Submitted by Debbie Willis on behalf of the Grounds Committee
Grounds Committee Notice: Opportunity to green your garden!
The Grounds Committee has secured a Greener Co-op Micro-grant to increase food self-sufficiency and reduce water use at Sunnyhill Housing Co-op. This micro-grant will be used for installing rain barrels and creating pallet vertical gardens for our members. We received funds to cover the partial cost of 10 rain barrels and material to build 15 pallet vertical gardens; the remaining costs will be covered by the Grounds Committee budget. This is a proof-of-concept endeavor: we will distribute these resources to selected households (chosen on a first-requested-first-served basis), to encourage other members to adopt these greener practices in future years.
Water barrels:
We will purchase the water barrels from Green Calgary and help co-op members to install them, if required. A water barrel for your garden will allow you to use natural, chlorine-free rain water on your plants and will save the co-op gallons of water each year. It also helps keep our watersheds clean by diverting water that usually collects fertilizers and other contaminants from storm drains. Your water barrel will come with the necessary hose attachment.
Pallet gardens:
We are also excited to offer the possibility of inexpensive, simple, and beautiful vertical gardens to interested members. We chose pallet gardens because of their affordability and accessibility. We also feel that vertical gardens are an excellent choice for our inner-city community, where yards are small and many gardeners hope to produce more food on their balconies. We are also excited by the idea of building our own, Instagram-worthy vertical gardens! The Grounds Committee will host an outdoor day of teaching and learning how to construct these simple, DIY, upcycled pallet gardens. The construction would occur outside, following Covid-safe protocols, in early June (date TBD). See below for an example of a pallet garden:
If you are interested in a water barrel, a pallet garden, or both, please email the Grounds Committee at SHCGrounds@shaw.ca and please CC Debbie Willis at debmwillis@gmail.com