Final Farmers' Market for Charity this Season!

Farmers Markets for Charity

COME ON OUT THIS SATURDAY!!

Come see us this Saturday, August 16th and on September 6th for some good times, fun & food!!  We will be setup by the gardens on Home Street over on South Hill.  There will be fresh pesticide-free produce, baked goods and preserves for sale, along with some face-painting and activities for the kids.

Half of the proceeds are donated to Hunger in Moose Jaw's Child Nutrition Program and Riverside Mission.  The remaining proceeds will help to grow your local Community Gardens Program.

DIRECTIONS TO HOME STREET GARDENS

Pumpkin Harvest Festival

On Saturday, September 28th from 11 - 2pm, the Yara Community Gardens are hosting our 2nd Annual Pumpkin Harvest Festival. This free event offers a delicious lunch, kid's games and crafts, local musicians, hot drinks, and of course a PUMPKIN fundraiser! Come on down to our fall festival and celebrate a bountiful harvest with us.

Fall Farmer's Market for Charity

Fresh vine-ripe tomatoes, tart dill pickles, fresh baked tarts. (Mouth Watering?)

Our Fall Farmer's Market for Charity is coming up THIS Saturday, September 7. Stop by our garden on the block of 200 Home Street West from 8:30 - 12noon and enjoy the seasonal delicacies our garden offers. 

(PS) Bring your kids! Face painting, crafts, music and garden tours make this a family friendly event.

Steak Night Fundraiser

Got plans this Friday night? Why not include the community gardens and enjoy a delicious steak supper? 

This Friday, August 30, the Yara Community Gardens are hosting a Steak Night Fundraiser at Champs. Tickets are $15.00 and supper is served from 5 - 9pm. Tickets are available at the door. 

Help support a great community program over supper! See you then!

Farmer's Market for Charity a HUGE Success!

Wow! What a great morning to get together, support worthy charities, and get some yummy local food!

Last Saturday our first Farmer's Market for Charity for 2013 was a tremendous success. Great work by volunteers, tons (literally tonnes) of fresh produce, five full tables of baking, coffee donated by Java Express, jams, crafts, face painting and you EVEN got to take your goodies home in a reusable bag donated by Superstore! It was a full morning. Thank you gardeners for hosting such a lovely morning and neighbours and friends for your generous support as we work together to raise money for Riverside Mission, Hunger in Moose Jaw's Lunch Program and of course, the Community Gardens.

See you at our second market on Saturday, September 7, 8:30 - 12noon, Home Street West!

6th Annual Farmer's Market for Charity!

If you haven't already heard, our 6th Annual Farmer's Market for Charity is just around the corner and I just can't wait!

Coming up on August 17 from 8:30 - 12noon, come visit us at our Home Street Garden location for some fresh, pesticide-free produce, yummy baking and preserves, or for a steaming cup of coffee. Home Street will be transformed into a thriving, bustling market as we host the neighbourhood and raise money for local charities. Our markets always feature face painting, music, kid's activities and, of course, garden tours.

All the proceeds from our market go back to charity - with 50% going to Riverside Mission and Hunger in Moose Jaw's Lunch Program and the remaining 50% going back to our garden program. 

Mark it on your calendar!

Building a Rain Garden

It may have been blustery, but last week's Lunch n' Learn was a lot of fun! We shared a meal together, learned about water conservation from Dave and put it to practice with Keri (two Grey Ave gardeners). Taking water conservation to the next step, everyone present helped shovel compost and mulch, plant dwarf cherry trees and then water from rain barrels, our new Grey Avenue Rain Garden. What a great day!

Lunch N' Learn Potluck this Saturday @ Grey Avenue Garden

Hello there fellow gardeners, this is just a friendly reminder that we will be hosting another Lunch N' Learn Potluck this coming Saturday  (July 13) at High Noon (12pm) over at the Grey Avenue Garden.

This time around we will be learning about water conservation in the garden from two speakers - Dave Schell and Keri Fox.  As it is a potluck we ask that everyone bring something to share.  Also, as we would like to promote the Three R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - We ask that you also bring your own plate and cutlery to eat with.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email at gardens.hungermj@gmail.com or give me a call at 306.690.8708.

I hope to see you all there!!

