In early October, work on two pollinator-friendly gardens began on the boulevards on the north and south side of Astoria at Willerton.  The project is being led by Susan Morrow, a member of QCHCA’s Climate Action group.  The photos are from our first work party building up soil for planting.  Two methods were used.  In one, we laid a thick layer of cardboard and damped it down.  This was followed by a layer of alfalfa and a layer of straw, then strewn with blood and bone meal before being covered with a layer of good top soil.  The other method starts with a layer of heavy cardboard, wetted down and then covered with several inches of leaf mulch before the top soil is applied.  We have information sheets available on how this is done – email us at qchca3003@gmail.com.   We will sow some seeds in each bed in the fall but you there won’t be much to see until spring!

Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association’s Climate Action group has been working on a pollinator initiative over the past couple of years, beginning with a pollinator walk and talk.  This was followed by three events, supported by UVic students from a Geography 380 class, who helped teach us how to use Open Green Map to indicate where pollinator-friendly plants and trees were in our neighbourhood, ideally indigenous ones as they support the pollinators – bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles, birds and bats – that live in or pass through our area.