Fairview Community Garden Meeting Minutes

Design Meeting
February 11, 2015
Overall Concept
- Concept of baseball diamond shape/feel
- Growth expansion of garden
- Wind
- Food forest large and small trees, herbs, perennial vegetation as wind block and food
production
Bed Options
- Raised beds
- Childrens bed
- Wheelchair accessible
- In between height ~waist height or little lower or ~16@
- Bed design in concept drawing are 4x16 (two 4x8 beds)
Shale/beds dig out 3 wide of shale to keep height but connect to soil?
- Need to think about shale going forward scrape back or leave?
- Topography changes included in design?
Shape options
- Honeycomb shape difficult to build
- Pie shape
- What is the motivation for different bed shapes/configuration ? aesthetic or functional or both
- Changing heights of beds
- Incorporate some non-raised beds, spiral herb beds?
- Keep radial theme
- Smaller groupings along radial pattern
- 4x6 beds to keep each one separate
- Adrian to create more detailed design using 1-2 different bed shapes and possibly a different
configuration depending on space and layout
Tool Shed
- What uses should it accommodate?
- Oversized to start for garden expansion
- Green roof?
- Rainwater catchment?
- Covered awning extending from shed with table/group area close by
- Drive through shed for wheelchair accessibility
- Vine covered pagola/arbour off shed or as separate structure
- Cottage style

Shed area can be used for education

Do we want a phase I shed and expand later possibly a free/cheap shed from kijiji to start
What do we want in the shed? How big?
Small central locker for smaller tools?
Think about shed permanence and location possibly off to the side rather than centre

Compost
- Mostly adding to composting for first few years rather than extracting
- Only once a year or so adding compost to beds
- Compost should be near the shed for easy maintenance
Seating
- Include park benches, picnic tables

Food forest
- Width of forest ~8-13
- Phase 1 shrubs and low trees (that dont shade phase II)
- <8 height possibly a few 13
- Spacing of tall trees allows for moving shade
- Support species at first eg. saltbrush
- Species we may want goji, gooseberry, honeyberry, sour cherries, UofS cherries, mankings,
saskatoons, pear, plum, jostaberry, ben series of black currants, yellow and black raspberries
- Interpretive signage on a few of the interesting plants
- Could partner with CalHort and high school for pruning workshops
- Include some evergreens for winter use eg. grasses, nannyberry, buffaloberry, vacciniums
Backstop?
-

vines hops, grapes, hardy kiwi

another food forest behind backstop?

Other elements to consider for now or future

-

herb spirals
bees
school bed
childrens elements
vertical garden

Next meeting March 4th 7pm at Cravings. Adrian will have a draft design to review.