April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

Richmond Garden Club Volunteers wanted at Paulik Park | April member’s judged Parlour Show | RCC rooftop gardening begins Mark your calendars April 10, 2016: Gardens 2017 of Sweden and Scandinavia or New Zealand tour presentations, Austria Vancouver Club, 5851 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, 2pm - 3:30pm, free April 13, 2016: RGC Executive Meeting, Paulik Park Learning Centre, 7pm - 8pm April 24, 2016: VanDusen Botanical Gardens annual plant sale, 10am - 4pm April 27, 2016: RGC monthly meeting, 7pm 9pm, Richmond Cultural Centre, 7700 Minoru Blvd, Bill Terry, Simplicity, Serendipity in the Garden

President’s Message Eight years ago, Richmond Garden Club members had the foresight to adopt Paulik Neighbourhood Park. The Park sits on 6 acres of land once owned by the Paulik family. The Paulik family built their home and gardens in the 1930s with Irene Paulik as the chief architect of the 1.5 acres perennial gardens. The fundamental structure and character of these gardens follow the era of Arts and Crafts Gardens. Arts and Crafts gardens are known to be very informal, with a ‘wild garden’ look. These gardens use lots of local stone to demarcate the garden beds. Some of the structure has been achieved by rhododendrons, lines of boxwood and plantings that encourage different focal points and views of plantings. Visit this park any day of the week during gardening season and you will find volunteers up to their elbows in dirt. Richmond Garden Club members along with some

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April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

community volunteers continue to maintain this little gem in the middle of our City. Today we need to come back to the well. A number of volunteers are no longer able to garden leaving just a few hardy

All about the Richmond Cultural Centre The Richmond Cultural Centre is a vibrant community gathering place.  Located in the city centre, this accessible building is a onestop destination for several amenities including the Richmond Arts Centre, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond Museum, Richmond Archives, Richmond Media Lab, Performance Hall and the Rooftop Garden.  Additionally, the building is shared with the main branch of the Richmond Public Library. Minoru Place Activity Centre for seniors, Minoru Arenas and Minoru Aquatics are just across the open plaza that often hosts outdoor festivals and events.  Additional amenities include a community art exhibition space, two rental meeting rooms and a coffee cart.  Each year, the doors of the Cultural Centre welcome hundreds of thousands of visits which result in the kind of engagement and enrichment that contributes towards making Richmond one of the most liveable cities in the world.  Please drop in and see us! Judy Lo, Cultural Centre Supervisor, Community Services Division, City of Richmond

souls up to their elbows in dirt. Come and join us! All you need is your love of gardening, a couple of hours a week of your time - we have the rest! We provide tools, guidance and all the birds you can want! To volunteer contact: Jill Wright, 604.649.7428, email [email protected].

April Parlour Show At our upcoming April Club meeting, Wednesday, April 27th, be sure to bring in your pride and joys from your garden! Members will be judging on four divisions: Division A - any flowers; Division B - any fruits, vegetables; Division C - potted plants and Division D decorative. Let’s have some fun while sharing what you grow!

Richmond Cultural Centre rooftop garden Thank you to all the members who signed up recently to volunteer their time in the RCC rooftop garden. We officially start our work in this little gem Monday, April 4th. Sharon Birch is our coordinator this year. Any concerns, questions or suggestions please contact her at [email protected]. This early in the season, the work is minimal with only some weeding, pruning and cleaning up during your volunteer

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April 2016 Newsletter

Bill Terry, guest speaker, April meeting Bill Terry, author and former CBC executive, specializes in plant propagation. He also lectures on the Blue Poppy and raises these plants for sale. The Blue Poppy can be quite challenging to grown in our area, but hopefully with his guidance we can enjoy this beautiful plant in our gardens! Bill will be bringing along a few copies of his latest book, The Carefree Garden: Letting Nature Play Her Part. The book encourages us to work with Mother Nature rather than against her.

April 2, 2016

week. This is also a good time to prune back the lavender to encourage healthy growth this year. There are two large green bins for greenery disposal and a garbage container for items that do not go into green bins. Remember to always sign off in the log book in the tool shed for volunteers. Record what work you did and what should be done for the next volunteers.

Annual Mothers Day Plant Sale, May 7th In little over a month we will be holding our major fundraiser for the year! We should be well underway with our propagations, divisions and potting up our plants for the sale. As mentioned at our March Garden Club meeting, gallon pots are the best for presenting our plants. Make sure that the pots are clean, soil is free from weeds and all plants are labeled with type of plant and even the colour of the flowers if possible. Gary Lake is our coordinator for the plant sale this year. If you have any questions please email him at [email protected]. He can answer any questions you may have about your plantings. Make sure to avoid propagating invasive plants. Our customers are interested in edible plants too along with the perennials.

This should be a very interesting evening. Bring your friends and family!

