Discussion this evening | Acadia Community Garden

Hi Everyone!

If you were interested in the discussion tonight (details in the post below)  - its still on at 7 pm at the ARC.

You  can also email in your comments to acadiagarden@yahoo.ca instead of braving the snow drifts and cold weather.   We welcome your questions/concerns/ideas and thoughts!

The Acadia Recreation Complex is open, the concession is planned to be open - so bring some change, grab a hot drink and I'll be there to facilitate the discussion.

Corinne Sandhurst - President of the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society.

Discussion Opportunity - All Welcome Tuesday, Dec 3 at 7 pm at the Acadia Recreation Complex

The Acadia Community Garden and Art Society would like to invite anyone interested in the Acadia Community Garden to be part of a discussion about the possibility of a motion by the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society's Executive to the Acadia Community Association (ACA) proposing that the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society disband and join with the ACA as a committee answering directly to the ACA board of directors.

The meeting will be held at at at a new location - the Acadia Recreation Complex (ARC)  at 240 90 Ave SE. at 7 pm  Thank you to the Acadia Community Association (ACA)  and the ARC for supporting us in supplying the meeting space for our discussion!

All welcome!

Email -  acadiagarden@yahoo.ca  
Phone (403) 719-5509 

Monthly Get Together is this Wed 7-8:30 PM Winter Sowing and Discussion Opportunity Tues Dec 3 at 6:30 pm.

Hi Everyone -

Please see two opportunities - one for discussion and one for Wintersowing below. All welcome to both....

1. Discussion Opportunity

The Acadia Community Garden and Art Society would like to invite anyone interested in the Acadia Community Garden to be part of a discussion about the possibility of a motion by the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society's Executive to the Acadia Community Association (ACA) proposing that the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society disband and join with the ACA as a committee answering directly to the ACA board of directors.

The meeting will be held at at my house on Tuesday, December 3 at 6:30 pm.  All welcome!

Please email or phone if you need directions - (403) 719 5509. email -  acadiagarden@yahoo.ca

---------

2. Monthly Get Together - Winter Sowing!

This week is our monthly get together at Acadia's Calgary Co-Op Community Room on Wednesday at 7 pm - 8:30 pm.

It's going to be exciting - Joanne Nemeth from the Calgary Horticulture Society's Speaker's Bureau is demonstrating and chatting about "Winter Sowing"  See posts below for more details! We appreciate this wonderful and generous opportunity! All welcome!

Sincerely,

Corinne Sandhurst
President

Acadia Community Garden Monthly get together - Winter Sowing with Joanne Nemeth Calgary Coop Community Room 7-8:30 November 20, 2013

Imagine being able to start seeds outdoors in the dead of winter, without grow lights, heat mats or fans. Sounds impossible, right? But it isn’t!

Join Joanne Nemeth on Wednesday, November 20th and she will show you how to start annuals, perennials and even trees and shrubs without all the usual fuss of indoor seed starting. And come spring, you’ll have lots of hardy little plants for a fraction of the cost at a nursery.

All welcome!
Acadia'a Calgary Co-Op Community Room
7-8:30 pm
November 20th 2013

Joanne is one of the wonderful speakers from the Calgary Horticulture Societies Speakers Bureau. 

Thank you Joanne! Be sure to ask Joanne about her "Acadia" connection!

Monthly Get Together this Wednesday 7-8:30 at Acadia's Calgary Co-Op

Monthly Get-Together this week Wednesday 

Damon is chatting about Food Forestry at the Acadia Community Garden get together. All welcome!

Its from 7-8:30 at the Acadia Calgary Co-Op Grocery Store. Just turn left when you enter the doors and the community room door is on the left. There is one set of stairs to go up. Its a wonderful room and we appreciate Calgary Co-Op letting us use it. 

Consider stopping first in the Co-Op store or the Co-Op coffee bar on your way up if you would like something to drink or eat for the meeting and support our Calgary Co-Op!

Sunday, Octoe 6th fro 2:00 - 4:00 (ish) First Harvest Celebration

We would like to invite all gardeners, friends of gardeners and would-be gardeners to gather at our Community Garden on Sunday, October 6th from 2:00 until 4:00 (ish).

