Campus Community Garden on The Dirty Hoe Show!

At the past Community Garden Open House, Alex from The Dirty Hoe at CJSR came out and made an awesome feature about our garden for her show! It includes an interview with myself, two volunteers Sarah and Dayna, Rodney, and Brian's demo. It was a great show and many thanks to Alex for producing such a great piece! Make sure you listen!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

The beets are ready!

Yesterday morning, a volunteer and myself harvested some beets in the garden. He did not know that you could eat the leaves as well as the root. I decided to look up a recipe for beets leaves so everyone can make use of the whole plant!

Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens

Robert Rogers for Tea Tasting!

We are very lucky to have Robert Rogers lead our tea tasting during our Naturalization Open House on August 7th. He is an extremely knowledgeable herbalist who will englighten us on the medicinal properties of native plants.

Robert Rogers is also hosting a Medicinal Plant & Mushroom Walk of Mill Creek Ravine on August 19th. Click here for more information!

Beautiful Moving Portrait.

At our Open House this past Saturday, we were so lucky so have Rob and Lauren, two amazing photographers, come out and shoot the garden. They were awesome and you can tell they truly understood the purpose of our garden through their photos. Here is a moving portrait which is just a preview of the photos to come!

U of A Campus Garden // Moving Portrait from Rob & Lauren on Vimeo.

Famous Salad Dressing!

Historic Garden Tours

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village is providing free historical garden tours where you can learn about planting secrets from the past, folklore, and visit with a settler.

Tours begin on the 9th running till the 18th.

Location: 25 minutes east of Edmonton on Hwy 16
Phone: 780 662 3640

Community Garden Open House!

We are getting ready for our first community garden open house of the season! The open house will take place on Saturday July 17 between 10 a.m-2p.m and again the garden is located on 89th ave between 110th and 111th street.

Come and enjoy some fresh produce, sustainable BBQ, meet our volunteers, participate in a few gardening demos, and learn how to get more involved with all of ECOS' Campus Gardens

Please RSVP here and explore the garden!

Edmonton Naturalization Site

Tomorrow we are heading to the Edmonton Naturalization Group's garden at the John Janzen Nature Centre to help them weed their garden. The ENG annually donates plants and their support to our Naturalization Site. Cherry has helped us with her extensive knowledge and Liz with her great landscaping experience.

If you want to learn more about native plants check out their website and learn how to get involved here!

If you want to join us, we are meeting at 5:45 at the University bus stop and taking the #4!

Question about potato flowers

Last Saturday, myself and some volunteers were wondering whether or not to pick potatoes flowers off the plant. It was suggested that by picking the flowers you can avoid diverting energy from the tubers. I have done some reading and it actually doesn't affect the growth of the potatoes. It actually indicates that new potatoes are growing and you can try to find them near the outer areas. Or you can be like Marie Antoinette and wear the potato flowers in your hat!

Naturalization Indentification

As we make more and more progress on the Naturalization Site, we can start working on the identification process. We are asking each volunteer to help us with the identification of one plant. We need the Latin name and a fun and interesting fact about the plant.

Here is a example:

Wild Blue Flax
Latin name: Linum lewisii
Fact: By afternoon, the petals are falling off and a new blossom will open the following day.

Click here for the list.

This is a short list since more plants are on their way from the ENG. Thanks to the volunteers who have already participated!

Watering Schedule!

Here is the link to our watering schedule.

Sign up for a day by placing your name in the volunteer column and when you will be there in the time column. There is also space for a second volunteer in case you want to go in pairs since extra hands always help.

Leave any information in the comment column to help us all stay informed.

We have lots of rainwater because of the weather, so please use it all up before using the hose.

Recap of Movie Night

Despite complications with the weather and multiple DVD players, Movie Night was a success and everyone had a great time. The documentary was eye opening and depressing at times. It made me think of all the other environmental movies that have been so ground breaking in the past. I found this top ten list that everyone should check out!

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Erin Brokovich (2000)

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

The 11th Hour (2007)

Wall-E (2008)

Planet in Peril (2007)

Silkwood (1983)

A Civil Action (1998)

Planet Earth (2007)

The End of Suburbia (2004)

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2006)

Heat (available online, 2008)

Flow (limited showing in theaters)

Movie Night @ The Garden!

We have an awesome event coming up at the garden! Its Movie Night @ The Garden and we will be screening the documentary called The Garden. Click here is a synopsis of the film.

The movie begins at 6 p.m on Wednesday June 23 at our community garden (89th ave between 110th and 111th street). There will be free organic popcorn and drinks provided!

Awesome Information about Edible Native Plants!

Cherry Dodd from the Edmonton Naturalization Group kindly sent me this article about native plants that are edible. Very interesting and something to consider when planting your garden at home.

ARTICLE... Edible Wildflowers and Berries too!

Welcome to the Blog!

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is almost July and our gardens around campus are doing amazing!



The Community Campus Garden has received a lot of TLC and therefore we have so much sprouting and growing. We have had many successful Saturday meet-ups already and accomplished a lot. Although so much work has been done, we can look forward to more in the coming months including maintenance and harvesting .

The Naturalization Site has finally got some attention and is looking great. After two visits from members of the ENG (Edmonton Naturalization Group) the site is looking beautiful. We are currently waiting for native plants and will continue working on the site.

Even though the weeds seemed like they had control, our awesome volunteers worked so hard at the Eco House plot and were able to weed and plant the plot. Our focus now is maintaining our plants and not forgetting they have to be watered.

Stay tuned for more events and updates,

Campus Gardens Coordinator