Maximizing Garden Space with Grand Rising Gardens
This is a FREE event & no registration is required.Based in Winnipeg, Alyssa Kostek is the founder of Grand Rising Gardens, a company dedicated to making fresh, organic food accessible to everyone by promoting garden autonomy. With a deep passion for nature & sustainability, Alyssa empowers gardeners of ALL experience levels to grow their own food—regardless of their space or starting point.Specializing in high-yield, space-efficient gardening, she teaches practical techniques to maximize harvests, even in small spaces, through smart design, companion planting, & organic methods.
Through social media, coaching, workshops, & education, Alyssa shares the knowledge & tools needed to create thriving kitchen gardens while building a deeper connection to nature.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced gardener, Alyssa’s expertise & enthusiasm will inspire you to embrace organic gardening & sustainable living while crafting a space that’s uniquely yours!
10 Basics of Square Foot Gardening with Mick Manfield
Join us Wednesday, March 26th at 7 PM at Robert A Steen Community Centre 980 Palmerston Avenue.
Join us Wednesday, March 26th at 7 PM at Robert A Steen Community Centre - 980 Palmerston Avenue.
This workshop will cover the 10 core elements of square foot gardening, show some examples of square foot gardening layouts, & more!
This is a FREE event & no registration is required.The 10 Basics of Square Foot Gardening will cover the 10 core elements of square foot gardening, show some examples of Square foot gardening layouts & include some tips & tricks learnt from Mick’s Gardening career. -Square foot gardening allows you to grow more using less water, space & effort.Mick Manfield is an enthusiastic gardener who has completed the Master Gardener, Master Composter & Square Foot Gardening instructor courses. He is passionate about passing on this gardening knowledge to others.Prior to COVID Mick was heavily involved in organizing the Annual Gardening Saturday & Seedy Saturday events in Winnipeg. Mick has presented to gardening clubs, schools, businesses & at the Winnipeg & Grand Forks Gardening Saturday Events!
Be there, & be prepared to learn gardening in a square!
All About Wolseley Community Gardens
Support from our Wolseley community is essential to the future of the gardens, & we hope you can attend, bring a friend, or share this invitation with someone who might be interested.
Delighted one of our & Wolseley Community Gardens Committee’s founders has been honoured with a Winnipeg 150 Medal!
Wolseleyite Erna Buffie was honored among 150 other wonderful Winnipeggers this past October for her ongoing community enriching work leading the call for continued urban forest preservation.
Buffie, known colloquially as "the Tree Lady", is a champion of community engagement & collaboration & a staunch advocate of the important role greenspaces & trees play, particularly in the health of our urban environments.
Together with the WRA Wolseley Community Gardens Committee, she spearheaded our community's Vimy Victory Gardens located in Wolseley's Vimy Ridge Park. Along with the WRA Garden's Committee, Buffie's also helped facilitate many of our WRA garden seminars, -a popular year long educational series in Wolseley featuring various urban ecologists, urban forestry services & local gardeners. Buffie is also a member of Trees Please Winnipeg, a public advocacy & urban forest education group for greater Winnipeg. Trees Please strives to attain "long term sustainable infrastructure investment available to cities like Winnipeg for the maintenance, diversification & expansion of urban forests."
Mayor Scott Gillingham stated: "As we celebrate Winnipeg's 150th anniversary, it’s important to honour the residents who have made exceptional contributions to our community. These recipients represent what makes Winnipeg special - people who give their time & energy to build a better future for all of us. I’m proud to recognize their efforts..."
Nearly 600 nominations were received, with a selection committee reviewing each nomination to select the medal recipients.
You can learn more about Erna Buffie's important work, see what projects she's up to next, & catchup on her engaging Op-Ed Series for the Winnipeg Free Press on her Blog Train of Thought right Here!
It's time for a Spring clean-up at Vimy Ridge Park!
Come lend us a hand in clearing-up our community greenspace!
We will be meeting at our community garden space in
Vimy Ridge Park Saturday, April 27th from 10 am - 12 pm noon.
Gloves & garbage bags will be provided. All are Welcome to Join see you there!
Applications for the 2024 Vimy Victory Garden Allotments are out!
THE WRA COMMUNITY GARDEN COMMITTEE NEEDS YOU!
WHAT'S NEW:
COME, BUILD & GROW WITH US!
Would you be willing to volunteer a little of your time to help with some great garden projects aimed at food security, climate change resiliency and what’s good for the birds, the bees, and the community?
... If the answer is yes, then take a look at the projects below, see what appeals to you, go to the link, & tell us how you can help to green our community! https://www.wrawpg.ca/volunteer
:
If you have skills or interests not listed below, please let us know & we’ll put them to good use. WE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US!
