Rupert's Roots

Winter Solstice at the Community Garden

On Sunday, December 17, 2023 our WINTER SOLSTICE event was held at Rupert’s Roots from 5-6pm. The temperature was well above the -15°C temperature and we kept even warmer with our version of Yule logs–two propane fire pits! After hearing the land acknowledgement, we listened to music and information about how cultures around the world celebrate “solstice”--Latin for “sun stands still”--all while sipping on our hot chocolate and coffee. We decorated our tree with stars made from branches, suet ornaments, and strings of popcorn, cranberries and dried oranges to feed the birds and thus, sustain life in our garden site throughout the cold winter months. It was lovely to visit with familiar and new community members and end the evening lighting giant sparklers! Our thanks to those who brought warm articles of clothing which were donated to the Mustard Seed.

Community Garden Update - September 2023

The Garden has had a successful second season…we’ve grown an abundance of food while forming connections, friendships, and ultimately creating a sense of community.

We’ve welcomed 9 new gardeners for the 2023 growing season and built 6 additional beds, bringing us to 31 raised beds.

A crew of between 8 – 10  gardener volunteers are on duty each week to take care of general site maintenance, which entails…general litter clean up…mowing the entire site….edging/trimming between the beds and the perimeter of the site.….and watering the foodbank garden.

This year we added eaves troughing to the garden shed for rainwater collection as well as two additional water tanks and sourced a cheaper water delivery service.  All these initiatives reduced our water bill by 50%.

In early June we added a fruit orchard which includes: 3 plum trees, 2 cherry trees, and 8 haskaps/honeyberry bushes. As well we created a small “shed bed” behind the shed which includes 3 honeysuckle vines. We also planted a perennial entrance bed with drought tolerant native plants.

Late August a crew constructed an entrance arbour and planted Engleman Ivy plants at the base.

We had requested donations of perennials from gardeners to plant at the base of our site Sign and received Giant Hyssops, speedwell, and daylilies, all of which were planted early September.

We also had all of the pathways edged with 6x4 timbers which stops the grass from encroaching on the pathways.

We’re so pleased with the volunteer crews,  contributing well over 250 hours of volunteer time, ensuring the site is kept tidy, litter-free and the foodbank and entrance beds watered. We have so many residents stopping by to enjoy a peaceful and beautiful garden.

We are now taking reservations for new Beds for 2024!!

Barrie, Sandra, Kathy, Cindy, Laurie, Riley and Lars.

Prince Rupert Community Garden 2023 Season is at full capacity!

New requests will be added to a 2024 waitlist.

For more information, please contact: princerupertcommunitygarden@gmail.com

Community Garden Update - May 2023

On Saturday, May 13, volunteers worked to construct, place and fill six new beds for the 2023 growing season at Rupert’s Roots—our community garden. The day was already hot when we began at 10am but, thankfully, with many hands, we were finished by 1pm.

Thank you to Maxine, Cindy, John, Michelle, Darlene, Harold, Riley, Toni, Lars, Elizabeth, Paul, and Kianna for their perseverance and muscles!

Thank you to Demetrius for arranging the soil drops and lending us two wheelbarrows. It certainly sped up the process--as did staking out the new bed positions by Toni and Lars the day before the install.

Thank you to Michelle and John for mowing and edging the grounds--and to John for continuing to mow with the old, weighty mower after we'd all left.

Here's to a bountiful 2023 season!

Community Garden Update - March 2023

Our last update was Fall of 2022 after our fall harvest and donation to the Edmonton Food Bank and all the beds were cleared out and put to bed for the season.

But then we thought it would be a good idea to set up a Halloween hand out centre. Many of our gardeners reside in apartments and or condos and don’t have the opportunity to experience the joy of opening their door to those young costumed trick or treaters. We put out a few bales of hay, lined the main walkway with paper bag luminaires , pumpkins and jack on lanterns and strung some lights. Besides the treat handouts for the kids we had hot chocolate and tea for the adults. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful evening and it was a fun time for all.

