box of arugula which grows wild around the garden! Our compost bin reached a respectable temperature of 115F (46C), so there is definitely microbial activity going on in there. New explanatory signage was attached to the bins today. After the gardening session, we enjoyed a delicious falafel wrap made by Havris.

A huge thank you to the New Horizon Seniors Program for funding RPCG.

SGGS: Harvesting, Compost Turning and Sweet Treats!

🌱 Wed July 14, Small Group Gardening Session at RPCG 🌱

We had two volunteers with us today who enjoyed collecting raspberries, blueberries and a few tayberries and strawberries. The first of the leek seedlings were planted out in their final position, there will be more to plant out when they are big enough. The shallots have unfortunately all bolted because of the hot weather, so they were pulled up and left to dry out in a covered area. Collard greens, beets and lettuce were also harvested today.

Two of our senior volunteers did an amazing job turning the contents of our compost bin, watering the bins after the current spell of very dry weather, and finally chopping a large pile of material in the collection bin and adding it to Compost Bin 1. The weeding continued in various parts of the garden and pruning of some of the perennials in the pollinator south border. The pea plants were cut down and laid on the ground to wither, thus keeping the soil moist and deterring weeds. We were treated to ice cream sandwiches and mint tea at the end of the session!

A huge thank you to the New Horizon Seniors Program for funding RPCG.