Thank You!

Au Revoir Salt Spring Coffee!

Mucho Gracias Toyota Evergreen Foundation!

All kindergarten students got to plant their first ‘winter crop’ – flower bulbs!

These were bulbs needing to go to good homes leftover from the Grade 7 fundraiser so it bookended the classes nicely.  Thanks to PAC for paying for the bulbs!

When it’s sunny - pruning, pruning and more pruning as we put the gardens to rest for the winter with their blanket of leaves.  The leaves provide habitat for healthy garden life and protect bulbs and roots from frost. Thanks to Mr. Smathers help with raking!

http://takemeoutside.ca/

We have several more winter grains to plant.  We have donated soil waiting.  We have permission to place two of the planter boxes Wolfe students built with Ms. Ingram last year.  We have had a representative from the VSB Grounds Department as well as a School Trustee come to the school lately.  We have hired a landscape architect who will draw up some more useful plans for the garden area by the annex.  We hope to present these plans at a future PAC meeting.

Hats off to Salt Spring Coffee – they have generously supported the Green Team and the gardening initiatives at the school.  We will miss them on Main Street, but are grateful for their ongoing financial support towards helping educate children about environmental practices. 

We have also completed our Toyota Evergreen School Greening Grant Report.  We received funds to buy tools, plants, materials and get expert help.  Many Thanks!

Here's a great link about healthy schools, playgrounds and learning...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/how-kids-can-reconnect-with-nature-on-the-playground/article5617282/

Grounds Committee Meeting

November 8th 7pm at Julia's

To discuss:  future garden plans, grants, VSB Grounds Plans, Evergreen Foundation, winter crops, making a presentation about 'playgrounds' for the larger Wolfe Parent community.

info@generalwolfegardens.com

THANK YOU!

Salt Spring Coffee - we would not have been able to have such great work parties without the financial assistance to buy multiple tools to get the jobs done faster, and with a sense of community.

Master Gardeners Association of British Columbia

We added up the total Volunteer Hours for General Wolfe Elementary Garden activities - its 300 adult hours with at least 150 student involvement hours - not including Green Team!  That's at least a 500 hour since January 2012 project!!!!!  If we are considered as a Community Project, we would be able to get Master Gardeners to come and help us with their advice and teaching in the future!  Yay!

Note:  this was not a posed photo, really - it was everyone stopping for a moment after scrambling to get the last of the huge pile in the back naturalized classroom area.  Well done, everyone!

One Dump Truck Done!

Thanks to Shera, Lisa, Steve, Ben, Nina, Amber, Tamara and... a special appearance by... the SUN!!!!
The last load from the dump truck was spread in afternoon sunshine in just over an hour on Sunday.  Lots of cyclists and dog walkers stopping to chat and some to thank us for making the Ontario Bikeway  beautiful.

Where did all the shovels go?  Anyone seen the rake?  Oh!  They've turned into Nimbus 2000's and the CleanSweep Swift and are now part of a real life Harry Potter flying broom race :-)  Oh well, the garden can wait...

Let's hope the sunflowers seed themselves again - we've only planted this boulevard once with a few seedlings grown in classrooms yet every year many plants bloom from the seeds that have fallen... seed dispertion on a small scale!

Moving Mountains!

Dig In!

Saturday October 13th 

Sunday October 14th

4pm - 6pm

Garden Committee Members will be at the school helping direct compost mulch distribution!

We are augmenting the soil so it stays healthy and can grow plants.

Bring your wheelbarrows, shovels, pruners, tarps if you have them.

...and we love artwork!

inside the school 

and outside at Harvest Festival on Main Street!

Gardening is inspiring!  And it brings people together (see below :-) 

Spread the News! Spread the Mulch!

Compost Mulch Work Party!

October 12

October 13

October 14

Bring your shovels!

Bring your wheelbarrows!

Bring your muscles!

We will be having a wheely good time helping the gardens.

What is compost mulch?

Compost mulch is the broken down organic matter from your yard waste bins 

that the City of Vancouver has turned into nourishment for your garden.

Buy compost soil for your garden | City of Vancouver

This will help provide shade for roots, amend the soil so that more microorganisms can find a home there, which in turn will make more nutrients available to plants.  It also makes the soil have good texture and water retention.  Adding compost mulch to the 10 City of Vancouver Green Street Boulevards will help during dry summers as the soil is quite sandy.

In the back area, the naturalized playspace sits on hardpan - if you have ever tried to put a shovel in the back field, it is super super hard.  By adding a layer (it should be done every few years and we did it in Spring 2010) it will help keep the soil healthy for the plants.

IF you dig it, email generalwolfegardens@gmail.com and we'll let you know what time of day most people are going to meet - it's much more fun working as a group.

Thanks to Julia Stewart and Dawn Dunkerley who will be our representatives at the annual Green Streets Celebration on October 14th at VanDusen Botanical Garden.  Plant swap, prizes, its a city wide celebration of over 500 gardens that we are a part of.  There is a book in our library celebrating this gardening initiative that has been studied as an international success story!  You go girls :-)