Spring Cleanup Friday June 8Saturday June 98 – 12 noonQuail’s Nest Arts Centre5840 Airport Road
Bring your favourite cleaning and gardening tools and wear your favourite cleaning / gardening clothes. Most creative outfit each day wins a prize!
Your choice of jobs awaits you: weeding, pruning, mowing, garbage collecting and dump running and other outside jobs are the highest priority, but indoor window washing, and mopping are also available. Rags, sponges, mop, buckets, cleaning products, garbage bags, and hoses provided. Coffee time treats also provided.
Anyone with a truck or trailer willing to take items to the dump, please drop by in the late morning each day.
Thanks to SOAP Players for pressure washing and cleaning Big Blue on the Sunday!
by Heather Whittall, Oliver Community Garden Society
We’ve been hard at work preparing for our big Bloomin’ Plant Sale on Saturday May 26th from 10 am to 1 pm at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street. We’ve held a plant sale in combination with Communities in Bloom for the past 3 years but this year we’re flying solo as the Communities in Bloom competition is finished for Oliver, for now.
Gardeners will want to check out the plants and other gardening products for sale, as well as bring along some seeds for an informal seed swap on site.
This year we’re hoping to make the sale more of an event. We have The Gala Vanters lined up to play some live music, there will be a craft corner for the kids, food, local vendors, loonie auction, lots of gardening information and of course, lots of plants. The Oliver Ambassadors will also be on hand for the festivities.
We still need help with a few things:
First, we need plants to sell! If you’re digging in your garden and have plants to divide and pass on, send them our way! We’ll gladly take those extra perennials or bulbs. Rearranging and no room for that rosebush? Let us help you find it a new home. Please call or email us and we can arrange to pick the plants up from you. In-kind donations are welcome from local businesses and individuals who want to support this very “green” community garden project. It’s a great way to show your support of this eco-friendly group, and encourage more gardening. Donations of soil, fertilizer, seed, garden equipment, gardening clothes and accessories, or anything else related to gardening would be warmly welcomed.
The second thing is a food vendor. We’d love to have a BBQ set up selling hamburgers and hotdogs so consider this an invitation to a local service group to grab an extra fund raising opportunity. You can keep all the profits – we’d just like to have food available as part of the event.
by Heather Whittall, Oliver Community Garden Society
We’ve been hard at work preparing for our big Bloomin’ Plant Sale on Saturday May 26th from 10 am to 1 pm at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre, 5840 Airport Street. We’ve held a plant sale in combination with Communities in Bloom for the past 3 years but this year we’re flying solo as the Communities in Bloom competition is finished for Oliver, for now.
Gardeners will want to check out the plants and other gardening products for sale, as well as bring along some seeds for an informal seed swap on site.
This year we’re hoping to make the sale more of an event. We have The Gala Vanters lined up to play some live music, there will be a craft corner for the kids, food, local vendors, loonie auction, lots of gardening information and of course, lots of plants. The Oliver Ambassadors will also be on hand for the festivities.
We still need help with a few things:
First, we need plants to sell! If you’re digging in your garden and have plants to divide and pass on, send them our way! We’ll gladly take those extra perennials or bulbs. Rearranging and no room for that rosebush? Let us help you find it a new home. Please call or email us and we can arrange to pick the plants up from you. In-kind donations are welcome from local businesses and individuals who want to support this very “green” community garden project. It’s a great way to show your support of this eco-friendly group, and encourage more gardening. Donations of soil, fertilizer, seed, garden equipment, gardening clothes and accessories, or anything else related to gardening would be warmly welcomed.
The second thing is a food vendor. We’d love to have a BBQ set up selling hamburgers and hotdogs so consider this an invitation to a local service group to grab an extra fund raising opportunity. You can keep all the profits – we’d just like to have food available as part of the event.
Pick up great deals on tools, plants, decorative items, fertilizer, soil, and all things garden! Outside the Oliver Archives building just west from the corner of Hwy 97 and 350th Avenue.
On Sunday help the Oliver Community Garden Society settle into their new “digs”
Sunday May 159 – 11 a.m.Quail’s Nest Arts Centre34274 95th Street (across from the airport hangars)
Please RSVP to olivercommunitygarden @ yahoo.com or 250-485-2535 so they will know how many volunteers to expect.
Pick up great deals on tools, plants, decorative items, fertilizer, soil, and all things garden! Outside the Oliver Archives building just west from the corner of Hwy 97 and 350th Avenue.
On Sunday help the Oliver Community Garden Society settle into their new “digs”
Sunday May 159 – 11 a.m.Quail’s Nest Arts Centre34274 95th Street (across from the airport hangars)
Please RSVP to olivercommunitygarden @ yahoo.com or 250-485-2535 so they will know how many volunteers to expect.
Water Wise Garden Workshop & Trade Fair Saturday, March 26Workshop 9:30 – 12:30Tickets $10.00 at Beyond Bliss & Medici’s Gelateria Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)
Join local experts Eva Durance* and Kathryn McCourt** at the workshop and learn about the principles of xeriscape gardening, gardening with drought tolerant plants, organic versus inorganic mulches, efficient irrigation, water wise gardens, and easy care gardens suited for Oliver’s climate. Reduce your water bills by gardening and landscaping with drought tolerant plants. let’s help make Oliver beautiful and water-wise!
