NEWS & UPDATES

The Latest From The Grapevine

West Coast Seeds Arrived

June 12, 2022

Hi Gardeners,
The seeds that have been kindly donated from West Coast Seeds have arrived! The seeds are in 2 boxes in the garden shed on the lower shelf. They have been arranged by seed type.
Please:
- Only take the seeds out that you plan to use.
- Keep the boxes organized so it is easy for everyone to find the seeds
- Enjoy!

Phase II Plots assigned

April 29, 2022

Hi Gardeners,

Most of the Phase II plots have now been assigned and we are excited to have more people in the gardens.

Looking forward to seeing you in the garden!

Taps are back on

April 6, 2022

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your patience with the taps. We now have water and hoses! In the shed there are watering cans and nozzles for the hoses.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Works on April 5th

April 4, 2022

Hi Gardeners,

In order to move lots of soil in Phase II of the garden there will be heavy machinery in the garden on April 5th. We ask if you can refrain from gardening that day (even in Phase I) in order to keep the site clear.

Hopefully this means we can allocate Phase II plots soon so keep your eyes out for an email!

Garden Phase II Update

March 6, 2022

Hello Gardeners,

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful sunshine this weekend. You may have noticed that Phase II construction of the community garden has begun. We don't have a definite date yet for when these plots will be ready for gardening, as that decision rests with the UEL Administration, and not with our Community Gardens Committee.

If you are on the waitlist for a plot, you should have received an email today enquiring if you are still interested in gardening this year. This will allow us to allocate plots faster once we are given the go-ahead. If you have already applied for a plot and do not receive an email, please contact us via email.

We look forward to seeing more of you in the garden soon.

Taps Turned Off For Winter

November 10, 2021

Hi Gardeners,

Just to let you know that the water to the garden taps has been turned off for winter. This is to prevent the pipes freezing. If you are planning to use the tools in the shed, try to bring a damp cloth as you cannot wash the tools with the garden taps.

Thanks!

Plots Assigned

November 10, 2021

Hi Gardeners,

We wanted to let everyone know that all the regular gardening plots have now been assigned until Oct 31st 2022. If you have signed up for a plot but have not yet received an email from us, you will not be getting a standard plot this year. We are still finalizing arrangements for the wheelchair accessible plots. Once these are finalized we will be sending everyone on the waitlist an email, which will include your current position.

Nearly There Update

September 28, 2021

Hello Gardeners,

Thank you so much for your patience over the past few months. We are happy to announce that the UEL Administration has very recently obtained the occupancy permit! We wanted to inform everyone about this exciting update.

We want to keep our process as transparent as possible. With this occupancy permit, our Community Gardens Committee is now able to move forward on our end. There are just a few final administrative hurdles to jump over before we can fully open the garden. Please rest assured that we are working as hard as possible to finish these and inform you of the results of the lottery plots and/or your waitlist status.

You’re all experts by now, but please try to be patient with us - our committee is composed of 7 volunteer committee members just like yourself. We hope to have the garden fully operational within the next month.

If you have signed up for a plot and are on our email list, we will be emailing you again in the near future.

If you do not hear back about your waitlist status by the end of October, please contact us. Otherwise, please wait for an email before inquiring about your status in the garden.

Thank you for sticking with us through this process, and please look forward to hearing from us soon.

Occupancy Permit Update

August 19, 2021

Hi Gardeners,

We just wanted to provide an update to explain why we haven't been able to move into the garden yet. We’ve hit a bit of a wall while we wait for the UEL Government to obtain an occupancy permit, and so nothing is happening for the moment.

We have written to see if it would be possible to start gardening in the meantime. Unfortunately, we have had no response to that request.

We are hoping that things can move forward soon, and if you would like to add your request to start planting to ours, please contact the UEL Administration Office at uel@gov.bc.ca.

We are still hopeful that we can salvage some of the summer and fall to plant something! We do understand that the delay means that the fees for this year, should we be able to begin, will be decreased. It may also mean that some people will no longer be interested in participating.

Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to gardening with you.

Opening Update

June 1, 2021

Hello Gardeners,

We wanted to provide an update to everyone who applied during the “Lottery Phase” of our garden waitlist.

At this time our group is still awaiting approval from the UEL Government for gardeners to start planting. As we are unsure of when their preparations will be finalized we are currently unable to provide an estimated timeline. As we on the Community Gardens Committee recognize that this is mid-way through the planting season, we wanted to let gardeners know that the plot rental fee for the 2021-2022 growing season will have a small discount from the original $60. We will inform gardeners what this lowered plot rental fee is when we have a confirmed date for gardeners to able to start planting.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience as we all await planting in the garden!

Plot Application Update

May 3, 2021

Thank you to all gardeners who applied for a plot between April 26th and April 30th. We are currently in the process of lotterying the names. Please note that we are waiting until the University Endowment Lands (UEL) informs us that the garden is ready to be used to contact all gardeners regarding the status of their application. The Community Gardens Committee unfortunately does not have an official timeline of when the garden will be usable for gardeners, so we encourage you to check the website in two weeks time for the next update.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.