Phyllis Rawlinson Community Tree Nursery (Photo: Evergreen)
The Phyllis Rawlinson Park Tree Nursery is growing up! This fall we propagated more than 1,200 coniferous seeds. Volunteers and community groups helped plant the trees in our newly constructed wooden beds, which were build by Evergreen Youth Interns this past summer.
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Stewardship and Planting | 
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Posted by Kim from Common Grounds
Jen Alderson and Sean Aldcroft (Photo: Sean Aldcroft)
Jen Alderson and Sean Aldcroft have been steady stewardship volunteers for Evergreen’s Iona Beach Regional Park Working Group, working hard to restore sensitive dune habitats every third Saturday of the month. They’ve also been active in our super elite task force project, protecting what is left of the streambank lupine colonies remaining in the Lower Mainland.
Why do they volunteer to green their city? Jen and Sean get tremendous satisfaction out of getting involved and being connected to the local habitat. There’s a real sense of ownership to clean out invasive species taking over our regional parks! Plus a weed wrench is a great way to get out latent aggression.
Their highlight of volunteering with Evergreen? Both said their ongoing highlight of volunteering with Evergreen has been efficiently doing away with what seems like acres of invasive Scotch broom at Iona Beach Regional Park. There’s a strange satisfaction in uprooting Scotch Broom that is taller than you are!
What about their other lives? Sean is the elementary school teacher parents either hope or fear their child will receive and Jen works to improve the environmental footprint of YVR.
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Posted by Allison from Evergreen British Columbia
Serviceberry (Photographer: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)
A showy shrub throughout the year, Amelanchier alnifolia, known by many other names is a terrific addition to the urban garden. Found in Canada from Quebec westward to BC and even in the Northwest Territories, serviceberry (Saskatoon berry) has white flowers in spring, edible berries in June and showy foliage in the fall. Adaptable to part shade, drought and a variety of soil types and attractive to wildlife what gardener wouldn’t want one? Find out more about Serviceberry and other native shrubs on our native plant database.
3 Comments | Gardening, Native Species | Permalink
Posted by Christine from Volunteering
Vibrant leaves of a vine maple in the fall. (Photo: Copyright Kevin deBoer Copyright @ E-Flora BC)
Purple, pink or cream flowers adorn the branches of the vine maple in the spring, only to make way for vibrant leaves in the fall. Acer circinatum, as it is scientifically known, is a small species of maple tree, growing to only 7 meters in height in most cases. Native to western North America, including British Columbia, vine maples have been used in variety of traditional ways by Coastal Aboriginal people. For example, the flexible branches were often used for framing fishing nets, snowshoes and cradles, and the bark of the roots were also used to make tea for colds.
Preferring moist and shaded environments, vine maples are often part of the forest understory in many urban parks and elsewhere in the province and look stunning in both the front and backyards of urban homes. Keep a look out for their bright red leaves this fall and the flower clusters that will replace them in the spring.
Lean more about vine maples and other native trees from Evergreen’s Native Plant Database.
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Posted by Allison from Evergreen British Columbia
Don Tapscott takes the stage. (Photo: Cam Collyer)
In the early morning darkness I rode my bike to Evergreen Brick Works for the kickoff session of T.H.E. Series. Author Don Tapscott, Dr. Mike Evans and Geoff Cape took the stage just after 7:30 am to discuss how technology, health and the environment are collaborating to meet societal challenges on a global scale.
The debate got off to a great start when the moderator made the provocative statement that “technology is evil.” Here are some highlights:
Stayed tuned, T.H.E. Series aims to host 4-6 breakfast sessions in 2011 attracting internationally renowned experts to help herald in the green economy and both teach and learn from Canadians at the cutting edge of the green economy.
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Posted by Nate from Public Relations
JVS team at St. Paul's Catholic School. (Photo: Anne Dabrowski)
Looking back, I think one of Learning Grounds’ most important accomplishments this summer was a small-scale idea that had a big impact. We were able to tackle one of the largest issues in school ground greening: summer maintenance.
