Ladner Community Garden

Planning is now underway for Ladner Seedy Saturday 2018.  It will be held on March 3, 2018 at the All Saints Anglican Church in Ladner.  We moved the date to March after experiencing a late spring in 2017. We know a later date means more plants will be available from our vendors. It was pretty hard to find plants for sale when there was still snow on the ground. Our seed swap is always the highlight of the event so if you are a seed saver, this is the place to go. Bring your unused seeds from this year to our seed swap. They must be packaged in small envelopes so they can be traded at the event. We can't receive large bagfuls of seed on event day as the volunteers won't have time to sort and package them. It's important to plan ahead and label and pack your seeds before you arrive. Ladner Seedy Saturday is a fundraiser for the Ladner Community Garden which opened in 2011. One of the missions of the community garden is to grow for the local food bank and other

Thank you to all our wonderful vendors, speakers and customers for supporting Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo this year. We had a successful event with just under four hundred people attending our event. A good time was had by all. The highlight of the event was the arrival of our first speaker, Brian Minter. I cannot tell you how many people called or emailed to ask when he would be speaking. Brian is the guru of gardening here in British Columbia and his audience numbers attest to his popularity. Shelley Levis presented an interesting talk on how to use edible flowers. Did you know all parts of the sunflower are edible, even the roots? She also taught us how to use nasturtiums not only as a trap plant for aphids but in salads as well. Gary Lewis from Phoenix Perennials arrived with trays and trays of Hellebores and talked about them and their care. The Hellebore Hurrah starts this Friday so be sure to visit Phoenix Perennials to see what the garden center has

Its less than a week until the Ladner Community Garden Society and the Ladner United Church opens the doors for Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo 2017. We are still getting requests from vendors and I am working on different layouts to fit everyone in. It looks like we have the Kelpman and Mike and Sandy's Berry farm coming again this year. We have a wonderful lineup of speakers including Brian Minter, Gary Lewis, Shelley Levis and Mike Nugent. The presentations will be in the Ladner United Church's sanctuary and the vendors will be in the celebration hall. Entrance to the event is through the main doors at the front of the church. Parking is always a struggle to find in our small town as its free. Yes, free parking, imagine that. So if you can walk to the event that's great or if you are driving try to use the public parking lots located at the corner of Elliot street and Chisholm street, along the Ladner Memorial Park on 47 avenue and along 47A avenue. Pa

Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo 2017 is only 18 days away. We are finalizing tables and seating with the Ladner United Church, our host this year. Wait until you see our new venue, its stunning inside with room for everyone. There will be lots of seating for our speakers so no rush to get in early. I look forward to meeting some of our new vendors. Below is a list of the vendors we have coming this year. Wild Ginger Designs Salt Spring Seeds West Coast Seeds Tropic to Tropic South Delta Garden Club Kurtis's Photo Cards J & J Enterprises-More plants! Succulent Avenue Bartlett Tree Experts Corporation of Delta Engineering Vancouver Master Gardeners Westham Island Herb Farm Local Kiwi by D Y-Grip Tools Linda's Garden Collectibles Don't forget the seed swap. It will be located in the main hall with the vendors. Bring your seeds to trade. Be sure to mark the seed packages with name of plant, when the seed was harvested, colour, height, num

Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo is less than a month away. I love attending this event as its the start of the garden season. Its at this time that I will think about which seeds to buy and grow in my garden. This year we have Salt Spring Seeds and West Coast Seeds coming with their wonderful selection of seeds. Its time to go through their catalogues to get an idea of what you may want to pick up. February means you can think about planting pac choi in the garden, maybe some salad greens if you are growing in a greenhouse or hoop house. March is the official start in the vegetable garden with potatoes, onions and broad beans being planted. Yes, you don't have to wait until May to get started. You want to get your cool season crops started. Living in the lower mainland of BC we can plant earlier than many other areas. We also have Tropic to Tropic Plants coming with his array of interesting tropical plants. Last year Ray had avocado, paw paw and lemon shrubs. I c

Its official, our speakers are booked and we are in the last of the planning stages for Ladner Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo 2017. Now to get our vendors organized and iron out a few more details. There are always a few last minute items to deal with. Be sure to package up your unwanted seeds for our annual seed swap. I will be bring some heirloom tomato seeds to trade. Our poster is ready for printing so you will see it around the community. We have four wonderful speakers once again. I must give a shout out to Jennifer's Graphics for the great poster she created for us again this year. Brian Minter will start the day with a talk on "Whats New and Funky in Food Gardening" at 10:00am. I am sure Brian needs no introduction as he is a well known speaker. Brian is famous for his passion in gardening which is so evident in his talks. Brian will be bringing plants to sell at the event. For those of you who haven't heard Brian Minter speak, he is the owner of Min