2022 AGM - EVERYONE WELCOME

 

TAHSIS COMMUNITY GARDEN

AGM

6 PM

JUNE 28, 2022

Greetings to all Tahsis Community Garden members! The Annual General Meeting will be held in the garden at 6pm on Tuesday, June 28th, all members need to attend this very important meeting.

In addition to current members, this meeting is open to anyone wishing to join the group and is for all members of the public. Please come and check out all the work that has been happening in the garden and find out what the TCG is all about!

Fall Clean Up Sunday, Sept 22

Fall Clean up at the Garden this Sunday, 10 AM. Bring a bagged lunch and drinking water, tools/gloves.  

A general meeting is planned during our lunch break regarding the Remote Facilities Composting Pilot Program.  

Please see your email for information regarding the pilot program.

S L U G F E S T ! Sunday, July 21st at 3 pm

Welcome Summer 2019

A message from TCGS President, Kim A:

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for coming to our annual Solstice Potluck tonight. The food was amazing and such a variety what a spread! Was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves and showing off the garden to our visitors from Germany. The garden is looking fantastic with all the beds well under way now. Even the black flies were on their best behaviour tonight!

A special thank you to the boss mother nature for keeping a tight leash on the rain!

Cheers everyone! - Kim

⭐⭐⭐        🌞        ⭐⭐⭐

First things first - our old rickety picnic table had a loose board with a screw sticking out, so we asked Terry to deal with it, thinking he'd just take the hammer and remove the offending board.  But nooooo, off he went and returned with a plank, drill and screws. 

That all safely taken care of, we moved on to Kim's welcoming address.

Rita was not feeling well and we truly missed her and her reading of the traditional Solstice Garden Blessing.  It is with appreciation that Juanita stepped up and said a few words of gratitude for the beautiful space we have here in Tahsis and even thanked Mother Nature for the needed rain.  Thank you Juanita. 

Deb and Janet were there and Janet bought 'pails of kale' as a giveaway.  er, thanks Janet! 😉 

Adding an international flair to our party, Thomas and Corrine from Germany joined us. 

The garden has never really looked better, almost every plot is lush, well-tended and growing.  Cheryl's plots are outstanding, as was her clam chowder, made with local clams. Terry's home made bread complimented it perfectly. Thank you Cheryl and Terry! 

Maureen and Merv took charge of our tents, they had recently cleaned and dried them to be ready for the upcoming Canada Day celebrations.  With the uncertain weather, the tents had to be loaded up and brought back to the garden.  Thank you Maureen and Merv - a lot of extra work and your many contributions are always appreciated.  

All in all a really nice gathering and sincere thanks to everyone who made it a success.  Next up...it's our 8th Annual Slugfest!  This is the Tahsis Community Garden's Tahsis Days Event, and is scheduled for Sunday, July 21st at 3 pm.  

Happy Solstice

Today at the garden - great to see everything healthy and even some produce ready for harvest. 

Volunteer Calendula & Poppies

 Scapes! 

 baby zucchini

 Maureen's beans, Terry's rye grass

 Neat & Tidy

 Cheryl's Petunias

 French Lavender with Variegated Oregano in the communal herb bed

 Towering Tarragon

 Kim's Romaine looking swell

 Rita's purple potato blossoms

 Perennial Peas prettying up our portapotty

 the Farm to School garden area

 love this patch of tall grass

 rutabaga seed factory

 this woman mows the entire garden, and then some.... thank you Rita!

  

Don't forget our annual Solstice aka 

Welcome Summer Potluck on Sunday - 5 pm

at the Tahsis Community Garden

Welcome Summer Potluck: 5 pm Sun June 23

heh diddle diddle! 

After some discussion, it was decided to have our annual Solstice Potluck on Sunday, June 23 at 5 pm, and call it the 

Welcome Summer Party! 

The potluck is always a really nice time to sit back and enjoy our garden, and to share food, drink and gardening tips. 

All members are encouraged to participate and are welcome to invite friends and family to the potluck.  

