Davie Village Community Garden
Northwest corner of Davie and Burrard Street V6E 1M8 Vancouver, BC, Canada

I've been neglectful of my Facebooking duties of late ... So here's a few little flowers so that you all have something beautiful to look at before I get back into the posting mindset! Keep growing beautiful things, gardeners, and keep getting dirty! (And for all of you non gardeners out there, please remember that our gardeners work very hard to grow everything we plant here ... So when you come, leave the beauty for everyone else to enjoy and don't pick the flowers!)

Spring is here, and so are a slew of new gardeners, each with their own style and ideas. We are thrilled to have novices like Mark, who has brought a lot of love so far to the corner of Davie and Burrard! Let's keep bringing on the love ... and getting dirty!!

If you've been around the garden these past few weeks, you've likely seen gardeners (like me) digging in the dirt and planting a few seeds. You've mosdefinitely seen flowers start to rise up from the spring earth and start to bloom in their beautiful ways ... You've without a doubt seen Marcel and Marlene doing their part to keep things clean and safe ... ... But you've also undoubtedly seen the aftermath of a person suffering from mental illness and addiction issues who tore... up several plots, telling himself they were his. And especially if you've been by late at night or early morning, you've observed folks on the edges of the garden, some of whom have no place else to go, using out garden as a place to go to smoke or inject their druga, and some, when asked to leave, have become aggressive and beligerant. The only thing that is going to make our garden, our little piece of Eden in the downtown core, safer and more serene, is for all of us who love the garden to spend time there, to be present. These folks who make it uncomfortable for us will only find somewhere else to loiter if we make it uncomfortable for them. So ... Come on down! Gardenerswork your plots; non-gardener friends, come and smell (but please, don't pick) the flowers! If each of us spends an hour a day there, it will make a huge difference!! Let's get dirty!!

What was going to be a nice spring post announcing the coming of Spring at the garden with photos of the signs of life that have started popping up in the plots is sadly marred by the final photos in this post of the destruction of many plots already at Davie Village Garden. Please,if any of you see activity in the garden that would be considered either vandalism or suspicious, please take a photo and send it here to the page so we can find out who is doing this, and prevent further damage to our little piece of paradise! Remember, gardeners, get your lease forms in for the 2019 season!!

So, if you missed the news a couple weeks ago (or if you're like me and have been enjoying a Trump-free news boycott), you would have missed a spotlight that shined into our little garden right on to our very own Marcel and Marlene! Watch it here: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1580936

Well, the growing season is now nearly done (except for a few of us holdouts who planted a crop late and hope the rains don't drown or wash our new seedlings away), and the time has come yet again to clear our plots in preparation for our cool and rainy winter season, with the anticipation and hope of enjoying this circle of life unfold, again, in 2019! Many thanks to all those who spent so many hours creating a patch that was filled with life, that together created a place o...f solace and contemplation, sometimes refuge, but more often than not, just a place where people could come and enjoy spending time in this little Eden in the midst of the busyness of the bustling city! Special thanks, of course, to Wayne and France, and to Marcel and Marlene, for their countless hours watching the garden, for cleaning up after some unruly overnight guests, and for the many diligent hours going over the garden with a fine-toothed comb, picking up garbage and needles, and ensuring that not only was our little paradise clean ... But it was safe for all those who came and visited!

Just a few shots as I walked through the garden this morning. It may be autumn, but there's a whole lotta life in these plots yet!!

Well the vegetables may be grown and mostly harvested, the flowers have largely grown, bloomed and fallen away, but the bees are still finding some nourishment in our little garden, east of Eden!

Now that the primary growing season is over, and most of our gardeners will soon be reaping their harvests, ripping plants out and starting again next year But what if, just what if, we might be able to grow some vegetables throughout winter? Here's a little guide to September planting, and some ideas to turn your garden year round! Whether it's May or September, keep getting dirty!!

What time is it? It's DAHLIA time!!

A happily rolled hose, waiting for it next happy gardener. I don’t care how you leave your douche hoses at home, but if you leave the garden hose like the first picture ... Who’s the douche?

NOT cool. Just sayin.

I arrived back in Vancouver safe and sound, and my first stop was the garden! Those long hot days sure produced a LOT of growth, and so some violent pruning was needed (so many dead baby tomatoes ) ... But day by day my play is getting back to a manageable state. Thank you to all who stopped by and watered my little garden! I would have been very sad if my garden looked like all the dry, brown plants in my apartment's window!!