HRM Library Programs for Gardeners

Photo by Moyan Brenn on Flickr

Click here for this month's Library Guide!  It has some really great FREE programs lined up for all sorts of topics - including gardening!

Here are just a few examples:


Green Spring Cleaning
Save money and live healthier by learning
green techniques to clean your home just
in time for spring.
DARTMOUTH NORTH
Saturday, April 21/2:30 p.m.


Native Plants
This six-part series presented by the
Ecology Action Centre will focus on
plants native to the Halifax area. See
halifaxpubliclibraries.ca for descriptions
of each session. Drop in to any session or
attend all six.
HALIFAX NORTH
Alternate Thursdays/7 p.m.
March 1-May 10


Foraging in the City 
Learn how to live a sustainable life by
growing and preserving your own food
while living in an urban environment.
Presenters will speak at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
SPRING GARDEN
Saturday, March 31/1-4 p.m.

Elizabeth Peirce, Yes You CanElizabeth Peirce, author of Grow
Organic: A Simple Guide to Nova Scotia
Vegetable Gardening, will talk about 

different kinds of food preserving.
Niki Jabbour, Cultivated EdiblesNiki Jabbour, author of The Year Round
Vegetable Gardener, will talk about urban
vegetable gardening, detailing sneaky
ways to get more out of your space.
Jayme Melrose, Food Forest Gardening
Jayme Melrose, a.ka. the Garden Doula,
will explain the concept of food forest
gardening.

The Year Round Vegetable

Gardener
Join writer and radio host Niki Jabbour
for gardening tips and ideas from her new
book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener.
See page 6 for another gardening
program with Niki Jabbour.
TANTALLON
Saturday, March 24/2 p.m.

Joys & Woes of the 
Urban Lawn 
Presented by Lynn Brooks, a member of
the Master Gardeners of Atlantic Canada,
an organization that helps new gardeners
and assists in the greening and
beautification of communities.
TANTALLON
Saturday, March 31/2 p.m.


Attracting Backyard Birds in
Winter & Spring
Noted Nova Scotia birder Clarence Stevens
will share secrets used by bird experts to
help you entice birds to your backyard,
including colourful spring rarities.
WOODLAWN
Tuesday, March 13/7 p.m.

Windowsill Herbs
Bring your own pot, we’ll supply the soil
and seeds. Then, you’ll craft your own
plant marker from metal tape.
WOODLAWN
Wednesday, April 18/1:30 p.m.

Everyone Welcome!

Regional Meeting

DISTRICT  FOUR  REGIONAL  MEETING

Hosted by Eastern Shore Garden Club

SATURDAY APRIL 14^Th 2012

9:30am

EAST CHEZZETCOOK LIONS CLUB

89 East Chezzetcook Road

Take exit 21 (Gaetz Brook) off Hwy 107 east of Dartmouth

Turn left at the top of the ramp. The Lions Club Hall is approximately 1km on the right.

PROGRAM

          9:30 - 10am   Registration

         10:00 - 10:10  Welcome and Introductions

         10:10 - 10:30  Club Reports

         10:30 - 11:15  Alan Banks, Harbour Breeze Daylilies

                        Japanese Iris 

         11:15 - 11:30  Stretch Break

         11:30 - 12:15  Garnet Wright, The Stone Gallery

                        Hardscaping

           12:15 - 1:30  Lunch

           1:30 - 2:30  Crystal Godfrey, The Secret Garden

                        Getting Ready for Spring & Garden Design

           2:30 - 2:45 Door prizes and Closing Remarks

VENDORS TO DATE

Joe Mrkonjic - SeaBoost 

Doug Stoddart - Iron works 

Keith Kerr - Bat Houses 

Alan Banks - Daylilies 

Sue Carpenter - Garden Themed Decor

Admission $10

We would like you to try to remember to be environmentally aware 

and bring your own coffee mug

Please would each club provide three door prizes approximately $20 each

Plant Now With Winter Sowing!

