Raking Leaves

The Wolfe PAC is the official care taker of the City of Vancouver Green Street Boulevards.
The annual party in October invites over 500 community gardeners.  Anyone is welcome to volunteer and help rake, prune, plant, sweep gravel or tidy up garbage on any day (since we all walk by it regularly :-)  Rakes are kept in the maintenance room and we have plenty to go around.  Even snowshovels work to keep the streets safe and teachers are welcome to bring their classes outside

Flax by Jack!

Flax is a seed we eat, and it makes Linen, a fabric we wear.  It is flowering in October
We grew oats, barley, quinoa and flax last summer!

Self Seeding Sunflowers

This boulevard was planted in 2010 as part of a living birthday cake when Wolfe turned 100 years old

Did you know?
Sunflowers are actually dozens of actual flowers, all gathered together in a group.  The outside petals are striped as they are made from several flowers 'joining hands' to create a petal around the other flowers.

Every fall, they drop seeds.  Birds and squirrels eat them and drop a few seeds as well.  We have only planted this particular Green Street garden once, but every year, new plants grow.  Even in our dry summer, they were able to survive.  Perhaps we have a mystery watering elf?

They originally were planted from West Coast Seeds Music Box variety, 

a short, multicoloured sunflower with many branches per plant.

See the Bee

We have many plants near Ontario and 26th that are popular with bees and butterflies.  We have catmint, russian sage ("magnificent plant") and bulbs from VanDusen.  Up to 200 bees have been seen and heard here at one time.  Ask gently, and they will let you pass as they are quite focused on gathering nectar - their sugar water that gives them energy to fly and collect nectar to make honey.

 

Can you see the bee?

37th Avenue is the Pollinator Corridor, complete with an Insect Hotel near Hamber Secondary!

Watering Heroes

Thanks for all the parents and families that kept the Garden hydrated this summer.
There was a leak in the annex, and the VSB shut off the water, so the inventive volunteers brought water in wheelbarrows to the classroom planter boxes behind the annex.  Well Done!

Bee-eautiful Thanks to our volunteers

Thanks to the watering families - Wiedemann, vonDehn, Ahrens, Taylor, Dunkerly, Scott!

• We have flax, quinoa, barley and oats growing - beautiful grains to look at and eat.
• Peas and radishes are ready, potatoes are popping out and rainbow chard is glowing
• sunflowers are coming up strong and with regular watering will be great come September
• Pizza ingredients are coming along: chives, tomatoes, sage, peppers
• Pollinator friendly plants like borage and Phacelia are keeping our pollinators pleased

Did you know?  watering is important for plants to produce nectar.  Without nectar, no bees and without bees, no pollination which would mean no food to eat.  So even in dry times, watering plants helps our local beecosystem.

Last Friday Garden Club

Our pizza garden is still growing, but we'll have some already made to share with our keen young gardening friends.  Check out our tomatoes, quinoa, flax, peas, beans, borage, sunflowers, peppers, kale, radishes, oats and barley growing... amazing!

Last Garden Club is Friday June 12th from 3:15-4:15.

Pizza will be served to all Garden Club active members.
Other families welcome to join in.  

Bring snacks and have a fun summer after school social time!

We will be:

• planting the remaining seedlings
• transplanting apple trees
• digging holes
• working on signage
• moving wheelbarrows of soil
• and, of course, watering the plants and sometimes each other!

HUGE thanks to Laura McCann, our Master Gardener.
She has been at almost every Friday session since April, as well as in some classrooms
Thanks also to the garden elves who have mysteriously been replanting from the damage :-)

Summer Watering Families Wanted:  contact lisamscott@telus.net

Handy Person Wanted:  to seal our composters for the summer contact tamaraelke@me.com

Free Wood:  leftover lumber from our build is available.  Come see us Friday after school