Solstice Garden Club and Indigenous history

Happy Solstice all! The longest day of the year was marked by grey skies and occasional sprinkling of rain. Today is also National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada with several George Pearson Centre (GPC) residents attending celebrations at the Musqueam reserve, returning aglow. Many nations are represented by the people who live at GPC. We work to reflect on our shared history and towards reconciliation. The land we are on today has long been home to the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. Just down the hill is the site of the former Musqueam winter village c̓əsnaʔəm which existed long before Vancouver was…

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Seeking Garden Club Volunteers

We started our well loved Garden Club program with the residents of George Pearson Centre (GPC) at the end of March by starting seeds indoors. This is our 14th year!! It has been a bit chilly so far, for many of the gardeners here, who all get around with the use of a wheelchair. GPC is a longterm residential care facility that is home to 114 adults of all ages. We are now looking for volunteers who are friendly, empathetic, enjoy creating a sense of community, and are interested in working one-on-one with gardeners with disabilities. This program is a…

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Garden Club grows again

After the unfortunate hiatus in 2020, where Garden Club was fenced off and COVID-19 protocols forced our first break from running the Pearson resident’s gardening program – we resumed in 2021 and the resident gardens are thriving once again. Thankfully the gardens only had a single year of wild growth – not long enough for the blackberries to take over, but certainly long enough for some strange and giant brassicas to have emerged! The below kale plant was planted in 2019 but then skipped going to seed in 2020 for reasons only known to itself. It carried on growing arms…

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Pandemic pivoting

It has been awhile since we’ve reported from the Garden Club at the George Pearson Centre the long term care facility site, home to 114 residents with disabilities (and abilities, such as green thumbs!) As we all know, 2020 was a very different year, after about mid March. It was tough. We at Farmers on 57th were poised to run another glorious season of therapeutic gardening in partnership with Pearson….when everything stopped. Pearson was locked down to outsiders that weren’t considered essential. At first, family and friends could only visit their loved one through the window. In the end, despite…

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MAY 12TH, 2018 – JOIN OUR WEEKEND FARM BUILD!

Calling all weekend farm warriors: Mark your calendars! Saturday, May 12th 10am – 2pm Come to the George Pearson Centre for our Weekend Farm Build! Dress for rain or shine, and expect to get dirty as we build the new site for the Farmers on 57th Urban Farm. We’ll spend the day tackling a big mound of soil with our shovels and wheelbarrows and moving it to raise brand new farm beds for winter crops.         What to bring: Sunscreen & hat Water bottle Gardening gloves (if you have them – otherwise we have some extras) Sturdy…

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Grow Your Own Food Course Registration Open

Wanna Grow Your Own Food? Our ever popular Grow Your Own Food course begins in just 3 weeks, Thursday March 29th! Sign up now, space is going fast. $300 and you get your own 4′ x 6′ instructional plot, access to all the tools and supplies you’ll need and 12 instructional sessions every 2nd Thursday, 6:30-8pm. Urban farmers Karen & Jess guide you through every step of the season from soil prep, seed starting to crop maintenance and harvest. Eat what you grow! Find more details at www.farmerson57th.ca. What People Say: “It is a good family activity. We learnt the basic knowledge…

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Urban Farming Volunteer Learning Program – Apply Now!

Apply now! Urban Farming Learning Program with Farmers on 57th The Farmers on 57th market garden is seeking Learning Program volunteers for the 2018 season! This full season learning experience will immerse you into the world of ecological farming. It is a practical hands-on experience where you exchange your labour and commitment for our instruction, supervision and mutual commitment. Farmers on 57th is an urban farm on Vancouver Coastal Health land on 57th Avenue near Cambie Street, in Vancouver, BC. The market garden grows beautiful organic veggies for distribution through a CSA program. We also grow and market cut flower bouquets. We operate on…

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