A sample of Gary Lake’s contributions to the plant sales

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April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

Richmond Food Security Society We recently met with Anita Georgy, Executive Director and Dave Thomson, Program Coordinator of the Richmond Food Security Society. We are looking at ways that we can work together to raise awareness of each others’ organizations in the community. Program Coordinator, Dave Thomson, has provided us with an overview of Richmond Food Security Society. Richmond Food Security Society meets the Garden Club Growing up I was fortunate enough to have a mother who helped me develop a great love for gardening. Until reading Brian Minter’s piece in the Garden Club’s previous newsletter, it had never occurred to me that my definition of gardening differed from other people. For me the main focus of gardening has always been on growing food. This focus led me to study Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at university. I coupled my academic learning with hands on experience working at several farms. I now find myself as a Contact us: [email protected]

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April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

Program Coordinator for the Richmond Food Security Society. Here we work to provide healthy, sustainable and local food for all. We have a number of programs that are aimed at creating a robust local food system in Richmond. One program is the Richmond Community Seed Library which operates out of the Richmond Public Library over a number of dates from March till October. At the Seed Library anyone can sign up to be a member and then check out seeds to plant in their garden. We provide them with educational resources and support to help them be successful in growing and saving their seed. At the end of the season they can return the seeds to the Library and we will catalogue them for distribution in the next growing year. (Editor’s note: The next Richmond Community Seed Library is at the Richmond Public Library - Brighouse Branch - April 6, 6:30pm) The majority of the seeds in our Library are open pollinated, self-pollinating varieties that will produce seeds true to type. These include peas, beans, tomatoes and lettuce. These seeds can be reliably saved by people with little experience, in an urban setting. Our goal is to build a core group of people saving these varieties before we expand into other crops that are pollinated either through wind or insects. We have held the first few sessions of the Seed Library for 2016. At these events it has become clear that many people want to start growing but need some help and encouragement. There is a whole generation of young people eager to learn but unsure where to begin. I believe there are many members of the Garden Club who have the knowledge needed to help the people in the community. The Seed Library is a volunteer led program and I am currently seeking people with gardening experience to participate. I believe the Seed Library offers a great chance to introduce new members to the Garden Club and a place for current members to share their skills with the people who need them most. If you are interested in volunteering as a Seed Librarian please connect with me via email at [email protected] or by phone at 604-277-7377. I am excited about the potential for us to work together to create more beautiful, edible spaces in the City of Richmond. Dave Thomson

April garden chores: While the snow is melting in the rest of the province we are well underway with our gardens here on the West Coast. The following are some things you can do to get ready for May plantings! • make sure you stretch and do some exercises before gardening • start tomato, zucchini and cucumber seeds under glass indoors. Contact us: [email protected]

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April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

• plant swiss chard, lettuce, beets, parsnips, broccoli, carrots, onions, celery, cauliflower and cabbage • clip and tidy up winter-flowering heathers as they finish blooming • cut away old leaves around helleborus orientalis to expose the flowers more

Paulik Park in the spring! Weeds - ground elder, binder weed, horsetail, brassica and Japanese knotweed - are enjoying the weather and soil conditions in Paulik Park right now. What are weeds to us are food for people who love to forage in our forests for healthy alternatives. It turns out brassica and Japanese knotweed are some favourites of foragers!!! Brassica tastes great in salads, with a mustardy, peppery taste. Japanese knotweed tastes like rhubarb (only should be eaten when it is about 6 inches high - see photo). The challenge for foragers is ensuring that they are foraging for plants that are not sprayed with chemicals or that the plant does not have a toxicity level that can be dangerous for human consumption. We sometimes see people picking fiddleheads from ferns in the Park. These can be very dangerous to humans if not cooked properly. So while you are working in Park, eliminating some of these invasive plants, why not try adding some brassica to your salad or cook as a side dish or make a Japanese knotwood pie with the young stalks first pushing out of the ground? Look for recipes under www.eattheinvaders.org.

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April 2016 Newsletter

April 2, 2016

RGC 2016 Executive President

Lynda Pasacreta

Vice President

Sharon Birch

Past President

Christine Haessig

Treasurer

Janice Lake

Secretary

Margaret Sherwood

Membership

Janet Love

Speakers

Vidyut Aklujkar

Meet & Greet/Paulik Park Coordinator

Jill Wright

Parlour Show

Pat Walach/Joan Nielsen

Raffle Fundraiser

Lorraine Dowdall/Ruth Henderson/Donna Morin

Bus Tours

Vacant

Newsletter/Social media/Website

Lynda Pasacreta

Website/Social media/ Annual Plant Sale

Gary Lake

Refreshments

Joyce Burrett/Eileen Axford

Member’s gardens tour/ tea

Sue Cush/Gail Stoltz

Advertising sales

Maria Braungart

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Step up today and help out! Paulik Park gardeners: contact Jill Wright - [email protected] or 604.649.7428 Bus tour coordinators (2): contact Lynda Pasacreta - [email protected] or 604.275.2105

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