We will celebrate our year of success by sharing in each other's company and the knowledge with have gained at our first of many-to-come harvests.

During our visiting time we are also hoping to clear a bit of sod along the fence so in the spring we'll be able to plant some sweet pea seeds.

Please bring:

- A light snack for sharing (from your garden, if you can, would be awesome)

- your own non-alcoholic beverage (if you wish)

- a lawn chair

- a shovel

We will take some time to relax, chat, talk about what worked, what didn't and dream about next year's garden.

See you there!

Acadia Community Garden Get Togethers Resume 3rd Wed each month at Calgary Coop on McLeod Trail SE - 7-8:30 pm in the community room

Acadia Community Garden Update:

 Get Togethers Resume!

3rd Wed each month(except Dec/July/Aug) at Calgary Coop on McLeod Trail SE -
 7-8:30 pm in the community room.

We welcome you to join us!  The meetings each month will have a little "popular education" component.  You are welcome to share your knowledge, and come meet your friends and neighbours!

Come see the current three phase raised bed plan for the garden.

You can be involved in the planning for the community orchard, perennial gardens, art, picnic benches, pathways, and community bulletin board.

Meet some of the current raised bed gardeners and find out what can grow in a raised bed in Calgary.

Compost Compost - check out our plans for the composter for the garden.

Meet some of our dedicated volunteers - they are awesome and you can be one too!

We look forward to seeing you!

For more info contact Corinne at 403 719-5509

Sat. June 1st Build of the first 4 boxes!

How exciting!!!

Here is the plan for the June 1st build of the first 4 boxes!  We will be building more when our new grant of $1500.00 arrives from the Ward Community Event Fund!  Thank you to the Aldermanic Office Coordinating Committee!

Saturday - June 1st Build:  

Start time: 9:30
...... (Andy will be there earlier to get set up. I think Tony and Geoff, (if he wishes) may join him.

 - Coffee, tea, water, some fruit and Timbits will be provided.

 - Handy things our builders could bring, if they have them:
lawn chair
bug repellent
extra snack for yourself if you think you'll need it
gardening gloves
Extras:
hammer
sledge hammer
measuring tape
exacto knife (for cutting cardboard)
shovel
cordless drill
- Mary will bring name tags, some cardboard (and maybe some cookies if she feels so inclined).

- Sharon and Andy will bring wood, table, etc.

- Laurie will bring cardboard, generator, tent, garbage bags, markers and refreshments.

This is going to be FUN! See you there!

Volunteer Lead:
Laurie V.

June 1st Build of first raised beds 8 am start at the Garden site! All welcome!

Your Acadia Community Garden Executive is excited to update you on the following news for the Acadia Community Garden:

SOCIETY:  It's official - we are the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society.  We have our bank account and our insurance in place! 

DONATION and SHED:  Jeff Peters - Mirage Landscaping gave us our first donation on Friday.  It was deposited into our new bank account - $1000.00.   We are using to purchase and have delivered,  our beautiful used shed from a generous  McKenzie Towne couple that dropped their  on a beautiful  8 x 10 used shed.  Our shed delivered on Saturday,  May 25th!  Thank you to Jeff for making this possible.  Jeff has been a keen supporter, providing a wonderful spring clean up prize one by Acadia resident Mario, $1000.00 donation and soil for the first beds being built on June 1st.  

BUILD JUNE 1 at 8 am SIGN UP

We are eager to work with you to start building our garden beds!  

Laurie Vanderwal  is leading the volunteers for the June 1st Build.  Please contact her at tlvanderwal@gmail.com to let her know if you can help!

Laurie is bringing a kitchen tent to set up food on. We have one 6' Table to put food on.

Please bring a potluck dish to share with other volunteers - please let Laurie know what you are thinking to bring so co-ordinate a variety of dishes.  

I will bring a big container of drinking water - if you would like something else please bring it along.

We would like to know how many volunteers are coming - Please sign up with Laurie so we know how many we are organizing for.  Many hands make quick fun work and how exciting its going to be so see the very first beds go in.  