Community gardens growing in Saskatoon | CTV Saskatoon News

Very interesting news article about Community Gardens in Saskatoon. Perhaps the most exciting thing is Saskatoon City Planners recognizing the valuable role gardens like this play; so important that they are planning for community gardens as new developments go up. Way to go Saskatoon!

Check out the story here:
Community gardens growing in Saskatoon | CTV Saskatoon News

See you in the garden!

Pumpkin Patch Growing!

With last year's Pumpkin Harvest Festival success, we were determined to try again in 2013. Our pumpkin patch, a 10000ft2 garden, was planted again this spring by volunteers and staff. A local farm donated straw bales for mulch and now our 165 hills are springing to life with the abundance of early summer rains. Soon the entire garden will be overrun with pumpkin vines and gorgeous orange pumpkins. Oh and did I tell you? 165 hills of pumpkins means approximately 500 pumpkins! We're going to have lots to celebrate this fall.

It's a big job to love all those pumpkins. The watering is done by hand and the weeding is constant. If you are interested in helping us in this very practical way, please contact our office and we'd love to get you some  gloves and a shovel.

Some of the pumpkin seed used this season came from Renee's Seeds. They donated seeds for our community garden project and for that we are so grateful!

 

I'll put up some pictures soon of the progress of the patch. Stay Tuned!

Settling in for the Summer

It's been a busy spring over at the Yara Community Gardens! Our plots are full and we're welcoming more gardeners than ever before with numbers rising to 134 members. New gardeners, long-term gardeners, young families and retirees are working together to cultivate the soil and grow the community at our three garden locations. 

We've hosted an Introduction to Vegetable Gardening workshop, had sets of two membership meetings and, yes, even rototilled the gardens. Cleaned up and ready to go, the garden is just waiting to be planted. Take advantage of the rain forecast and get those potatoes in the earth! 

I'll keep you in the loop with upcoming events, but for the next few weeks it's just you and your garden. Have fun! 

If you are interested in having a plot but missed out this year, just give the office a call and we'll get you on the waitlist for next spring. 

Gearing up for Spring!

 Although it's still frozen out there, spring is right around the corner. Let's get ready for another year of community gardening here in Moose Jaw!

If you are interested in joining our gardens, call (306-692-1916) or email (gardens.hungermj@sasktel.net) right away to get on the waitlist. By the end of April we'll have all the membership sorted out and know what plots are available. If you've already called, be patient! The waitlist is long. The coordinator calls everyone on the list, even if there ends up not being space this season.

If you are a returning gardener, we'll be getting together next week for our first membership meeting. We'll be taking plot fees, signing membership forms and otherwise getting ready for the new season. Here are the details about our upcoming meetings:

HOME STREET RETURNING GARDENERS
Tuesday, April 23, 7PM
Zion United Church

GREY AVENUE RETURNING GARDENERS
Wednesday, April 24, 7PM
Zion United Church

As always, if you have questions, give the coordinator a call at the office 306 - 692 - 1916. See you next week!

Get to know the Gardens!

Wondering what the Yara Community Gardens are all about? Check out this fantastic video done by a supportive community member and get acquainted with our program!

The Community Gardens Need Your Help!

For the past seven years, the Yara Community Gardens have flourished in Moose Jaw. Home to over 125 individuals, families and clubs, our gardens provide space for people to grow local, pesticide-free produce. We host student volunteers, offer free environmental education for kids, provide space for new Canadians to grow culturally appropriate food, and daily celebrate Saskatchewan’s rich agricultural heritage with our seniors.

But this could all change this Monday February 11 2013 at City Council. Council will vote whether or not “the Home Street location [will] be made available for development,” or in other words – sold.

Will you help support the Community Gardens and their work on Home Street? You can write a letter of support, come to the City Council Meeting at 6:30pm (wearing green!) or contact your City Councillors. Let’s show our municipal government that Community Gardens are important to Moose Javians!

Contact Sarah Varey at Hunger in Moose Jaw for more information.

Hibernating

Well, we're packing it in for the winter. It's been an especially fruitful year - two farmer's markets, lunch workshops, pumpkin festival and a membership numbering over 125. I've thoroughly enjoyed the season and look forward to next April when we'll start up again. Have a wonderful winter!

