2022 has been a busy and exciting year, getting the garden built and off the ground. We think it’s time for a celebration of what we’ve accomplished, and an opportunity to gather with the community.
With that in mind, save the date of August 20th 2022 for our grand opening celebration. It will be a time of friends, fun, and food – you won’t want to miss it!
The Lynnwood Ogden Community Garden is now on Instagram. This is a great way to see (literally, in pictures) what’s happening at the garden site and what our gardeners are up to.
You can follow us at: https://www.instagram.com/lynnwoodogdencommunitygarden
Yesterday we shared that we have enough funds to proceed with phase 1 of the garden build. With that in mind we are fundraising for phase 2 – building a fence around the garden to keep critters out.
]To kick this off, we’ve started a GoFundMe campaign if you want to donate directly to the garden project. You can contribute at: Lynnwood Ogden Community Garden The funds will be directed to MOCA who is overseeing the finances for the project and they will be used for the construction of the garden.
Thanks again for all your support!
We’ve received enough funding to begin construction on the community garden, but this will only cover the bare essentials (aka, phase 1). We have applied for many grants and since we don’t know when or if they will be approved, we’ve divided the build into four phases so that we can use the money as it comes in. We will progress through each phase once we receive enough funding to do so. Here is what is included in each phase:
Phase 1 – Build raised garden boxes, fill with soil, landscape pathways
Phase 2 – Install fence
Phase 3 – Build shed, compost bin, entrance arbor and purchase picnic tables
Phase 4 – Purchase and install gazebo
We are planning to do the building for phase 1 on the weekend of May 14 & 15 and will need volunteers to help with construction. We plan to create a way for volunteers to sign up and we will let you know when that is available. Thanks everyone for your continued interest in this project!
As the community garden progresses towards our build date, we are ready to begin taking reservations for garden boxes for this season. If you’re interested in reserving a garden box, please follow the blue link below to get your name on the list. We are not taking payments yet but I’ve included pricing below as general information.
Since the garden will be run as a sub-committee of MOCA, we are operating as a non profit and all rental fees will go into maintaining the garden. We are also dialoging with MOCA to see if a community association membership will be required to rent a bed.
The garden will contain:
The garden will also be fenced and landscaped.
The garden will be located in the south west corner of Lynnwood Park, near the intersection of 69 Avenue SE and 18 Street SE.
We’ve received our approval for the garden from the city of Calgary. Thank you to everyone for your help so far.
Our next steps include securing a license of occupation for the land (which will be negotiated between the city and MOCA), and fundraising to cover our startup costs. The build date will be dependent on when we receive funding, and could be in 2022 or 2023 based on when funding is received.
After consultation, we have decided to pursue another location in the community, the south-west corner of Lynnwood Park. We have already secured approval from the adjacent residents and confirmed that the Bantam Stampeders Football team doesn’t foresee any conflicts.
Our next steps for this location are:
Seeking volunteers who are interested in being part of a committee to help run the garden.
If you’re interested in helping out, use the contact form to get in touch with us.
To start the garden, we are working on completing the City of Calgary’s requirements for approval. Here’s a summary of what is required for approval, and what we’ve accomplished so far:
| Step / Requirement | Status |
|---|---|
| 1. Contact 311 (Parks and Rec) with an expression of intent, and a shortlist of potential garden locations | Done |
| 2. Provide documentation to the city supporting the proposal to create the garden. This includes: | Done |
| a. Community garden plan – A detailed description of the proposed garden | Done |
| b. Garden group information – A detailed description of the garden group | Done |
| c. Community support – Applications must be accompanied by: | Done |
| i. A letter or board motion from the community association | Recieved |
| ii. Survey of neighbor’s support | Obtained neighbor’s support |
| iii. Letters from other supporters | Conducted community survey |
| iv. Letter of support from Alderman | Obtained letter of support from Alderman |
| d. Financial plan / budget – Documentation of startup costs and the ongoing financing of the garden | Done |
| e. Insurance – Proof of 5 million dollars of liability insurance | Done |
