The Gatineau Valley Gardeners’ executive has been working very hard putting together a schedule for this upcoming 2020-2021 season.  With COVID still very much around, we have had to think a lot more outside the box.  The Church is not yet open and we are still uncomfortable anyway having indoor meetings.  So we have put together a schedule where all our meetings for this fall will be outside at different locations and on Saturday mornings.  In January we will reassess how things are with COVID.  But we do have speakers tentatively booked for the New Year.  The full schedule is below.

 

Saturday, Sept 19, 2020 

Time:  10 am-11:30 am 

Topic:  Overwintering Tender Bulbs

Speaker:  Diana Trafford

Location:  Fairburn House, Wakefield (45 Wakefield Heights, Wakefield, across the river from the Wakefield village).

 

An amateur gardener, Diana lays no claim to being an expert but admits to having good success with keeping bulbs through the winter, and will share her secrets. She has been a member of GVG since 2006 and served as club president in 2012-2013. 

Please bring your own chair and a mask. 

There will also be a very short 15 minute AGM and a seed /bulb swap.  Please bring seed or bulbs from your garden that you can share with other members.  You will be able to visit the museum and house afterwards. 

 

Saturday, Sept 26, 2020

Time:  9 am-10:30 am and 10:30 am to 12 pm (10 people per session) 

Topic:  Identifying Native Trees

Speaker:  Erik von Luczenbacher

Location:  Meet at P16 Parking lot at the end of Pine Road

 

This meeting will take place outside while walking in the Gatineau Park.  Erik, who is a certified arborist, will point out native species and show us how to identify them.  We will meet at P16 and head down Cowden Road. 

Requirements:  Please sign up at  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zPoHB6GTQFFvoLoqz2rt-I6sAn-X6I1vUYEq8H0Ed5c/edit#gid=0

 

Saturday, Oct 17, 2020  

Time:  10-11:30 am

Topic:  Drying Vegetable Seeds

Speaker:  Barb McMillan, Organizer and Teacher of the Forgotten Arts.

 

Barb, who has been an organic gardener for over 40 years, will describe how and when to harvest, dry and store your vegetable seeds, as well as how to grow vegetables to ensure purity of seed.

 

Monday, November 23, 2020 (canceled due to Covid 19)

Workshop: Create Your Own Seasonal Wreath   Cost:  $25/person

Speaker:  Daniel Shami for Franktown House Flowers in Wakefield

Location: Site and time to be determined.

Requirements:  will need to preregister;  will bring payment on day of workshop. 

 

In this workshop, you will create a natural seasonal wreath that you can take home with you.  Attendance will be limited because of social distancing. The cost is $25.00 per person for the basic materials that Danielle will be supplying. Participants are invited to bring additional materials (ribbons, bows, decorations) or natural elements (dried flowers, pinecones, milkweed pods, acorns, etc. as well as sécateurs or small garden shears.

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January 25, 2021 

Time:  7:30-9 pm

Topic:  Ecological Gardening

Speaker:  Graham Calder OR Clémentine Mattesco

 

Learn the basics of starting your own ecological vegetable garden. The workshop will address the design and the implementation of the garden, as well as cover companion planting, natural pest management, natural fertility, composting, living soils, cover crops and mulching, water management and garden maintenance.

 

March 29, 2021 

Time:  7:30-9 pm

Topic:  Using Internet Resourses to Identify Insect Herivores in your Garden

Speaker:  Hume Douglas, Entomologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Hume, who is a research scientist, gardener and naturalist, will explain how to identify a variety of pest and benign herbivores using internet resources and your own botanical knowledge. He will also cover how to investigate suitable pest control options.

 

April 26, 2021 

Time:  7:30-9 pm

Topic:  Container Gardening

Speaker:  Mary Sherman Reid, owner of Green Thumb Garden Centre, Ottawa, Certified Landscape Professional and Master Gardener.)

 

Mary, who is a certified Landscape Professional and Master Gardener, will speak to the challenges and satisfactions of container gardening and how to create portable beauty the quick and easy way by choosing the right plants and nurturing them throughout the summer.

 

May, 2021

AGM

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June 2021

Plant Sale

Fundraiser at St. Mary Magdelaine Church, Chelsea