WAITLIST for Raised Bed or 1/2 raised bed:  If you want to be on the wait list for a box, please contact me at cgsandhurst@shaw.ca with "waitlist" in the subject or body of the email and your contact information. All people on wait list are required to help with the build or in some other role in the garden.  There are all kinds of opportunities, little and big, that will fit your skills and interests in the garden - we need you!  We may only be building 4-6 boxes on June 1st.   Opportunities will keep coming up to build more raised beds as we raise more funds.

LOGO CONTEST:  The logo contest is still open and we thank entrants in the contest for their patience as we get the garden built!  We have awesome logo's submitted and you can view them on our Facebook page.

DONATIONS:  We are seeking donations of garden tools/garden equipment/lawn mower/watering hose/watering cans and of course cash! If you have any good condition tools for the tool share for the garden, please let me know.  We have had community residents approach us wanting to support the garden with donations! We are ready! Thank you for your generosity. Cheques can be made out to the Acadia Community Garden and Art Society. We are a non-profit, and will not be able to give out charitable tax receipts.  We can give you a lovely button or fridge magnet that is our token of appreciation that you supported the Acadia Community Garden! :)  

You are always welcome to email / phone for more information. We would love to hear from you!

Contact Info:

Laurie Vanderwal- Build Volunteer Team Lead:  tlvanderwal@gmail.com

Corinne Sandhurst - Raised Bed Waitlist cgsandhurst@shaw.ca  or (403) 719-5509

Acadia Community Garden Blog acadiagarden@yahoo.cahttp://acadiacommunitygarden.blogspot.ca/

Acadia Community Garden Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Acadia-Community-Garden/276681105730429

Acadia Community Garden GIGYYC Grant page http://www.gigyyc.com/event/2012/acadia-community-garden

Acadia Community Garden email: acadiagarden@yahoo.ca

Sincerely,

Corinne Sandhurst

President

Acadia Community Garden and Art Society

(403) 719-5509

Get the most out of a community garden raised bed Session and next meeting in the Garden May 15th 7 pm.

Janet Melrose, Calgary Horticulture Society, is presenting this session to get the most out of a community garden raised bed. I can't go. It's ten dollars and if anyone is going, its nearby. Please see the poster for details. Its this Thursday, May 16th. It should be awesome!

Our next meeting is this week, May 15th in the garden at 7 pm.  See you then!  (Bad Weather?  Go to CoOp's Grocery Store in Acadia at their Coffee shop. 

We build June 1st and you are welcome to join us.  If you are interested in renting raised bed, please let us know and we will put you on the wait list.

Sincerely,

Corinne

Next Meeting is in the Garden - May 15th (Wed) fro 7 pm - 8:30 pm (bad weather? head for the Co-Op Grocery Store Cafe instead.

Next Meeting is at the Acadia Community Garden site on 94th Avenue SE beside Ecole De La Source School (formerly Fred Parker School)- May 15th (Wed) fro 7 pm - 8:30 pm (bad weather? head for the Co-Op Grocery Store Cafe instead.

We are putting in place the insurance, have our new bank account, and are preparing to build the first 6 raised beds on June 1st.  We hope you can make it out to help build!

We are looking for a 10' x 10' shed that has sound structure. We are hoping that there is a free one out there somewhere or one that is quite inexpensive. We will pretty it up and use it to store our shared tools as we get them and post a community bulletin board on.

We have emailed with our new neighbours across the back field at Tennis Canada and Tennis Alberta - what a wonderful facility they plan.  We are looking forward to getting to know them and watching them also bring their dream to life.

We have chatted with our neighbours Ecole de la Source School and they are building an addition to their playground June 7 & 8.  They would love extra help from the community!   They welcome us as their new neighbours!

We have wonderful support from our the Acadia Community Association and they have a fabulous Spring Clean up this Saturday.  Check the ACA website for more details on time and what can be dropped off.  Don't forget to check out the reusable area!

The Where's the Skills? In Acadia session on the 4th Wednesday each month - May 22 is all about Peru - its going to be a great one - I know the presenter is awesome!  I hope to see you there - McDougall Church at 6 pm.  The June session is drumming!

