Seed to Sky - February 20 , 2010

Welcome to warm weather (sorry about those Olympics …). Some upcoming activities:

Pruning workshop:

· When: Sunday, February 28^th at 1:00 p.m.

· Where: starts at 475 Aubrey Place

· RSVP required – please email or phone Shamir at
604-872-7233.

Workshop leader ­- Laura Ralph, Head Gardener at TLC’s (The Land Conservancy) Eagles Estate Heritage Garden. Laura is
an ISA (International Society of
Arboriculture) certified arborist, and a volunteer Master Gardener.
She will talk about proper pruning techniques, providing us with introductory
information such as how trees respond to pruning cuts and so on. We will then
go outside where she will show us how to prune some trees! Depending on our
time and the weather, this will be in Surrinder’s yard and / or the fruit trees
at the church where our meetings are normally held.

NOTE that we will start indoors with the introductory information. Since the church is normally busy on Sundays, this will be at the home of Surrinder and Shamir, at 475 Aubrey Place
(between 29^th and 30^th Ave, just West of St. George). The
workshop is free, but you will need to be a member of Seed to Sky Garden Club.
Membership is only $5 per person for the whole calendar year. New or renewal
memberships for 2010 will be available at the workshop.

Space will be limited, so PLEASE LET ME KNOW if you intend to attend the workshop.

Seed to Sky Club meeting - Our first regular meeting of 2010 will be:

· When: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (second Wednesday of the month, as usual)

· Where: 4370 Sophia Street (Cityview Baptist Church), side entrance off 28th Avenue

· Guest Speaker: Heather Johnstone, coordinator of the Edible Garden Project. Heather is an
excellent speaker who will bring us her expertise on vegetable gardening,
particularly spring vegetables, early hardy seeds, container food growing,
succession planting for best crops, and soil amendment tips.

· If you can bring some items for the monthly raffle, that would be appreciated. Raffle tickets are a
toonie.

Garden Tour:

Sunday, March 14 starting 1:00 p.m. – we are planning an expedition to see the hellebore garden at Ray Beckhurst’s Jenray Garden Nursery Ray talked to us about hellebores last November. We also
plan to add another garden / nursery to the tour, if possible.

Plant Sale:

We are planning our second annual May plant sale on Saturday, May 8^th (the Saturday before Mother’s Day). Please check your garden to see what plants could be divided for
the sale. There was a lot of interest in food plants last year. If anyone has
herbs and mints for potting, those would be welcome. Also, if you are starting
any seeds and end up with extra, that would be great. Remember, if you need to
buy soil for potting up plants for the sale, you will be
reimbursed.

Online Seed Exchange forum:

The Environmental Youth Alliance, a local non-profit organization promoting healthy urban environments, people, and the planet, launched "The Vancouver Plant and Seed Exchange Network"
on February 20^th. Go to their website (www.eya.ca ) for a free seed trading forum where
local gardeners can exchange seeds. Diversify your gardens without having to
purchase new seeds or plants each year.

Happy gardening!

Shamir Bhatia