Here is a letter from the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens.  Let’s help make them one of the “Great Public Spaces” in Canada!  The real competition is a few places in Toronto..  Now we love Toronto..  But we love Vancouver more!  And we want to show off one of our gems.  So vote away!

Lovin’ our city,

The BOB Team

Dear wonderful folks at BOB,

We’ve been nominated as one of the The Great Places in Canada in the “Great Public Spaces” category!

There are first, second and third place winers based on votes, we believe….we need your help to be number 1!!  The three categories are “Great Streets,” “Great Neighbourhoods,” and “Great Public Spaces.” We’re in Great Public Spaces.

http://www.cip-icu.ca/greatplaces/en/place.asp?id=5930

You can only vote once each time you go on the site AND have to wait a while between visits. Please pass this to all your network and ask for their support for us. The voting goes on until the end of February; this is going to be a long campaign

Kathy

Executive Director

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

www.vancouverchinesegarden.com

Toby Barrazzuol says he’s not a garden expert, but he and the team at Eclipse Awards and It’s Saul Good Gift Co have created a beautiful rooftop space for everyone in their office and manufacturing facility to enjoy. They grow food like strawberries, tomatoes, figs and a variety of herbs; flowers like irises, mallow, wisteria, clematis and lilies; edible weeds like chickweed and sorrel; and drought-tolerant species like sedums. That’s a lot of biodiversity for what was recently an asphalt roof!

What’s more, they DIY’d the heck out of it! Most of the garden is made from reclaimed materials scavenged from the community or found on Craigslist. Pathways are pallets and recycled decking, planter boxes are washtubs, and pots are secondhand.

When Eclipse and It’s Saul Good moved in to their current building it required a few renovations to meet their needs. They used the renovation process as an opportunity to incorporate plants and gardening into their office culture. In anticipation of the rooftop garden they added several large crossbeams (made from a sustainable pressed wood product) to ensure that the roof could support the weight of 25 people plus the garden soil. They also added two large skylights that bring enough natural light in to sustain many office plants, including this beautiful mass planting of African Violets. Looking up through the skylights you get a sneak peek at the rooftop garden.

The garden has been a couple of years in the making, and Toby says managing the garden continues to be a learning process. Crows and seagulls show up regularly to snack on young plants and eat tasty berries, and they have free reign since there are long periods where no one is on the roof to scare them off. They have an irrigation system, but some of the plants have nonetheless whithered a bit in the scorching sun of the last few weeks. Also, there’s no formal process for employees to manage the garden, so it’s a bit harder to plan regular tasks like weeding and garden clean up. A recent success is the worm composter they’ve added to their office, which is rapidly turning food scraps into rich soil for use in the garden.

Interestingly, Toby reports that there has been some debate among their office over the purpose of the garden. Should it be wild and green, letting whatever wants to grow take root? Or should it be a place to cultivate food in a more purposeful way? For the time being they have come up with a great compromise, planting a central bed with 100 strawberry plants and letting a few edible weeds spring up in between.

This garden is a great case study for anyone interested in starting a green roof project and making their home or business that much more sustainable. We hope you can learn from Toby’s experience and develop one in your workplace. Congrats to the whole team at Eclipse and It’s Saul Good for working together to make this great project happen!

And for you design nerds out there, enjoy a few more of Lani’s beautiful pictures…

Photography by Lani Johnson

Now that we’ve set the atmosphere..

The Challenge

At BOB, we want to challenge ourselves to act more sustainable and authentically green.  So..  In order to challenge ourselves we would like to have a challenger!  We are hoping that YOU or your workplace will be up for this challenge and we’ll see how it goes!

The Point!

We want to be more green and recycle..  But it can be quite intimidating.  So we have one challenge a month, so that it is manageable and you can learn the ways of the green.

The Challenge!

• 4 people from BOB, would like to challenge a team of 4.  Or if you have a bigger or smaller group, we’ll just adjust how we score. 
• You need a team name.  And it better be good.

• Each month there will be one ‘green/recycling task’ that each person in the challenge will have to complete.

• The team who has the highest percentage of participation that complete challenges each wins!!

What do they win, you ask?  Fantastic question!  The winning team receives the ‘cup of awesome’ for one month!!!  (I’ve attached a picture of said cup of awesome)  And we can all get together for a ‘green lunch’ (also known as a salad potluck) to celebrate all of our awesomeness.

The Cup of Awesome

6 Month Green Challenge!

(one task per month)

1. Home & Office Recycling – Recycle paper and plastics.  The PROPER plastics.  Know the numbers and throw them in.
2. Beyond the Blue Box – A month of recycling all household and work plastics that aren’t city recycled.  And find a venue close to your house to take them!  (Brittania is close for me..)
3. Paint! – Find old paint, or someone else’s old paint that is going to waste and take it to the closest paint recycler.
4. Batteries – You know the drill..
5. Electronics – Same drill..
6. Compost.  This one will require some creativity by us.  But we can do it!!

For all of the green yogis out there..  Yes, this may be beginner.  But some of us are.  Join anyway!  Show us how it’s done.

