Blog

Grand Opening Celebration – Save the Date

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!

Fundraising – GoFundMe

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!

Construction update

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!

Reserve your garden box for 2022 today!

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.

  • 8′ x 4′ boxes are $45 per season
  • 4′ x 4′ boxes are $22.50 per season

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.

Reserve my garden box

The current plan

Garden design

Garden Layout

The garden will contain:

  • 42 raised wood beds filled with soil, some for rental and some for charity
  • 2 water taps with hoses for watering
  • A garden shed for tool storage
  • A central gathering space with gazebo
  • Picnic tables and a harvest table
  • Fruit trees

The garden will also be fenced and landscaped.

Garden location

Garden Placement

The garden will be located in the south west corner of Lynnwood Park, near the intersection of 69 Avenue SE and 18 Street SE.

Approved

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.

Location Update

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:

  • Obtain approval from MOCA
  • Obtain a soil test from the City of Calgary for the location

Our Progress

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 / RequirementStatus
1. Contact 311 (Parks and Rec) with an expression of intent, and a shortlist of potential garden locationsDone
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 associationRecieved
ii. Survey of neighbor’s support Obtained neighbor’s support
iii. Letters from other supportersConducted community survey
iv. Letter of support from AldermanObtained 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