Digging Big at Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre: Mike Breaks a Pitchfork!

Thanks to all who came and volunteered at the BIG DIG. We were a small crowd so everyone had to work extra hard to get our plants in the beds. We were very happy to have Judy's Truck Farm and we checked out her Strathcona 1890 Urban Seed Collections, including the brand new hot of the press: Seeds for the Zombie Apocalypse!!!!! See photos of the seeds in stock at Homesteader's Emporium right  here. To read about how the truck farm came to be, check out Judy's blog.

Judy is a social entrepreneur in the true sense of the word. She is dedicated to creating sustainable communities and strengthening local food security. Check out her Strathcona 1890 Truck Farm Facebook page for some really juicy content. Judy will be attending Car Free Day on Main Street on Father's Day (Sunday June 15). She will be parked in front of a lovely store called Nineteen Ten. Check it out!

 This is such a sweet garden of microgreens with its own garden gnome.

We smudged the garden with sweet grass and lavender using a beekeeping smoker and thanked the ancestors before we shared the origins of our  own families before we started to dig. Our group's families came from Mexico, Europe, Central America, South Asia and Canada.

We had to remove the grass, take out a layer of soil, then loosen the soil underneath with a pitchfork. This was very difficult because the soil was dry, compacted and there were stones. It was so hard, Mike broke a pitchfork! Then we mixed in some soil and leaf mulch in with the existing soil, breaking up any clumps, and put most of the rest of the soil back in. Finally we could plant our shrubs. We sunk them in, tapped them down and put on the rest of the soil. Then we watered the patch. By the time we were done it was 3 pm. Hold on . . . that was only one quarter of the garden that needed to be dug. Time to strategize and perform triage. Thanks to Loree's quick thinking we came up with a plan and worked furiously to completion fueled by Madame Beespeaker's Flower Power ginger cookies!!!!!!

Some of us topped up the raised beds with beautiful black gardening soil, ignoring every safety rule about working with tools!

Herbalist Lori Snyder peeks through the community-built trellis made with artist Rebecca Graham. Rebecca is an artist in residence at Aberthau Community Centre where she is also doing a garden-based project. Check out her amazing project and fun community events!

A golden currant waiting to be planted.

Thanks to all who pitched in to get this stage of the garden completed. Stay tuned for the search for nine strong folks to finish the job! Ummm, anyone know where we can get nine strong folks to finish the job by next weekend? And a new pitchfork?

We are digging deep into our hearts to thank to our sponsors, friends, collaborators and partners: Figaro's Garden, Sunset Nursery, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, Tupper Tech School, Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant, Strathcona 1890 Urban Seed Collections, Lori Snyder, Loree Boehm, Susan Gillis, Hartley Rosen, Maggie Winston, Rebecca Graham, Jean Kindratsky, Erin Udal, Doug Courtemanche, Vancouver Parks and Recreation, ArtStarts and Walter Moberly Elmentary School.