Hi everyone!

Thank you all for such a great turn out to hear Paul Dickie teach us all about bees!  I will be sharing more information regarding his farm and some bee-related links as soon as I receive them.

wintersown.org

For more information on how to start your plants right now with winter sowing, see our handout What is Winter Sowing? and visit wintersown.org for oodles of helpful tips, hints and links.

As promised, I have posted the Perennial Order Form and Plant Overview in the right-hand menu.  Just click the picture to open up the document in Google Viewer.  In the viewer, locate the menu bar just below the filename.  Here you'll see a little picture of a printer (click it to print a copy).  You can also use the File>Download option in this menu to save a copy to your computer (and email it to friends or family to collect orders! :)  All orders are due back at our next meeting, Wed. Mar. 28.

John reminded us that we had a 10% off coupon on our seed packets from Allison at Halifax Seed.  He picked up a mushroom starter kit with his - how kewl!!

Bill Mercier mentioned that we will be receiving our berries so we will be owing him for what we ordered when they arrive (urg... I believe that was going to be in April?? - please email me if I'm wrong!)

Scroll down to see a bunch of new event announcements!!

See you again in March!
Val :)

Blockhouse School Project Launch Feb 29,2012

The Blockhouse School Project is moving forward, with municipal approval of the lease and a Leap Day Project Launch!

We're going to transform the abandoned Blockhouse school into a model for how to become more self-sufficient and sustainable in:
FOOD • SHELTER • ENERGY • CULTURE • EMPLOYMENT

Leap Day Project Launch and Celebration
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012

Blockhouse Fire Hall.

Free Open House 3:30-5 pm
• Display tables, meet and greet, learn more about the project.
• Lease signing with Mayor Don Downe: 4:30
• Free pony cart rides for the kids 4:45-5:45

Evening of Celebration 5-10 pm
Supper • Presentation • Live Music • Door Prizes
$10 adult, $5 under 18, $30 family

(Supper served 5-7 pm)

Musical performers include:
Alex Hickey • Darren Arsenault • Salt & Heather • More TBA

Tickets available on website or at:
• Ali's General Store, • PJ's Bargain Centre,
• Kinburn Pharmasave Mahone Bay • Biscuit Eater Café

Watch our website at www.TheBlockhouseSchool.org for updates.

Event Notice: Seedy Saturday in Spryfield

Seedy Saturday in Spryfield will be Sat. Mar.31  2-4pm  at Captain William Spry Community Centre ( behind the No Frills/Canadian Tire Mall )  It's a great opportunity to support local gardeners selling organic seed from their gardens and some bulbs and small plants.  Also there will be Annapolis Seeds selling organic seed from the valley.

Plant Sale in Spryfield will be Sat. May 26  10-noon,  same location.   Also sponsored by the Spryfield Urban Farm Museum.   They also have community garden plots nearby on the road to Elizabeth Sutherland School.  Marjorie Willison, the Atlantic Gardener, is their president.

Event Notice: Seedy Saturday in Truro

Click here to see the original notice...

Swing Into Spring at Seedy Saturday: Truro 
Come celebrate local food, farming, and gardening at the fifth annual Seedy Saturday in Truro on February 25th.The event runs from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at St. Andrew's United church, 55 King Street in Truro. It's free and all are welcome! 

Find all those wonderful, hard-to-get organic and heritage seeds and transplants to start your vegetable garden off right. You can also "Ask the Expert" your gardening questions or bring your own saved seeds to swap and share with others. 

Don't miss this chance to hear Dr. Vandana Shiva, the global crusader for just and healthy food systems. She'll give a presentation on Seed Sovereignty in the auditorium from 11:15-11:45 a.m. And USC Canada board member Mark Austin – a wild-blueberry farmer and food activist – will also be there to chat about how local food and global issues link.

www.usc-canada.org

There is no charge for this event. For more information, contact Mark by email or visit the event's facebook page.