Come out to our last meeting before the June 1st Build.  We will be excited to share our plans with you!

edible forest gardening

This is such an interesting idea - Edible Forest Gardening -

http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening

Our First Sign at the Acadia Community Garden Site! How Exciting! June 1, 2013 is Build Date

Mark Your Calendars for Acadia Community Garden Next meeting Thurs. Apr 18, and June 1st Build Date

Hi Acadia Garden and Art Fans!

MEETINGS:
The next meeting - Thursday, April 18 at the ARC.
Meetings switch to the third Wed. of each month from May 16th, and June 20th.
We do not meet in July and Aug as we will be too busy gardening and will enjoy meeting up there.

BUILD DAY We are excited to start the build on Saturday June 1st.

BANNER:  We are posting a banner on the garden site next week - please watch for it to go up by Friday. Acadia Digital Post did a fabulous job designing it and the sign was paid for with Calgary 2012 grant money.

RAISED BEDS: We have spent our Calgary 2012 grant funds on spruce wood from Acadia's RONA for the first 9 raised beds - one to represent each of the founding families that have met to create this garden.  RONA is kindly storing the wood until we can find somewhere to keep it. If you have space to hold onto the wood for us until June 1st, please let us know.  As we find funds, we will continue to build beds.  If you are interested in renting a raised bed this year, please contact us.

VOLUNTEERS:  Anyone renting a raised bed must volunteer to build and maintain the garden. There are lots of fun and interesting roles to help out in the garden.  Everything from manning info tables, making snacks for build day, fundraising with fun art button machine and other ideas, chatting with residents to get the word out,  building raised beds, collecting and laying sheets of cardboard for the underlay, contacting an arborist for free wood chips, mowing the lawn area weekly, connecting with artists for the garden art, planning a gardening session, a seed exchange,  planning harvest festival....  Let us know your skills and passion, and we can find something to fit you and support the garden.

SHED:  We are looking for a 10 x 10 shed. We have an awesome design for one from RONA, but need to find some more money to purchase it. The shed will be used for garden tools and  to keep the water tap keys and our new grey 6 foot table, that we bought at Rona with Calgary 2012 grant money. The table will be handy for drinks and snacks on build day and has been used as an info table.  I am excited by the idea of of playing table top games on it in the garden! :)

EASTER SEALS AMBASSADOR:  We are delighted to have the  2012 Easter Seals ambassador & Acadia resident, Evan Mosco, helping us with the design of the garden. He will test for us the heights of raised beds to see what works for youth using tools such as wheelchairs.  If you know anyone else using tools like wheelchairs, walkers, and canes that would have advice for us about garden design - please welcome them to get involved before build day.  We want to hear what they have to say.

GARDEN REFUGE:  If you have ideas about developing a spot in the garden for thoughtful, peaceful solace when people are going through difficult times, I encourage you to come forward.  We have room for perennial beds, and gathering place.  When you have been grief stricken, overwhelmed, burdened, worried, concerned, thoughtful, peaceful etc.would or did a garden space comfort you?

MENTORING:  We have a number of successful community gardens coming forward to mentor us via our amazing mentor at the Calgary Horticultural Society, Janet Melrose.  We are building an amazing support community for our garden!  Thank you Janet!

FUNDRAISING:  We were fortunate to have start up funds with the Calgary 2012 Grant.  Our garden is mentioned in the 5000 Stories and Counting book that was created to commemorate Calgary 2012's amazing year.  We are applying for grants and already have community residents coming forward willing to donate to make the garden a reality.  If you or someone you know would like to support the garden in some way, either in kind, as a volunteer, or with a monitory donation, we are delighted to connect with you. You have a committed executive excited to work with you to bring the next phases of the garden to reality.

ART IN THE GARDEN: Community visual artists - we are looking for a win-win - you design artwork for buttons for the garden and you both have a share in the sales.  Currently accepting designs for 1 1/2 button sizes.  This is a new fundraiser and we are looking at how best to make it work.  The equipment is owned by Acadia Business, Sandhurst Sculpture Inc.  Be on the ground floor of developing this fundraiser and to see how we can promote each other.

