News

At the work party we had four dedicated volunteers. In total they potted up 174 seedlings from 4″ styroblocks into 1-gallon pots. The seedlings were weeded and root pruned as necessary as they were potted up.

At the first Sunday work party we had two extremely productive volunteers. Judith and Ryan accomplished a lot:

• 45 1-gallon seedlings weeded and root pruned 
• 20 pots weeded
• 500 pots moved (to organize our trees and make space for potting up our 4″ seedlings)

At this work party 5 volunteers contributed a total of 15.5 hours.

Our efforts were directed towards three activities: weeding the remaining 1-gallon pots that were overgrown with weeds, potting up 4″ seedlings from styroblocks to 1-gallon pots, and making space on the pallets for these larger containers.

In total we accomplished:

• 80 4″ seedlings potted up into 1-gallon pots
• Approximately 120 1-gallon pots weeded and root pruned (where necessary)
• 123 1-gallon pots weeded

At this work party we had 9 volunteers who contributed 27.5 hours between them.

We focused on weeding and root pruning 1-gallon pots. We also had a little ceremony to celebrate and thank our 3 volunteers form Taiwan who were attending their final work party!

What we accomplished:

• We weeded and fertilized 370 1-gallon seedlings!

Due to overwhelming acorn support we must ask that volunteers please discontinue collecting Garry oaks acorns for our nursery.  Thank you for your amazing efforts! The acorns have been sorted and are now in cold storage until planting in the spring.

At this event we had four volunteers contribute just over 11hrs of work.

We also had a visitor, Barb from the Habitat Acquisition Trust, come by to receive a gift of a seedling. She was generous enough to donate her time at our AGM and give a fascinating presentation on land covenants for GOMPS members in attendance.

In total we:

• weeded, mulched and fertilized 100 1-gallon pots
• weeded and fertilized 55 1-gallon pots
• weeded, root pruned and fertilized 23 1-gallon pots

At this event we had 8 volunteers and contributed 22 hours of work between us.

The three sisters visiting from Taiwan, Cathy, Rebecca and Ruby, attended their third and final work party with us! It seems that they would keep coming back if their visit to our city wasn’t rapidly coming to an end. They were absolute naturals with the work, even though they’d never had their hands in the soil before! We will miss having them at the nursery and wish them safe travels into the future.

What we accomplished:

• weeded and mulched 37 isolated seedlings
• weeded, mulched and fertilized 80 5- and 10-gallon pots
• weeded, mulched and fertilized 256 1-galon seedlings

At this work party we had 7 volunteers are we contributed a total of 21.5 hours of work.

This was the last event Joanna, one of our most dedicated volunteers, will be able to attend as she is moving out of the province. Joanna, thank you for all your hard work and we will miss you dearly!

In terms of wildlife, we had a very close encounter with a Pacific Chorus Frog, a native tree frog in our region, who can be seen in the photos below. What a cutie!

Lots of weeding and re-weeding again this week…

What we accomplished:

• We weeded mulched two 2″ styroblocks
• We weeded and mulched twenty 4″ styroblocks
• We weeded, mulched and fertilized fifty-one 5-gallon and 10-gallon pots
• We weeded and mulched ten 1-gallon pots
• We weeded fifteen 1-gallon pots

Come out and volunteer at our upcoming Garry Oak Nursery work party, this Saturday August 25th from 2-5pm.

Click here to learn more about the Nursery.

Come out and help us out, learn about Garry oaks, and enjoy the summer at our beautiful nursery location!

As a reminder, there is now a proper toilet (porta-potty type) on the premises.  Training, gloves, tools & refreshments are provided. Weather appropriate clothing & good work boots are recommended – don’t forget sun protection!

Click here to learn more about volunteering.

Send me an email if you want to help out!

Jenny Hebb
Volunteer Coordinator
jenny.gomps@gmail.com

At this work party we had 8 volunteers and we contributed 24 hours of work between us.

We saw potter bee clay pots (their houses) on the site of a 1-gallon pot, which was super neat and you can see this in the photos below.

What we accomplished:

• 270 4″ seedlings weeded
• 775 2″ seedlings weeded
• 110 4″ seedlings mulched and fertilized
• 148 1-gallon pots weeded, mulched and fertilized
• 48 1-gallon pots had weed seed heads removed
• all new mulched plants were watered