If you have any questions about our program or would like to put your name on the waitlist for a garden plot, please contact Hunger in Moose Jaw at 692-1916.

Wrapping up the Garden Season

Thanksgiving is this coming weekend which means the garden season is almost at an end. It's time to dig those last potatoes and carrots, save your seeds and start preparing for winter.

It's been a very bountiful season this year, especially with our two farmer's markets and pumpkin festival, and I think we can all feel very proud of our achievements. The community gardens have been in Moose Jaw now for seven seasons and with each year our gardens gains momentum, becomes more self-sustaining and the community is knitted together. Truly, our project is a fantastic success. Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers - the gardeners, steering committee, neighbours - and to our generous sponsors - Yara Belle Plaine and our community partners.

The final work bee of the season is scheduled for Saturday October 13. We're meeting 10 - 12noon at Home Street and 1 - 3pm on Grey Ave. The deadline to have your garden cleaned up is October 15th.

Any questions as the season wraps up, give me a call or send me an email. See you at the work bee!

Pumpkin Festival Success

Last Saturday, we welcomed over 400 people to the Grey Avenue Gardens for our first ever Pumpkin Harvest Festival. Between the 350 pumpkins (harvested with the help of our friends at Peacock Collegiate) and the abundance of straw bales, the event was cozy, welcoming and a whole lot of fun.

We served 300 bowls of chili, listened to wonderful music by Just the Two of Us, Doug Shepard and Megan Nash and made good use of the many fun kids activities. It was so great to see the community come together, young and old, to celebrate the harvest with us. Thanks for coming!

Between the sale of our pumpkins and your donations we were able to raise over $2200.00 at this event. Wow! All the funds raised will go directly back into the garden.

We still have a few pumpkins left here at the office. If you want an extra one, drop by today or Tuesday.

Pumpkin Harvest Festival

This Saturday, September 29th, swing by the Grey Avenue Community Gardens for our 1st Annual Pumpkin Harvest Festival! The event runs 11 - 2pm.

We've invited the neighbourhood (and you too!) for live music, chili lunch, harvest kid's games, crafts, hot drinks and of course - PUMPKINS! The event will be relaxed, folky and fun, so stop by with your family for a lovely afternoon. But remember - the lunch is first come, first serve, so I'd come early!

 All proceeds raised from pumpkin sales will go directly back into the community gardens project. 

Newspaper Digging in to Community Gardens

On Monday, this wonderful article was published in the Moose Jaw Times Herald. It really highlights the impact and importance of urban community gardens - both locally and elsewhere. Thank you, Times Herald and Reporter Brigid McNutt, for your support of projects like ours.

 

Inspired by community gardens

Published on September 17, 2012, Moose Jaw Times Herald

Brigid McNutt                                                                        

 

I would like to commend the community garden projects for food banks as the growing season comes to an end. Over the past few years, community gardens designed to produce food for those who need it in the community have been increasingly springing up — here in Moose Jaw with Grow-a-Row program, throughout the province and around the world.

Maintained by volunteers, community members and organizations, these gardens offer increased food security while promoting community involvement and sustainable development. The nutritious produce is available for anyone, often donated to food banks and organizations.

Summertime is often a slow period for food banks. With people away on holidays and busy with summer plans, food banks often experience a reduction in donations until people are back to their normal routines in fall.

In addition, such gardens can beautify communities, adding lush greens where bland, empty lots once existed. Though vandalism is a natural fear, these gardens can often create the opposite effect. For example, further down my alley there were frequent acts of vandalism. The people living in the area got together and made a plan to fix up the back alley. They transformed the area by adding flowers, bright colours, and painted signs. The plan worked, deterring people from harming their property. The gardens can give people something to be proud of in their community.

I was also impressed to discover the Farmers Market for Charity put on twice a year here in Moose Jaw. With a portion of the proceeds going to community organizations, this is another great use of the land and an inspiring effort in supporting food security.

I think it’s great to see the wide demographic that contributes to these gardens. From veteran gardeners sharing their wisdom and teaching others how to sustain their own gardens, or university students setting up gardens on campus, there is a place for everyone to contribute.

It means time in the sun, being a part of a community, and the rewarding end result of tasty fruits and veggies. I hope these gardens will continue to generate momentum. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to these gardens this year. Cheers to lush gardens and full tummies for all.