COLLABORATIVE ART:  "Where's The Skills? Acadia - April 24 at 6:00 pm at McDougall United Church. Geoff Sandhurst is an Acadia Artist working in mixed media.  Geoff is presenting a slideshow on collaborative art to inspire all the Acadia's community to dream big and create a collaborative sculpture for the community garden as a community wide fundraiser.  He has the skills, and you know your community. He will show you how he and the school community supported 500 students to research and select design elements for the King George School collaborative sculpture "Under the Prairie Sky".  The students were involved in texturing the metal aspen leaves that create the outdoor sculpture. Then we will get busy ourselves and create a button or magnet from our own art work - we can even trade our buttons with each other!

ACADIA JANES WALK - ARTS CULTURE AND GOOD EATS IN ACADIA:  Saturday, May 4th, Acadia Jane's Walk starts at 10:00 am.  I am the walk leader and am delighted that we will be touring the Jehovah Witness Hall.  I am waiting for confirmation on two other building tours.  There will be historic pictures of the community, a tour of the garden site, and artists of all disciplines are encouraged to come on out and say hello to us and share with us what you are doing in the community.  Expect to see 3 wheeled 6" unicycle drive by, and a song or two sung by one of our local youth. I encourage the whole community to get involved. Walk our community or one of the other amazing communities featured this year.  If you have pictures to share about our wonderful community and stories of its history, its art, its culture and its good eats, contact Corinne at 403 719-5509  or cgsandhurst@shaw.ca. The walk gets richer with everyone that participates in it!

Other opportunities:

EXOTIC EDIBLES: Chapparal Greenthumbs is offering a session:   Exotic Planting: Growing Untraditional Food in the Calgary Climate April 11 at 7:00 pm  $5.00
http://www.chapgreenthumbs.ca to find the link to register.

GARDEN SHOW: The Calgary Horticulture Society's garden show is April 13 & 14 at Spruce Meadows.  Haysboro Dreamcatchers Garden is being highlighted there and Lisa from the Haysboro Dreamcatchers invited us to drop by her booth to chat. She has already given us lots of info about fundraising.  The Haysboro Dreamcatchers garden is beautiful and inspiring.

BEES www.Backyard Bees.ca  - Interested in having bees in your yard, want to learn more, interested in mentorship?  Check out this page - for three amazing options to have bee hives in your yard.  Option #3 is amazing and I copied it below.  and here is the link for more options  http://www.backyardbees.ca/servicesprograms/privated

OPTION 3: A.B.C USES YOUR YARD FOR BEEKEEPING, AND THERE IS NO MENTORSHIP INVOLVED, YOU JUST GET BEES!

In this relationship, A.B.C keeps their honeybees in your yard, manages the hives responsibly, and does not require to offer educational mentorship to members of the household.

- Help protect the honeybee and support urban beekeeping. 

- You receive 25% of the honey surplus by the hives in your yard.

- A.B.C is responsible to the total care of the colonies

- You receive free access to Summer Field Days for you and 2 guests 

- Fill out this application form. 

COST: FREE 

BUTTERFLY KITS:  Ever wanted to raise and release butterflies?  Check out these two sites:

Butterfly Wings and Wishes Ltd. http://www.butterflyab.com/ 

Butterfly Beautiful: http://www.butterflykits.ca

LADYBUGS - We released ladybugs for my daughter's 9th birthday. It was wonderful.  Check out
http://www.buyagreenhouse.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=230  Takes orders from May-August.


See you in the Garden!

Sincerely!

Corinne Sandhurst
President
Acadia Community Garden
(403) 719-5509
acadiagarden@yahoo.ca

If you find errors in these blog - thank you for reading and please let me know what they are! I am grateful for your attention to detail! :)

Acadia Garden Change of meeting dates - revised

The Acadia Community Garden Proposal has changed the meeting dates. Thursday, April 18th is the last Thursday meeting.  In May the date changes to the 3rd Wednesday each month.

(except July/Aug/Dec). 7 pm - 8:30 pm. Venue to be confirmed. Please mark your calendars and we welcome you to join us!