Winter Solstice is a time to celebrate the return of light and we had hoped that we could have held an event to do just that but the weather was not looking good to host this event and yet it is something we would like to consider for future.

This brings us to the month of March and the return of spring and our thoughts turn to gardening ... We are excited to build 6 new beds this spring and welcome 9 new gardeners this season bringing us to a total of 31 plots. We have some exciting plans this summer that include incorporating a small fruit orchard and planting grapevines at each of the eight pergola posts.

We welcome your visit and look forward to seeing you soon at the Garden.

Your Garden Committee
Barrie, Sandra, Cindy, Kathy, Laurie, Chris

Community Garden Update - Fall 2022

The Community Garden group is pleased to provide an update on our first year of operations.

We have had a successful first year, albeit a remarkably busy one, as we are sure you would have noticed if you have visited the garden.

A List of Timelines

• March 2021 a motion to create a Community Garden was passed by the PRCL Board.
• May 2021 we received support from the City of Edmonton to move forward with plans to develop the vacant lot at 11602-113 Avenue, subject to support from the residents within proximity of the proposed site.
• June-September 2021 we visited over 20 Community gardens throughout the City to gather feedback and advice.
• Fall and Winter 2021 we continued detailed design planning of the Garden site and further meetings with the City.
• March & April 2022 we were genuinely concerned that we might not receive our final approval from the City to build on the site and would be a major disappointment to our gardeners who had reserved a garden plot.
• Early May 2022–after an on-site Pre-construction visit by several City staff members, including our City of Edmonton Design and Build Project Manager Kathryn Hutchinson–we were given our approval to BUILD
• Our Landscape contractors rose to our call to quickly define the garden area, delivery of our garden shed from the NAIT carpentry facility was arranged, four water tanks and the necessary stands were delivered and installed, and materials for twenty-five raised corrugated steel garden beds were delivered–all taking place within a week of our approval.
• May 14, 2022, all our gardeners were on site to assemble the beds, place them according to our site plan and begin to fill with soil. Thanks to our very committed gardeners, we were on site most of the day for this build and the community spirit and cooperation was amazing.
• June 04, 2022–we held a volunteer appreciation continental breakfast and invited Elder Lance Scout to perform a blessing of our garden–a very moving ceremony for everyone in attendance.
• August 27, 2022 a group of seven volunteers assembled the two pergolas which had been pre measured and cut to fit prior to bringing the lumber on site.
• September 11, 2002 we held our first Harvest Potluck luncheon at the garden–each bringing a dish that featured something harvested from their garden. It was a delicious array of food and another opportunity to gather to build community.
• September 22, 2022 we harvested the beets and carrots grown in support of the Edmonton Food bank–41 lbs. of carrots; 36 lbs. of beets.

A huge Thank You to all the Gardeners for their dedication to maintaining the site by mowing, trimming, and weeding and watering the Food Bank plots.

It has been a most rewarding experience for everyone…

Your Garden Committee: Barrie, Sandra, Cindy, Kathy, Chris, Laurie

Community Garden Update

It was just over a year ago that a few of us shared an idea to create a community garden in our neighborhood. After an initial survey provided sufficient interest, nine enthusiastic residents came together to form the Garden Committee. We were then directed to the City of Edmonton, Community Group Led Construction process. The first step was to select an appropriate site and request feedback and approval from the residents in the immediate area of the site at 11602-113 Avenue.

It has been a busy 13 months but here we are ready to develop the site as soon as our landscape contractor can commence the site preparation. We want to be planting no later than June 1st.

Please enjoy photos of our little garden from the day of build (May 2022) to now. We had a blessing and now look forward to our Fall Harvest Lunch.

Your Garden Committee

The Garden's Purpose

The purpose of the garden is:

• to build a welcoming and beautiful space where residents can grow their own food;
• to develop positive relationships with our neighbours;
• to provide a central hub;
• to create a safer neighbourhood.
• to germinate healthy living through growing nutritious food and being physically active in a peaceful place