Please forward this message to anyone you know who might enjoy this event. 

We Hope to See You There!

Dr. Vandana Shiva Visits Halifax

This notice has been forwarded for those who wish to take in Dr. Vandana Shiva's Halifax presentations. They are two of several she will be giving in communities throughout NS during the last week in Feb.

Monday, February 27
Dr. Vandana Shiva and Guests: A Feast of Conversation about Women, Men and Food.
9:00AM – 12:00PM (seating for 200, arrive early!)
Mount St Vincent University, Multi-purpose Room, Rosaria Centre, Halifax, NS.
Suggested minimum donation $10.
Funds support the Navdanya organization.
Please register at http://www.oxfam.ca/vandana-shiva.
For more information, contact janet.rhymes@oxfam.ca.

Monday, February 27
Dr. Vandana Shiva speaks on "Water and Biodiversity, Agriculture and Justice" at Dalhousie University.
7:00 pm, Ondaatje Auditorium, Marion McCain Building, Dalhousie University, 6135 University Avenue.
Suggested minimum donation: $10. students/ $15. general; proceeds to Navdanya.
Presented by the College of Sustainability.
For more information: www.sustainability.dal.ca or sustain@dal.ca

Meeting Wed. Feb. 22

What's the buzz??

Spring is just around the corner

AND

Paul Dickie is coming to teach us

all about bees!!

It sounds like he's pulling out all the stops to give us a great talk
starting at 7:30pm.

We will have some social time

from 7pm - 7:30pm.

Feel free to bring magzines, books, seeds, plants, etc. to swap/share.

As always, we will have a box on hand for donations to our local food bank.

Hope to see you all soon!

Wed. Feb. 22nd
ps: scroll down to see recent posts...

Nation's largest public Food Forest takes root on Beacon Hill

Nation's largest public Food Forest takes root on Beacon Hill

Can you imagine a 7 acre urban oasis of public food?

Seattle can!!

After nearly three years of planning, Beacon Hill residents are breaking ground on what will be the nation's largest public food forest.  Read more...

History In The Making

Have you ever visited this wonderful living tribute to Peggy Of The Cove located at 10235 Peggy's Cove Rd., Glen Margaret, NS?

"Peggy of the Cove was the title given to the sole survivor of a shipwreck on Halibut Rock, Nova Scotia, near the famous fishing village, Peggy's Cove. Her story is being developed from legend to reality through song, books, dolls and museum by local author, artist, photographer and storyteller, Ivan Fraser."

Ivan has contacted the PAGC to see if we would be interested in helping him establish his first official garden this summer!  More details to follow!

Check out this eye-catching tourist attraction at peggyofthecove.com and enjoy the beautiful paintings, artwork and landscape surrounding his wonderful stories of Peggy Of The Cove.  What a great Sunday afternoon destination!!

Mark Cullen in Windsor, Feb. 10

Passing this along for your info...

Hello my name is Susan Wright and I'm helping with a fund-raiser sponsored by Windsor Home Hardware.

On Feb. 10, 2012 from 7-9 pm CTV/ATV Garden expert Mark Cullen will be in Windsor NS at the Imperial Theatre.

Coinciding with his presentation is a concert by very talented grades 7-12 band students from West Hants NS who are traveling on a band trip to Quebec in May 2012.

The evening will feature an informative talk with Mark Cullen followed with a Q&A session and a musical interlude in the middle.

Tickets to the event are $10 and maybe purchased at the door with every ticket holder receiving a gift bag valued at $10 and a chance to win several door prizes!

Oh did I mention there will be a reception to follow with homemade treats! All the proceeds will go to our talented kids' trip to Quebec. We hope you'll come out to support this great event and get to talk to Mark Cullen. For more information about this event you can contact the Windsor Home Hardware or drop me an email.

Thank you
Susan Wright (band parent)
susanp_wright@eastlink.ca