Acadia Community Garden Proposal Meeting

The Acadia Community Garden Proposal is meeting at 7:00 -8:30 pm at the Acadia Recreation Complex tomorrow, March 21, 2013.  All Welcome!

May 2013 Build and public blog

Public Blog

The Acadia Community Garden Blog is now public.  I removed private working blog entries.  If you see a post that you would like removed, please let me know and I will take it out.  You will be able to subscribe and unsubscribe as you like.  Please let me know if you need assistance. 

Build Date - May 2013
We are Excited to announce a that the proposed garden build date is May 2013.  Last Thursday, The City of Calgary confirmed their support and recommended that we build in May this year. We are proceeding through the final requirements as quickly as we can. Anyone that would like to help with these final steps, please let us know. Its a very exciting time!

Shed Build and Funding:

We are tentatively building the shed on March 23, 2013 using the remaining funds from the Calgary 2012 GIGYYC grant.  There should be about $800.00 from these funds for the shed.  

Donations/Grants

We have been posting updates as required on our Calgary 2012 GIGYYC Grant site.  You are welcome to check out our project as well as others funded on the site.  We have to spend the money by March 31,2013.  http://www.gigyyc.com/event/2012/acadia-community-garden

We also have a donation of $1000.00 from Mirage Landscaping Inc. 

We are applying for a $2000.00 grant for the Acadia Strong Neighbourhood Initiative grant this weekend.  

The City of Calgary is providing irrigation and two locking taps to the site as part of their $5000.00 in kind donation to the garden.  The City of Calgary will also pay for the water to the garden.

If you are available to write other grant proposals, we would love your help!

Volunteers needed - Saturday March 16th from 11-4 and Sunday March 17th from 12-4.  

Russ Shaw, Manager at Rona on McLeod Trail has booked us in to have a table to raise awareness of the garden at the Rona store.  He is also offering us a discount on materials. Next time you are in Rona, please thank Russ and his staff for their support of the garden.  Please consider volunteering your time to promote the garden.  If you would like to set up a table at another location, we are happy to provide you with the materials to do this.

We will bring a 6 foot table, and require responsible polite garden representatives to inform people that approach our table about the garden proposal.  We will not accost people.  We will have flyers or business cards available for those that are interested so they can stay in touch with us.  We have an email address for the garden inquiries:   acadiagarden@yahoo.ca and the blog and facebook page we are promoting.

Next Meeting

The next meeting is March 21, 2013 at 7 pm at the Acadia Recreation Complex.  We welcome you to join us.

If you would like more information, please contact us at acadiagarden@yahoo.ca.  You can also "like" us on Facebook - Acadia Community Garden.  

Sincerely,

Corinne Sandhurst

Chair

The Acadia Community Garden Meeting and Blog

Next Meeting
The next meeting for the Acadia Community Garden is Thursday, Feb 21 at 7 -8:30 pm at the Acadia Recreation Complex. Children are welcome accompanied by a responsible adult.

Agenda:
Logo Contest
The logo contest entries to date will be reviewed and we are extending the contest to the March meeting as we have guests for this garden meeting.

Guest Speakers:
Guy Beavers and Kendra Varoney from the City of Calgary are coming to guide us on the next steps to creating our garden.  We hope to see you there.

Blog
The Acadia Community Garden blog will be going public.  This will create a blog that anyone can subscribe to updates and also unsubscribe when they would like to be off the list.

I will be removing all current subscribers to the private blog this weekend. Please check back and consider subscribing if you are still eager to keep up on our garden news. 

Sincerely,

Corinne
Corinne Sandhurst
Chair
(403) 719-5509 (new phone number)
email:  acadiagarden@yahoo.ca
like us on Facebook:  Acadia Community Garden

Acadia Community Garden Update

Hi Acadia Community Gardeners - Here is the email that went out yesterday to everyone on the email list.

Upcoming Event: 

Celebrating our First Year Planning a Community Garden for Acadia

Date:  Thursday, January 17th

Time:  7:00-8:30 pm

Location:  The lobby at the Acadia Recreation Complex at 240 - 90 Ave. S.E. 

