THE GREEN SPROUT COLLEGE OF THE ROCKIES COMMUNITY GREENHOUSE December, 2011 Issue # seven UPCOMING WORKSHOPS Join our new instructor, Evan Davies from Beltane Nursery, for a series of interesting workshops that will be filled with useful information and helpful hints. Phone or drop in to the college to register. Introduction to Greenhouse Growing (2 sessions) Tues. Jan 24 & Thurs. Jan 26 6:30-9pm Introduction to Small Fruit Production (2 sessions) Tues. Jan 31 & Thurs. Feb 2 6:30-9pm Pruning Fruit Bearing Trees Sat. March 10 9am-4pm
PROGRAMS & PROJECTS GENERATIONS GROWING GARDENS The GENERATIONS GROWING GARDENS program finished at the end of June. This program was a great opportunity for intergenerational groups to spend time together. All young families were able to bring a variety of seedlings home to plant in their own gardens. Volunteers at TAPS built raised beds where the seniors were able to transplant their seedlings, harvest to take home and use in the meals prepared at the center. A SPECIAL THANKYOU to Darcy, Melissa and Karina for helping with washing mountains of pots and trays for us. SOILS FOR SENIORS The seniors from Swan Valley Lodge continue to come every Friday morning. They ve been busy transplanting, shelling beans, painting rocks and bird houses and washing pots. The rocks were used to identify all the plants that were used in the xeriscape garden at the front of the college and the bird houses were placed in the gardens at Swan Valley Lodge. Of course, it s a great opportunity for a little tea and a visit also!
CHILDREN GROWING GARDENS The after school programs were a grand success. The children became avid weeders, thinners and mulchers. We look forward to next Springs little gardeners coming to share their enthusiasm with us. A.R.E.S GRADE THREE LEARN TO GROW Adam Robertson Elementary School students were amazing little helpers who assisted in the planting and seeding of some of our crops. They also transplanted their own seedlings at home. They were able to surprise their families with running shoe sunflowers and little potted zinnias. In September, we were able to bring them some tiny tim tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries for their school snacks. We look forward to the next ARES grade three classes who will attend the program in the spring. GROW TO SHARE Despite the slow start to the season, the garden produced an amazing amount of veggies and fruit this year. The last of the raspberries were just picked October 26 th. We grew a variety of new crops; celery, broad beans, soya beans, root parsley, lemon cucumbers, and popping corn to name a few. The greenhouses still had hot peppers ripening in November and the sweet peppers were harvested at the end of October. The winter crops in the hoop house have all been planted and are doing just fine. We have been able to harvest weekly, taking spinach, chard, radishes and lettuce to the Food Bank and TAPS. Grow to Share is funded by the
CRESTERAMICS Anna, Redge, Ed, Tovi and Joanne joined us every Thursday this Fall to learn all about gardening. They transplanted, and seeded some raised beds in our hoop house for the winter growing program. They were also great helpers with pot clean-up, delivering food to the Food Bank and prepping some of our lemon grass for the freezer. In the Spring, they will be building raised beds on the grounds so they can have their own gardens to maintain and harvest. We also had a pepper jelly work bee complete with gingham lids to pretty up the jars. SPRING SEEDERS The Spring Seeders program was very busy again this year with over thirty participants and ended on June 10 th. The seeders put on a fundraising plant sale for the greenhouse, which was very much appreciated by the COTR Community Greenhouse. There will be significant changes to the program for 2012 as a result of increased educational programs being offered to schools, the Lower Kootenay Band, TAPS, Family Place and Cresteramics. All other greenhouses will be totally full therefore the Seeders program for 2012 will consist of all regular greenhouse volunteers, market gardeners and greenhouse staff.
THE GREAT PUMPKIN COMPETITION We had four compost bins that weren t quite finished breaking down this Spring so we decided we d have a pumpkin growing competition. We must admit that with all the projects going on, we neglected our plants a fair bit but when it came to the big weigh in, we were pleasantly surprised. It was a close race between Anita and Carmen for first place. The biggest pumkin came in at 58 pounds! VALUING CRESTON VALLEY WATER / XERISCAPE PROJECT In May, Marco Excavating started removing the front lawn to put in the dry riverbed and the pathways. A number of volunteers were here to help with laying weed barrier fabric, plant trees and shrubs, and spread bark mulch and crushed gravel. We purchased all our plants from Beltanes Nursery and arranged for the bridge to be built for the project through Evan. The Soils For Seniors group painted rocks to act as identifiers for our plants. Do come see the finished product, it is something to be proud of! A big thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help us with this project and a special thank you to the Low family for the loan of their tractor complete with their son Cory to drive it for us...great job Cory! The College of the Rockies Community Greenhouse thanks our main funder, Columbia Basin Trust and the following other contributors: the Town of Creston, Shell Canada, Electoral Areas A, B, & C for making the Xeriscape project possible.