From December 26th until January 8th, the garden opened its gates for our annual Christmas Tree Chipping fundraiser. While community members from across Vancouver came to the garden with their unwanted trees in tow, volunteers and staff members were busy at work turning the woody remnants of the holiday season into mulch that is currently being used to resurface our garden trails.

Chipping trees on a by-donation basis ($5 suggested), each year the Garden selects one local school to recieve the money raised in order to initiate a gardening project of their own. Last year's recipient was David Thompson Secondary, an East Vancouver school that had plans to expand their gardening efforts but were lacking the funds to do so. During the 2010-2011 fundraiser we successfully raised $700 for students at David Thompson (pictured below) which used the money to improve their student-operated garden, while in 2009-2010 we raised $500 for Quilchena Elementary School. 

This year we partnered with SPEC (Society Promoting Environmental Conservation)- a Kitsilano based organization that works with locals schools to establish organic food gardens that integrates food education into school curriculum. Working with SPEC we decided to get involve with a project already started at Bayview Elementary, a smaller garden project located closer to us that needed a helping hand to grow.

Project Description:
Bayview Garden is a small container garden, with big harvests and bigger dreams. It is a collaborative project involving Bayview students, Point Grey Community Church, Jericho Kids Club Daycare and SPEC. For two years, the school garden has provided all the greens for the Bayview Year-End Family Picnic, feeding over 300 people. Young student gardeners receive curriculum based lessons on gardening by SPEC staff. Students are responsible for planting, watering, tending and harvesting a wide array of crops grown throughout the year. Planter boxes were constructed by volunteers using recycled fence boards. Produce during the summer is harvested and consumed by Jericho Kids Club and the Point Grey Community Church congregation. With the funds raised from this year's tree chipping, plans are afoot to expand the garden, increasing capacity for growing more vegetables. Their wish list includes new garden boxes, grow lights, improved seedling production facilities, and planting perennial berry bushes, including blueberries and raspberries.

Stay tuned for a follow-up blog post updating you on the progress being made at Bayview Elementary's gardening project, and THANK YOU to everyone who supported this year's event!