COMMUNITY GARDEN VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Community Garden and Food Forest Stewards: Volunteers to tend to our community beds in the Vimy Victory Garden & help with a brand-new project. We’re seeking funding for the creation of a food forest in Vimy Ridge Park & will need volunteers to plant fruit trees & shrubs, ensure they’re watered during the summer months & promptly harvested in future years.
Building a New Community Garden at Omand’s: We’d love to expand the community gardens into Omand’s Park & have a couple of locations in mind. What we need are a group of volunteers keen to help make it happen, under the direction of co-chairs Jade Raizenne & Roxanne Gratton & committee members, Erna Buffie & Kaleigh Quin.
Organizing Fundraising Events: Volunteers are needed to help plan fundraising events - whether it’s a house concert, community film screening (restrictions allowing) or connecting with local businesses to ask if they’d like to become a garden sponsor.
Community Liaison and Education: Volunteers interested in reaching out to local schools, daycares, churches & other community groups, encouraging them to use the gardens in their spring & summer programming for kids & adults – whether it’s a setting for a painting & drawing class or a place to educate the community about biodiversity, growing food & caring for plants.
Communications: We need volunteers who can post events & updates on social media & lias with the WRA communications team.
Launching The Garden Challenge: We want to encourage residents to dig up their lawns to grow food or naturalize their yards & boulevard space. Volunteers would work to get the message out to the community & engage native plant nurseries like Prairie Originals, Prairie Flora, Sage Garden & other businesses to donate prizes for the best gardens.
THE VIMY VICTORY GARDEN - THIS IS HOW VOLUNTEERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Hardworking volunteers built 20 Community Garden Beds during a two day build May 15th and 16th 2021.
The committee worked hard to ensure everyone stayed safe as the build was underway.
The WRA’s Community Garden Sub-Committee Mission Statement:
To build, maintain, and protect inclusive, organic community food gardens in Wolseley for the use, enjoyment and benefit of Wolseley
The work of the CG subcommittee will focus on overseeing the building, maintenance and use of our proposed community garden spaces, supporting community gardeners and volunteers and developing gardening and environmental educational programs for adults and kids.
Based on door to door canvassing and responses to an online survey, there is broad support for a community garden in Vimy Park. 267 residents indicated that they support the idea. 12 reported that they opposed the plan. Almost 70% are interested, either in gardening one of the allotment plots, or helping to support the garden and community plot in whatever way they can.
Five-Year Plan and Mission
Short Term Objectives (1 to 2 years):
- To build 20 4X8’ allotment beds, 2 community beds (4X16), composting stations and a tool storage shed in accordance with our agreement with the City of Winnipeg, in Vimy Park, called The Vimy Victory Garden
- Secure the help of community volunteers to help build the garden beds and composting stations
- Provide additional garden infrastructure such as water access
- Engage gardeners and community volunteers to plant and help maintain the community garden beds
- Run a yearly online registration each spring for a lottery that would be used to assign the 20 allotment beds to one or two families.
- Ensure that the garden is accessible to Wolseley residents of all ages, ethnicities and abilities with special attention given to low-income families, the elderly, the disabled and youth
- Provide education and training for all community gardeners
- Dedicate yearly funds to the gardens through fundraising and grants.
- Communicate regularly with gardeners to identify and assign maintenance tasks (including, but not limited to the maintenance of raised beds, paths and compost bins)
- Plan and support a variety of community events in the gardens (workshops, potlucks, knowledge-sharing opportunities, ceremonies, work days, etc.)
- Communicate and engage residents to promote garden security and stewardship
- Facilitate opportunities for new gardeners to meet veteran/expert gardeners in the garden
- Provide first-time gardeners with support and resources related to gardening practices
- Hold workshops for all gardeners related to topics of interest
- Provide workshops for all gardeners before and after planting season (planning your garden, seed starting, and putting your garden to bed for the winter)
- Communicate about education, training opportunities and garden plot availability through email, newsletters, posters in the gardens, and through direct contact with the community
Medium and Long Term Goals ( 3 - 5 years):
- Establish a micro orchard to be inter-planted in Vimy Park
- Establish additional community gardens and secure garden infrastructure in other areas of Wolseley such as: Omand’s Park, Telfer Green and Aubrey bus loop.
- Secure the support of paid summer staff – a Green team or First Jobs 4 Youth to oversee/ maintain the gardens and orchards
- Explore a range of funding opportunities and support for continued garden maintenance (small grants, contract services, donations, external grants, etc)
- Initiate naturalization projects along the creek and riverbank particularly in Omand’s Park.
- Explore partnerships with other community and neighbourhood organizations that would include local businesses and churches, immigrant, indigenous and refugee organizations, school groups, youth organizations and daycares.
- Continued/expanded partnerships with various agencies, and businesses to support the maintenance of community gardens through donations, volunteer labour, contract services, etc.
