Fundraising News
A Growing Thank You – March 2024
We are thrilled to announce another amazing contribution to our community garden and food forest project! A heartfelt thank you to ConnectFirst Credit Union for their generous NeighbourGood grant of $2,000.
Their support through the NeighbourGood grant program is a testament to their dedication to the communities we live, work, and play in. This $2,000 will help us take another big step towards creating a vibrant and sustainable space for everyone to enjoy.
Whether it’s new community programs or public events, ConnectFirst Credit Union’s commitment to communities like ours is truly commendable. We are grateful to be a part of this initiative. @ConnectFirstCU
Gratitude in Bloom – December, 2023
A huge THANK YOU to Farm Credit Canada for their generous donation of $4,000 towards our accessible garden beds for the community garden and food forest project. This contribution helps us build a vibrant and inclusive space for everyone, and ensures garden beds for participants with restricted mobility or mobility aids are the first beds built.
The dream of a flourishing garden and food forest in Dalhousie is becoming a reality, thanks to the support of socially responsible companies like FCC. Your kindness and dedication to making our world a greener and more accessible place are truly appreciated. @FCCagriculture and @FCCFoodbeverage
Garden Development News
The garden has begun! A group of volunteers gathered Sunday, Oct 22 to plant 6 fruit trees the garden committee received this summer, through one of the city’s grant programs we applied to last winter. Why so late? The stars needed to align with the license of occupation land approval from the city, board approval and line locates, meaning while we had the trees in our possession, we spent the summer in a waiting game.
With days to spare before the snow arrived, we received the go ahead from each source, the garden team quickly assembled some volunteers and got to work. With donations of materials and time from some amazing members of the community and nurseries, the planting was well stocked! 6 volunteers (and two small versions!) hauled soil, prepped trees, spread mulch, watered deeply and hauled excavated soil away. Each tree received a nice root separation, approximately a cubic metre of new soil, a ring of fresh mulch and 200 L of water to settle it in for winter.
The 6 trees fruit trees, two each of Evans Sour Cherry, Golden Spiced Pear, and Honeycrisp apple, now mark the perimeter of the future community garden bed area. The beds will extend north from the Dallyn Building like the bow of a ship, and a walking path will follow the tree line. The planted trees are marked on the map with a yellow highlight.
The volunteers used the excavated clay to fill in the eroded slope on the north end of the site, covering as much of it with the excavated topsoil and sod.
It was a nice way to send off the warm days of summer, and as the trees settle in their new beds for the winter, the committee settles in for a winter of grant writing and fundraising, to fund further development of our plan.
Email garden@dalhousiecalgary.ca for more information.