Please let guests know that the garden is plastic free, so bring a plate and a spoon. There are some chairs at the garden, or bring your own.  

Photos from 2018 Solstice Potluck. 

General Meeting May 27 @ 7 pm

agenda will be emailed to all members, thank you. 

Native Plants Presentation April 13, 2019

On Saturday, April 13^th, the Tahsis Community Garden Society welcomed biologist Todd Carnahan to Tahsis.  

That afternoon, Todd did a walk-around at our community garden with eight garden members.  Under the shelter of large umbrellas, we discussed invasive species (blackberries), food sources (poplar trees!), the importance of recognising our unique and rich environment, soil erosion as it relates to salmon habitat, and wildlife interactions.  

At the evening presentation ‘Gardening with Native Plants’, Todd’s knowledge, humour and suggestions were very well received by all those in attendance.  Todd shared many outstanding photographs including photos of the edible Camas lily, Oregan grape and the four varieties of wild crab apples – some of which may be found around our Leiner Estuary.   To view Todd’s photos, visit his website Todd Carnahan Photography.  

It was interesting to hear how the indigenous peoples harvested, nurtured and preserved edible plants for untold generations; a matriarchal passing of knowledge.   Living in an area rich in natural resources from the land and sea, natives had a very different way of cultivating food than the European practices with which we are more familiar. 

Participants learned that the bumble bee is superior to the honey bee in terms of pollination, and that the top three plants for pollinators are lavender, rhododendron and white clover.  Heather provides good, early season blooms for bees, and beneficial flowers of asters and goldenrod make a stunning colour presentation of blue and gold.

The topic of invasive plants was touched upon, with examples such as broom and the evil tansy ragwort.  Todd suggested a visit to the Invasive Species Council of BC website, https://bcinvasives.ca/ as a great resource about invasive species, and best practices for dealing with them.  

Of special note, Todd brought with him a very old nautical chart of Kyuquot Sound.  He presented it as a gift to the Tahsis Heritage Society, who were exceptionally pleased.  To end his visit to Tahsis, Heritage Society directors Maureen Roth and Judy Burgess gave Todd and his companion a private tour of the museum on Sunday.  When the Tahsis Museum re-opens this summer, be sure to stop in to view this chart from 1863.  

We are very grateful to Todd Carnahan for making this trip up to Tahsis, and offer sincere thanks to the Tahsis Literacy Society for funding the event, to the Tahsis Seniors Centre for making their facilities available, to the volunteers of the Tahsis Community Garden Society who organized the event, and to the villagers of Tahsis who came out on a blustery Spring night to attend the presentation.  

Thanks all, and happy gardening.

Busy Weekend!

Two events this weekend!  

Join us at the Seniors Centre on Saturday April 13 at 7 pm for the Native Plants presentation.

Sunday is the Tahsis Community Garden Society's AGM, Seniors Centre at 1 pm, April 14th.  

Spring Work Party

March 30th - Spring Community Garden Work Party

 

The weather was exceptional and so were the four lovely, hardworking women who showed up first thing in the morning.  In alphabetical order, Cheryl, Juanita, Katy and Lynn, deserve a Big Thank You for all their efforts in cleaning up our community garden.  Of course our heartfelt thanks is also extended to Terry, man amongst men, who always works his Garden Magic for the benefit of all. Thanks Terry!!

Apologies for not having Juanita in the group photo.  Was working so hard I never saw her leave for her lunch break.

(left: Juanita Feb 2012 at the Tabletop Building Work Party)

Cheryl is one dedicated, hard-working gal and it is to her that your Executive extend special thanks for uprooting mega wicked blackberry vines and clearing a large area for future planting.  In all, there were 9 truckloads of blackberry vines/brambles & sundry debris removed from the garden and it’s lookin’ good!  Thanks also goes out to Chuck for hauling two of those truckloads away previous to the work party.

