Tag Archive for: Gardening

Plot to Plate: Small-Space Food Gardening

Join Aiden Silzer-Hooker to learn about maximizing yield in your small space garden plot through natural methods. Aiden is an expert in food permaculture in urban areas, using everything from intercropping, companion planting, green manures and composts, to vertical growing. He focuses on increasing biodiversity, food security and creating a more sustainable food supply chain.

 

Aiden’s company, Front Yard Farms, aims to create a more sustainable food supply chain, while increasing food security, food sovereignty and biodiversity, while decreasing food waste and carbon footprints. Front Yard Farms uses only the best organic growing methods to bring you nutritious, delicious produce, year round.

Aiden Silzer-Hooker, is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University alumni, who graduated with his Bachelor of Horticulture Science, with a Major in Urban Ecosystems, a Diploma in Horticulture Technology, and he is also an ISA Certified Arborist. During his time at KPU, Aiden started asking the tough questions about how we get our food here in British Columbia, and Canada as a whole. Aiden decided to change the narrative surrounding food – where it comes from, how it’s produced, and how to create a more equitable food system for everyone.

Gardening: Garlic

Grow your best garlic ever! Join us to learn garlic secrets and best practices and how you can cultivate this culinary essential in your garden space. Gail Felton will discuss all the stages of garlic growth, different cultivars, how to increase garlic yields and what pitfalls to avoid. Bring your questions!

 

This session will take place in person at the New Westminster Public Library and online via Zoom. All registered participants will receive the Zoom link.

Gardening: Seed Cleaning & Bulky Seed Exchange

If you grew seeds in your garden this summer, join us for a hands-on seed cleaning event to get your newly harvested seeds ready for storage (or donation to our seed library). We will be threshing, winnowing, screening and sorting seeds of all types. Bring your seed material from your garden to clean together and consider donating your extras to the seed library!

If you have large quantities of bulky seeds or have divided some bulbs and have some to share, bring them to the event in an informal sharing of your crops.

Meet outdoors in the parking lot at the Main Branch – weather dependent. If it’s pouring rain we’ll be inside in the Auditorium, but it may not be possible to do such messy work inside!

Bring seeds to clean, seeds and bulbs to share, and some small bags or envelopes to take new seeds home again.

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Gardening: Backyard Butterflies

Learn how you can attract butterflies and moths to your garden or patio! These special visitors play a crucial role in pollination and as a food source for birds. Neill McCallum will show us which plants butterflies and moths love and how to keep your garden safe for them. He’ll also talk about the lifecycle of these winged friends and special needs they have at all stages. Neill is a butterfly ranger with the Butterflyway Project which seeks to build safe habitat for butterflies in our urban environments. Neill is also a science educator, so feel free to bring teens and kids along – a very family friendly topic!

 

This session will be live in person and streamed live via Zoom. All registrants will receive the Zoom link. Unfortunately it will not be recorded.

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Gardening: Invasive Species

Did you know that many invasive species are available from your local garden store as ornamental plants? And by planting them in your garden you can inadvertently release them into the wild? Learn more about how invasive species impact biodiversity, what to look out for, and what gardeners can do to help.

Join Adrian Avendano, executive director of the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver for an informative evening.

This will be presented in person at the library or online via Zoom. Please note, the presentation will not be recorded.

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Climate Friendly Homes Tour

Visit Climate Friendly Homes in New Westminster to see firsthand what people are doing to make their homes more comfortable and climate friendly.

What is a Climate Friendly Home? A Climate Friendly Home is an energy-efficient home that has been built or retrofit to reduce the energy demand and carbon emissions of the building. Whether it reaches higher steps of the BC Energy and Zero Carbon Step Codes, uses the most efficient heating, cooling and hot water systems or has an improved building envelope with added insulation and highly efficient windows, a Climate Friendly Home can have lots of features that make the home more sustainable, comfortable to live in, cheaper to operate, and more!

Check out homes in New Westminster and see which homes you would like to visit on the tour.

You may also like to check out the Sustainable Home Info Sessions which is a special event during the Climate Friendly Homes Tour.

Please note, there is no event AT the New Westminster Public Library around the Climate Friendly Homes Tour or the Sustainable Home Information Sessions. Follow the links to register, find the addresses, and tour the homes out in the community. This event is being promoted as part of the NWPL’s Earth Week programming.

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Sustainable Homes Information Sessions

The Sustainable Home Info Sessions is a project of the New Westminster Climate Action Hub (NWCAH) and is an affiliated special event in the Climate Friendly Homes Tour. At homes in Glenbrook North, Queens Park, Victory Massey Heights and Brow of the Hill, sessions will be provided by local experts on topics ranging from increasing biodiversity, stormwater management, building electrification, how to stay safe in significant heat events, and how the City of New Westminster can support retrofits. There will be something for everyone as information for all housing types including apartments and condos, and solutions suitable for owners and tenants will be provided.

Registration (free) is required for Sustainable Home Info Sessions. Click here (and scroll down). Tickets are limited so register now.

For those who want to bike between these sites, secure bike storage will be provided. Additionally, HUB Cycling New West is leading a bike tour of the homes, and you can register for their (free) event here.

 

Sustainable Home Info Sessions are being held in collaboration with the City of New Westminster  and under the umbrella of the BC Climate Friendly Homes Tour. It is being supported by the Cariboo Heights Forest Preservation Society, HUB Cycling, Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and ReGenerateBC.

 

Please note, there is no event AT the New Westminster Public Library around the Sustainable Home Information Sessions or the Climate Friendly Homes Tour. Follow the links to register, find the addresses, and tour the homes out in the community. This event is being promoted as part of the NWPL’s Earth Week programming.

Gardening: Companion Planting

  • sorry we have had to cancel this event due to unforeseen circumstances. We will try to reschedule in the future.

Gardening: Living Compost

Living compost is more than just an organic fertilizer; it is a dynamic ecosystem filled with diverse microorganisms that promote plant growth and enhance soil resilience. In this workshop, you will learn how to identify high-quality compost, understand what makes it “alive,” tap into the potential of its microscopic workforce to improve the health and productivity of your garden, and help the climate by capturing more carbon in your soil! This session is ideal for urban gardeners, empowering you to make informed choices and transform your soil into a thriving, life-supporting habitat.

Our instructor for this session is Jo Tobias from RootShoot Soils, who specializes in natural management of soil health.

This session will be presented live in person and be broadcast via Zoom. All registered participants will receive the Zoom link. Unfortunately the presentation will not be recorded.

 

This event is part of our Earth Week programming

Gardening: Common Garden Mistakes

Want to keep your garden looking great? Join Amanda Jarrett, garden educator and red-seal horticulturalist to learn about common garden mistakes and how to avoid them. New and experienced gardeners alike will learn important tips, which can save both money and heartbreak.

Join us in person or online via Zoom. Unfortunately the Zoom meeting will not be recorded. All registered participants will receive the Zoom link before the event date.