Free Coffee/Tea/Hot Chocolate and Cookies and Info about the garden

Event Details:  You have expressed interest in the idea of a community garden in Acadia over the last year, and on Thursday, January 17th we are celebrating our first year of planning. Please come out for free coffee and hot chocolate and cookies, generously provided by the Acadia Strong Neighbourhood Initiative.  It can take a couple of years or more to start building a community garden. We have learned so much already, and met wonderful people along the way - each and every one of you!  We are handing out lettuce seeds for a play on the words "Lettuce plan a garden together", to the first 50 people that show us their community association membership.   I will also be setting aside a package of seeds for each of you to say a little thank you for being a part of the planning.  The seeds are part of the marketing funds generously provided by the Calgary 2012 gigyyc grant we received.

ACA Membership:  We are proposing this garden with the generous support of the Acadia Community Association and gardeners will require a membership to rent a plot once the garden is built.  Community Association membership is not required to help plan and build the garden, but we do suggest purchasing this membership to show our community association that we appreciate and value their support. They are available for purchase at the Acadia Rec Complex.

Thank you:  It's an exciting and challenging endeavour to create a garden, and each of us is the earth, the water, the nutrients and the sun that will bring the garden to its full potential.   We all have all in ways big and small contributed to this proposal. Each contribution, not matter the size, is vital to helping the garden become a reality.  Thank you for your support over the last year.  It means a great deal to have this email list and watch it grow as more and more people in the community find out about our garden proposal. Please share the news about the garden and invite your friends, neighbours, family, and all that live/work/play/go to school in Acadia to the gatherings.

Meetings:  We meet every third Thursday, from 7-8:30 at the Acadia Rec Complex. (except July and Aug and Dec.)  All are welcome - children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.  The garden is being built with the intention of welcoming the wide community of Acadia in.  If you live/work/play/go to school in Acadia, come help our garden grow.  We propose rental plots,  educational sites for schools and other groups to utilize, a variety of heights of raised beds within the centre for easier access for people with disabilities, wide pathways between the raised beds, perennial gardens, benches, and garden shed with community boards to share news on.  We are looking for support from the Acadia community and the larger City of Calgary community to help us make this beautiful addition to Acadia a reality.

Logo Contest:  Acadia Community Garden needs a logo!  Logo contest is on now. Please submit proposals for logos to acadiagarden@yahoo.ca  on or before midnight of February 09th, 2013.  Please let your creative friends know. The winner will receive acknowledgement on our facebook site and via our email list. All ages welcome to submit logo ideas.  Logo proposals will be posted on the Facebook site and voted on at the February meeting.

Call for Interest:  Acadia Community Garden Opening and Artist Showcase- opening celebration Spring 2014.  This call is to gauge interest of Acadia Artists of all disciplines - Art Show/Performances - singers/musicians/dancers/performance/ visual arts/poetry/author readings/collaborative art /circus/buskers/etc.   Looking for interested artists in all disciplines connected to the community - all ages/live/work/play/school in the community of Acadia to be part of the opening celebration of the garden in spring 2014 and to develop the idea of the celebration.   Please email toacadiagarden@yahoo.ca with proposal by June 30, 2013.  Please include basic outdoor venue requirements, set up/teardown time and approximate budget requirements. Donations of talent, production equipment rentals, tents, children's entertainment, etc will, of course, be gratefully accepted.  Interested in volunteering for the opening celebration?  Please pop me an email. 

Come on out on January 17th and "Lettuce" celebrate together!

Come Celebrate our First Year Of Planning

Please come join us at the Acadia Recreation Complex lobby on Thursday, January 17th from 7:00-8:30 drop in to celebrate our first year of work on creating a community garden in Acadia.

The Acadia Strong Neighbourhood Initiative is generously providing coffee/tea/hot chocolate and cookies.

We look forward to sharing our progress to date and our plans for the next year.

The proposed build date is spring 2014.

The Acadia Community Garden is a grateful recipient of one of the Calgary 2012 Grassroots Initiative grants.

Thank you,

Corinne Sandhurst
(403) 253-2577