Let me know if you are in..   And let the best greeny’s win!!  (even though, really, we all win in the end)

To accept this challenge (or for more info) contact Emily and Lani at jobpostings@bobics.org

Doris from SOLEfood

Sitting on the street, sipping my iced americano at Columbia and Pender, I saw a beautiful sight.  Gorgeous Dalias being delivered by bicycle!  Doris from our local urban farm called SOLEfood, is taking flowers to Olla Urban Flower Project by my favorite sustainable mode of transportation.

SOLEfood Urban Farm is located at Hawks and Hastings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.  They produce local food and employ local residents, bringing fresh food to a colorful neighborhood.  You can buy their produce at the Main Street Station Farmers Market on Wednesdays at 3-7pm.

Olla Urban Flower Project is a socially responsible business selling beautiful flowers in Gastown at 235 Cambie Street.  She sources all her flowers locally,  intends to hire residents from the neighborhood and is working towards zero waste.  Megan Branson, who started the business, is graduate from the Embers Build a Business Program.

Dalias enroute to Olla

In a recent discussion with my colleagues, we came up with a few ideas on the subject.

This neighborhood is used by many as a travel corridor to get downtown. These commuters’ objective is often to travel through the area as quickly as possible, in part because of the way the neighborhood has been stigmatized as neglected ghetto of crime and poverty. While some of that may be true, it doesn’t account for the fact that there is an underrepresented and diverse community of wonderful people here who call the DTES home and deserve to have it recognized and celebrated as such. Traveling through the neighborhood at 60+kph is certainly way too fast to get acquainted with the many unique community services, architectural features, libraries, urban farms, art galleries, eateries, and shops that exist here in the heart of the city.

Furthermore, many of the opponents of the speed reduction plan protest on the grounds that it is the pedestrian’s responsibility to see if it is safe before they cross. Sure, common sense dictates that this would be the best-case scenario. But life on any busy street is unpredictable. To those who hold this view I ask: Are you a driver? How would you feel if you struck and injured or killed a pedestrian, even if it was “their fault”? It doesn’t matter who the person is, where they live, or whether they made the mistake. No one wants to be involved in a pedestrian-vehicle accident. Therefore, slowing down to increase driver awareness and reaction time, thereby reducing pedestrian fatalities, benefits everyone.

And as many pedestrians know, crossing a busy street is not an easy task at the best of times for the most able-bodied person. There are a variety of challenges that can make it even harder. In BOB’s Supported Employment Program we work with folks who have a variety of barriers to help them get on the job; many of the barriers we see actually would make crossing the street a challenge too! Have you been low income for a prolonged period of time, with a degenerative eye condition for which you cannot afford glasses? You literally cannot see well enough to cross the street in safety. Are you experiencing psychosis due to a mental health condition or drug use? If so, the reality of cars speeding down the street or the relative safety of a crosswalk may not be as it seems to you. Are you elderly or physically disabled? You may need more time to cross the street than the crosswalk allocates. And the list goes on. Are any of these cases any less worth slowing down for than, say, a kid in a school zone chasing a ball into the street? I think not.

The DTES is home to a high population of individuals with a variety of challenges in part because there is a concentration of services here, as well as a much higher degree of access to affordable housing options than the rest of the city. Every neighborhood has its own characteristic demography, and municipal policy, programming and infrastructure is targeted to reflect those special community traits. Think about your own neighborhood or your child’s school zone and how traffic is managed there. Let’s applaud the City of Vancouver for taking action on this important issue while we slow down to stop and smell the roses (or gaze at the swiss chard at SOLEFood Urban Farm, or get to know some of the local characters who make this community great).

Other news on this topic:

Vancouver Sun

BC Cycling Coalition

DTES Pedestrian Safety Project

All photos in this post courtesy of BURST! Creative Group

It is this Saturday.  And it looks like a fantastic idea, and one of the many reasons I love our community.  It’s in the ‘hood, a couple of blocks away from the BOB office at False Creek (see map link below).

Join Chloe Ben­nett, a stu­dent of Land­scape Archi­tec­ture at UBC for a lively dis­cus­sion about mason bee habi­tat. Mason bees are small blue coloured bees that are impor­tant gar­den pol­li­na­tors. They have spe­cific needs for nest­ing and Chloe will be able to guide you in the proper meth­ods of build­ing a mason bee home.  She will also share her expe­ri­ence in cre­at­ing the Van­cou­ver round­about project Bees Please.

Mason Bees with Cloe Bennett

Saturday August 13th 2011, 12:00-3:00pm

At the Bulkhead Urban Agriculture Lab (adjacent to Habitat Island in the Olympic Village)  googlemap

Check out this website..  It’s for Cloe, the presenter.  http://www.beesplease.ca

It’s free!  You can pre-register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2016095195/efbevent

For more info:  http://grow-urbanagricultureproject.ca/?p=1121

Delicious Sunflower Sprouts!

Hey everyone, I know the Canucks have their big game tonight, but don’t forget to stop by the Main St Farmer’s Market for some pre-game goodies! The Main St. Market has lots of stuff grown and made in right here in the inner-city. Be sure to check out SOLEfood Urban Farm and Chris Thoreau’s sunflower sprouts (toted to and from the market by bike, woot!) as examples of the bounty that the inner-city has to offer.