Cheryl and I were able to save the tabletop that was leaning precariously, looking like it was about to tip over.  The legs were not rotten and Cheryl literally picked it up…whoa!...and moved it to safer ground with more support to come.  Good going Cheryl!  The words, “we are women hear us roar” came instantly to mind.  Inspiring!  Chuckle.

 

A gentle reminder to those who share community greenhouse space and/or have yet to clean up their outside raised beds, please do so.  We will soon be hosting a walk-through for our guest, Todd Carnahan and want to, with pride, put our best foot forward.

In Honour of The Garden!

Rita

Vice-President

Tahsis Community Garden Society

Ideal Islander 'Staycation' June 15-16

We received this message from Katrina over on Denman Island about the upcoming Denman Island Home and Garden Tour June 15-16.  A quick 10 minute ferry ride from Buckley Bay takes you to beautiful Denman Island.  For an overnight adventure, pre-booking accommodation is highly recommended.  Details below:

I am hoping you can help us spread the word to your membership about this great event - an important fundraiser for the Denman Island Conservancy - protecting rare ecosystems on the island since 1991. We welcome garden clubs from all across BC - many choose to carpool or rent a charter bus for the event. Thank you for your consideration!

Denman Island Home and Garden Tour

June 15-16, 2019

Tickets are now on sale for this enchanting Tour, deemed by the Globe & Mail "one of Canada's top six horticultural events."  Every two years this idyllic island throws open its garden gates, inviting the pubic for a rare up-close look at the creativity, skill and passion Denman residents pour into their properties.

The Denman Conservancy has declared 2019 to be The Year of the Wetland, and many of our extraordinary properties offer natural and man-made water features, creating complex, lively ecosystems. The famous Des Kennedy Garden is a major attraction again this year, and other highlights include an organic vineyard (with tasting room), a home build from creatively recycled components, a modern homestead and market garden, a couple of oceanfront west-coast architectural delights, and an island-style chocolate factory. Bloom lovers will not be disappointed, either - roses, lilies, and a whole host of other blossoms will be found in abundance.

This weekend event provides an unforgettable experience for lovers of gardens, homes and rural charm. Many people return year after year, and are never disappointed. Join them! Come for a day trip, or book into a cozy B&B and stay for the weekend.

Early bird tickets are $18, and can be purchased online at http://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/.

You can also find us (and Like us) on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DenmanIslandHomeAndGardenTour . Please help us spread the word about this great event.

Fall Clean Up: Sunday October 28th

All Members:  It's time for the annual fall clean up at our community garden.  Please bring gloves, something to drink, rakes/snippers and a bagged lunch.  Meet at the garden at 10 AM.  This should take about 4 hours, depending on how many hands we have.  Please have a look at the TCGS October 15th email/chore list for more information.  Thanks all! 

Best Slugfest Ever!

We had a G R E A T turn out for the Community Garden's 7th Annual Slugfest.  Volunteer Michelle took a count about midway and best estimate is that there were 65 visitors to the garden.  We ran out of lemonade (stinkin hot!) but everyone got a fruit kebab or a slice of watermelon.  Thanks to Kim for purchasing the fruit and finding the best strawberries in all of Nanaimo and to Silvie, Slicer of Fruit. 

But more important, the Grand Slug Hunter 2018 is Silas - who found 22 slugs.  Silas' brother Elijah came in second with 21 slugs, and brothers Carter & Kessler tied for third, with 16 slugs each.  Slug Master Juanita tallied the slugs, read some slug stories to the children, and also brought along Dudley the Duck for show and tell.  Thank you Juanita - you kindness abounds.  Many thanks to Janet Kirsop who hand crafted Norman, the Grand Prize Slug.  

Kudos to Jim, who built some sweet birdhouses for the kids to paint.  Gabe's colour combo was just excellent and Karma's wee birdfeeder was another work of art, among many.  

Lynda did a wonderful job making sure everything was set up and organized.  Thanks to Kim for lending her voice to address the crowd and to member volunteers Maureen, Michelle & Silvie who helped set up, take down and clean up.  Jim and Sarah F. also lent a hand with the tents, always appreciated, what a terrific community!