First Avenue Athletes Village Housing Co-operative

Garden Committee Meeting: 

March 24, 2021, 6:30 pm 

Minutes

In Attendance: Lindsay Alford, Deb Cooper, Diane Holt, Mila Timochevskaya,

Pouneh Bahrami, Ryanne James, Susan Moroney

Regrets: Adele Laker-Ball

1. Call to Order: 6:45 pm.

2. Approval of Agenda: Approved. Moved, Seconded, Carried.

3. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting: Approved. Moved, Seconded, Carried.

4. Follow-up from Previous Meeting: The Actions List was reviewed and most were reviewed again in the business items below, as described.

5. Business Items Discussed:

• Treasurer’s Update:

  • Revision of 2020 -21 Garden Budget: Diane shared a new simplified Garden Budget which was updated since the one submitted on Oct 3, 2020.

  • Diane shared an updated Treasurer’s report showing the amount spent so far out of our total $2000.00 budget, with a remaining budget to spend of $1154.99 for the roof garden and $188.19 for the boulevard garden. 

  • Actions: Committee members to submit receipts to Diane for reimbursement and recording, as usual

• Planning - Moving of Plants and Trees:

  • New currant bushes - are going to be planted into the pots that have been emptied from fruit trees that have been given away

  • Some of the designated potted trees have already been donated. Ryanne has found homes for 3 more of the trees that we no longer have room for. Some still need to be moved.

  • Trees on the South side are pruned and fed; trees on the North side still need feeding but have been pruned.

  • Actions:

    • Ryanne to update Deb as to which trees are donated so our list can be kept up to date. 

    • One fig tree is going to go to Jackie and Herb in Victoria. Deb and John have offered to take it to them once travel is permitted.

    • Deb and John to purchase new concrete tiles to put along the north wall of South garden. These will be to place some of the remaining potted trees on, so they won’t shade the vegetable garden.  

    • Deb to cap off irrigation lines for the trees as they are removed.

    • Pouneh requested help with monthly feeding of the potted trees on the North side. They have already been pruned. Deb will teach Susan and Mila so they can take over this task. 

• Soil:  

  • Deb shared that she and Kerrie have finished with applying the banana peels and coffee grounds on some of the vegetable beds. This has been a new strategy for building soil health this winter. We’re going to try a new technique of shoveling / turning over the soil in these beds, only the beds that have green clover, in order to not disturb the soil structure. 

  • Costco has big bags of soil (84L) - we need 5-6 bags

  • Actions: 

    • Soil soon needs to be Ph tested - Deb

    • Deb and John will purchase soil from Costco. Lindsay will post on Facebook for members to assist to carry to the rooftop.

• Shelter for garden:

  • A group of committee members attempted to hang a tarp under the kiwis this fall but were not successful. Committee discussed the idea of getting a permanent outdoor roof so co-op members can sit outside in any season, which is even more important during the pandemic. Also discussed the idea of a portable propane fire pit. 

  • Actions: committee members to brainstorm and we will revisit this next meeting. Ryanne has some ideas and connections and will consider some options.

• Youth garden involvement: Ryanne had only just started this new initiative before the pandemic, and it is not prioritized right now due. 

  • Action: Ryanne will contact the parents of the children that were initially involved, and let them know that this is still on hold.

• Irrigation: Deb made initial contact with Moscoe Bros, our new landscaping company. Contact person is Brad, the irrigation specialist. Deb spoke to him and explained the complication with our water system being tied in with 181.

  • Action: Deb will follow up with Brad and Beshir to confirm a date to have irrigation turned on early.

• Seeds and plant order: Deb placed an order with West Coast Seeds at the end of Feb. Only half of the order arrived in the mail. WCS had an error and now much is out of stock. The rest of the order should be coming next week. Deb bought onions at Canadian Tire. Ryanne has some extra seeds and bulbs.

• Other business:

  • Matt and Hussan are currently working on building a picnic table for the North garden. It is about halfway done. 

  • Our glass lights in the South garden broke. Deb will purchase some new plastic lights from Costco.

  • Ryanne continues to work on the Boulevard Garden.  She recently signed up to be a Butterfly Way Ranger through the David Suzuki foundation. She might encourage some families to be involved in planting seeds that attract butterflies. 

• Announcements: 

  • Adele has kindly agreed to take over as the Garden Committee Secretary, starting at our next meeting. 

• Next meeting: April 21, 2021 at 6:30pm

• Adjourned 7:45pm

• Minutes taken by Lindsay Alford