Also be sure to keep up on your urban farming news and events by checking out the latest issue of the Urban Farm Network newsletter. The June issue is out now! Highlights include:

• Urban Farming Census now underway, a project of UBC AgSci student Mark Schutzbank and funded by Carrot Cache
• Urban farmers are eligible to fill out the federal Census of Agriculture! Take this opportunity to let the decision-makers know your unique needs as an urban farmer.
• June Urban Farmer Gathering scheduled for June 21st, 6pm, at 618 Malkin Ave
• UFN receives $7500 Vancity grant for urban farming workshops and seeks input on workshop development
• Urban farming highlights from mainstream media

See the full newsletter here and be sure to sign up to recieve it via email! You can also follow urban farm news through Chris’ Twitter account @cmthoreau

After tonight we’ll have to take a break from chanting Go Canucks Go! I propose we take up a new mantra: Grow Farmers Grow! Go eat some local food!

Lani's Bike, with oh-so-important reflectors and helmet!

That’s right! The entire SEP team is taking the ICBC Commuter Challenge. From June 5th to 11th we’re thinking about our transportation habits and how we can improve them. Whether it’s emissions reduced, calories burned, or money saved, we’re on board to make positive changes at home and in the workplace!

Now, BOB has participated in the Commuter Challenge in the past. It must have really made an impact because when we talked about doing it this year we realized that most of us have pretty sustainable transportation habits already! In our team of 5 none of us use a car as our primary mode of transportation to work. But there’s still room for improvement. Some of us are walking rather than taking the bus; others are turning down rides offered by friends, family, and loved ones in favour of getting on the bicycle!

For myself, I’m someone who has converted from busing to walking. I save $4.20 round trip and have added a total of 1hr and 10mins of light exercise to my day. Furthermore I get to enjoy the street life and connect with my community. I get an up-close look at the seniors practicing sword- and fan-styles of Tai Chi in the park, notice my neighbor’s peonies blooming, donate some change to kids fundraising for orphans via the Salvation Army out front of their elementary school, and absorb some vitamin D through my skin as I walk in the sunshine. Plus I can stop by the Wednesday Farmer’s Market at Main & Terminal on my way home to pick up goodies for dinner (where I also get to connect with Urban Farmer and Urban Farm Network organizer Chris Thoreau).  How awesome is that? I would miss all that if I was just on the bus.

Shoes for working & shoes for walking

What’s also cool is that it’s really encouraged me to be disciplined and plan my day a little better. Initially I didn’t want to get up earlier to do that walk. Solution? Plan my outfits, iron my work clothes, and pack my lunch the day before. I also didn’t want to arrive at work all sweaty, so I’ve started simply packing my work clothes with me and changing once I get to work. That way I get to wear my comfy runners too, encouraging me to walk faster and get a better (albeit light) workout.

It has been really neat to do the Commuter Challenge and realize that it’s not just about transportation and environmental issues. There’s a whole social aspect of it that encourages us to maintain work-life balance and develop life skills around budgeting, planning, exercise, workplace participation, and community engagment. These same sorts of life skills are the types of things our Employment Support Coordinators teach to help clients thrive in the workplace as part of BOB’s Supported Employment Program. No matter who we are and where we’re at in our personal and career development, it is always rewarding to reflect on what we can do to make positive change!

Are you participating in the commuter challenge? What sort of changes has it helped you make?

Photo courtesy Steven Walling via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t be a chicken, get involved in the urban farming community! You can stay up-to-date with all the farming news and events via the Urban Farm Network Newsletter, and the May edition is now available. Highlights include:

• Vancouver Tool Library opens at 3448 Commercial St. This looks like an awesome community resource!
• Info on upcoming Urban Farmer meetings
• A look at urban farm ordinances and bylaws in other westcoast cities (to get a handle on Vancouver food policy, check out the Vancouver Food Policy Council)
• Links to interesting authors and articles discussing urban farm issues

The full Urban Farm Network Newsletter can be found here. Be sure to subscribe to receive future issues directly.

And, if urban farming is something you are involved in, want to be involved in, or are interested in knowing more about, sign yourself up for the Urban Farm Network Listserv!

- Meet your urban farmer: 5 meetings with urban farmers are scheduled between April and August. Each includes a presentation and discussion of urban farming issues. Next meeting is April 20th with Julia Smith of City Farm Girl.

- UFN awarded a $3000 grant from Carrot Cache

- Vancouver Food Policy Council has created an urban farming working group!

- The Urban Farming Forum is tentatively scheduled for Fall of 2011. More details to follow. This event will bring together farmers from Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle to share information, strengthen community ties, and work towards more progressive policies around urban farming and food security.

See newsletter for full stories and event details.

Chris Thoreau puts the newsletter together. You can submit a request to  include an item, sign up for the newsletter, or get on the listserve. Just link to the newsletter, click on view past issues (upper left in browser window), and click on join our mailing list.

Support our urban farmers and learn more about the practice of urban food production!