So often we hear from schools who have a beautiful garden, but no one to tend it over the summer months when maintenance is needed. Many times the survival of school gardens falls on the shoulders of one or two dedicated teachers who take it on because there is simply no one else available. And while some schools are able to organize family garden teams over the summer, many schools are left without staff and without options for summer garden maintenance. But this summer, we were lucky enough to be able to create a partnership–the first of its kind in Toronto–that not only ensured three school gardens survived the summer, but also provided much-needed greening opportunities to community members.
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Posted by Anne from Learning Grounds
Strengthening children’s connection to nature is a vital part of Evergreen’s mission. As one ten-year old boy from Regent Park stated, when leaving Evergreen Brick Works by schoolbus, “I have no outside at my house.” Within 3 km of Evergreen Brick Works in downtown Toronto, there are 10,000 children without any “outside” at their homes.
Walking through the trails at Evergreen's Green City Adventure Camp (Photo: Mike Derblich)
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Posted by Sarah from Learning Grounds
Students on their way to changing the world. (Photo: Sylvie Lapointe)
Have you ever been inspired by a teacher to do, say and make something different of the world? Québec teacher, Dominique Leduc, wants to do just that and doesn’t just see his elementary class as children, but rather as people who can make a difference.
Evergreen is proud to support the documentary “Hope Builders” directed by Fernand Dansereau, where Leduc takes his Grade 6 class through a process of learning that identifies, analyzes and resolves a problem. He believes that children can be critical thinkers and his experimental teaching method and belief in the intelligence of children is going to have results. Hope Builders is a fascinating testament to alternative methods of creating change and inspires all of us to act consciously in the future.
The documentary will be shown on Saturday, October 16 at 11 am at Al Green Theatre and is part of Planet in Focus: an international environmental film and video festival based in Toronto that opens today.
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Posted by Nate from Public Relations
Evergreen staff Adrien, Allison and Andrew (l. to r.) with Jack Johnson at the Village Green (photo: Evergreen)
Music lovers at heart, Evergreen was thrilled to recently participate in Jack Johnson’s All At Once Village Green, designed to engage fans with the work of local environmental not-for-profits. As part of our fundraising initiative at the concert, we raffled off a surfboard, snowboard and autographed guitar to three lucky concert-goers and raised $2,130 of our $2,500 fundraising goal!
The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation will be matching every dollar raised by Evergreen before October 16, 2010, up to $2,500. With your help, we can raise the remaining $370 of our fundraising goal, allowing us to bring people together to make our communities better places to live. All you need to do is watch our 2010 Non-Profit Video, and the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation will donate $1 per complete viewing. Time is running out!
A special thanks to Hugh Nichols, West Coast Music, Thriller Shop and Ark Surfboards for their generous donation of time and raffle items!
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Posted by Allison from Evergreen British Columbia
Liz Stewart and Isabel Wiesenfeld (Photo: Ingrid Mayrhofer)
Isabel Wiesenfeld and Liz Stewart have spent the last four months helping bring Evergreen Brick Works to life in new ways through geology and art. Isabel has been busy researching and writing text for the geology exhibits while investigating new interactive approaches to engage and educate our visitors. In the meantime, Liz curated a photo exhibit about Evergreen Brick Works – past, present and future – portraying the site’s layered history, now on display in the Centre for Green Cities!
Why did they get involved? Both said the energy and innovation at Evergreen right now was a big appeal. For Liz, she was between jobs and recognized the valuable experience of learning new skills in a new industry with new people. For Isabel, she’s applying her university education to a real-life situation.
What’s their experience been like? They’ve really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere in the office and the opportunity to meet new people. For Isabel, bridging the gap between research and the exhibit has been really valuable as she hopes to work in a museum. For Liz, telling a story through pictures has been a great project to develop.
A few memories: “The adventure of finding out which desk I’m using each time I’m in – one time I had to move three times!” ”It was also surprising to see the face of an Evergreen staff person on a George Brown College TTC ad.” ”Evergreen seems to be everywhere!”
What about their other lives? Liz recently started a new job at Harbourfront while Isabel works at making casts of bones and hopes to go to grad school. Cooking, reading and browsing bookstores also fill their time. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to staying involved and seeing what happens.
2 Comments | Evergreen Brick Works, Uncategorized, Volunteer | Permalink
Posted by Christine from Volunteering
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