Seating is limited for the workshop! Only 50 tickets available. Get yours NOW!
and Trade Fair 9:30 -4:00 FREE and OPEN to the public, no limitOliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)
Lots of items for sale related to gardening and xeriscaping in particular. Visit booths for irrigation supplies, landscaping supplies, educational information, and of course nurseries featuring drought tolerant plants.
Reasons to Xeriscape:
■Reduces water use by about 50% compared to conventional lawns or ornamental gardens
■Cost saving when water meters take effect
■Reduction in erosion hazards on sensitive soils
■Eliminates use of toxic pesticides and herbicides
■Low-water native plants provide food and habitat for South Okanagan birds, butterflies, and bees.
■ Xeriscaping will survive restricted water use during drought conditions
■Water conservation helps to mitigate the effects of climate change ad development pressures
*Eva Durance, who grew up in Ontario, has been a lifelong gardener and interested in garden designer for over 40 years. She has worked as a xeriscape-naturescape designer and natural systems’ restoration consultant in the Okanagan for over 15 years and has given courses and talks in xeriscape and naturescape gardening for a variety of places including Okanagan College and the City of Penticton. In addition to advanced degrees in English Language and Literature, Eva has a Diploma in Landscape Design from the Institute of Garden Design in the United Kingdom, and courses in Restoration of Natural Systems.
**Kathryn McCourt has been gardening and conserving water since she was three. Throughout her years as a public school teacher, bookkeeper, freelance writer and florist, there was always a garden and it was usually in a dry place, whether in the Okanagan, Calgary or Victoria. Since 2005, she has had her own Summerland-based business, creating, maintaining and teaching about Xeriscape.
The Oliver Community Arts Council is a partner with Oliver’s Communities in Bloom through the Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest. For more information, contact olivercac@gmail.com
Water Wise Garden Workshop & Trade Fair Saturday, March 26Workshop 9:30 – 12:30Tickets $10.00 at Beyond Bliss & Medici’s Gelateria Oliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)
Join local experts Eva Durance* and Kathryn McCourt** at the workshop and learn about the principles of xeriscape gardening, gardening with drought tolerant plants, organic versus inorganic mulches, efficient irrigation, water wise gardens, and easy care gardens suited for Oliver’s climate. Reduce your water bills by gardening and landscaping with drought tolerant plants. let’s help make Oliver beautiful and water-wise!
Seating is limited for the workshop! Only 50 tickets available. Get yours NOW!
and Trade Fair 9:30 -4:00 FREE and OPEN to the public, no limitOliver Elks Hall (9725 – 360th Ave)
Lots of items for sale related to gardening and xeriscaping in particular. Visit booths for irrigation supplies, landscaping supplies, educational information, and of course nurseries featuring drought tolerant plants.
Reasons to Xeriscape:
■Reduces water use by about 50% compared to conventional lawns or ornamental gardens
■Cost saving when water meters take effect
■Reduction in erosion hazards on sensitive soils
■Eliminates use of toxic pesticides and herbicides
■Low-water native plants provide food and habitat for South Okanagan birds, butterflies, and bees.
■ Xeriscaping will survive restricted water use during drought conditions
■Water conservation helps to mitigate the effects of climate change ad development pressures
*Eva Durance, who grew up in Ontario, has been a lifelong gardener and interested in garden designer for over 40 years. She has worked as a xeriscape-naturescape designer and natural systems’ restoration consultant in the Okanagan for over 15 years and has given courses and talks in xeriscape and naturescape gardening for a variety of places including Okanagan College and the City of Penticton. In addition to advanced degrees in English Language and Literature, Eva has a Diploma in Landscape Design from the Institute of Garden Design in the United Kingdom, and courses in Restoration of Natural Systems.
**Kathryn McCourt has been gardening and conserving water since she was three. Throughout her years as a public school teacher, bookkeeper, freelance writer and florist, there was always a garden and it was usually in a dry place, whether in the Okanagan, Calgary or Victoria. Since 2005, she has had her own Summerland-based business, creating, maintaining and teaching about Xeriscape.
The Oliver Community Arts Council is a partner with Oliver’s Communities in Bloom through the Best Bloomin’ Garden Contest. For more information, contact olivercac@gmail.com
The arts council hopes to grow a green thumb in 2011.
Oliver Community Garden Society reps Heather Whittall and Marji Basso proposed a partnership with the arts council at the January meeting of the OCAC Board. The Community Garden has been seeking a new location, after their two-year tenancy at the Murray property on Main Street. The Murray property has been slated for other development.
The Community Garden proposal included a request for land use at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre (34274 95th Street) and installation of 20 – 30 container beds, a small storage shed, and other garden features. The proposed area is a narrow strip of land 100 x 25 feet running north-south along the west side of the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre property, adjacent to a back alleyway.
An exciting component to this partnership are proposed arts and culture projects. Whittall and Basso suggested events of mutual benefit to the two societies, including educational workshops, children’s gardening programmes, and joint artistic installations such as painted picket fencing, decorated paving stones, a gazebo, birdhouses, and statuary. Basso described the proposed garden as a “magical” space, that would be an attractive, inviting and self-contained area.
A joint committee of the two organizations is currently writing a memorandum of understanding that will delineate land use, leasing arrangements, security, liability coverage, and water usage and access.
Spring Cleanup
Friday June 8
Saturday June 9
8 – 12 noon
Quail’s Nest Arts Centre
5840 Airport Road
