Community Events and Plant Sales
October 21, 2009
Apple Festival on CNN!
The 19th Annual UBC Apple Festival attracted thousands of apple lovers this past weekend. Despite rain on Saturday eager festival goers lined up and waited patiently for the chance to buy their favourite apples, and to taste test over 60 varieties. To add to the excitement there were lots of activities like the "Longest Peel Contest" by Choices Market, a children's area, delicious apple products to eat, and much more. CNN was there to capture the action on Sunday, October 18, 2009. Watch the 4.5 minute video!
To see the iReports footage on the CNN website, visit An Apple A Day. If you attended the festival or enjoy the report, please comment on the CNN site!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 10:30 AM
November 7, 2007
UBC Botanical Garden - Boootiful Botany Haunted Halloween Event
Hello Community, Volunteers and Staff
On Saturday October 27, 2007, UBC Botanical Garden held the 2nd Annual Boootiful Botany Haunted Halloween Event.
This is a spooktacular event where children and their families use a map to search the Garden for a series of trick or treat plant stations. At each plant station they are greeted by a volunteer who stamps their map, shares unique botanical information about the plant at that station, and hands out Halloween treats. Following this scavenger hunt, the children also enjoyed a series of Halloween crafts and games. As with last year, the event was a great success with 730 community members of all ages in attendance, decked out in weird and wonderful Halloween costumes.
My sincere thanks goes to all of our volunteers whose enthusiasm and help are integral to the continued success of educational community events at the Garden. The 2007 Boootiful Botany Haunted Halloween Event was supported by the assistance of 31 UBC student volunteers. Some of these student volunteers were international students that were new to Canada and eager to help so that they could experience their first North American Halloween celebration.
Thank-you also to our staff volunteers, which included:
Ingrid Hoff, Jodi and Natalie Simkin & Family, Jackie Chambers, Mindy Li, Patrizia Todaro, Lindsay McGhee, Raakel Toppila
And thank-you to our event sponsors:
HENRY EDDIE FOUNDATION, AUTOPLAN BROKERS (Alexander Park & Associates Ltd, Axis Insurance, Kitsilano Insurance Agency Ltd, Deak Agencies Ltd, William Parton Agency Ltd, Winram Insurance Ltd, Vanguard Insurance Brokers Ltd), FORSTBAUER FARM, UBC BOTANICAL GARDEN
Please enjoy the photos and feedback below! Thank-you to Lindsay McGhee for the wonderful photos!
“My husband and 4 year old son had a wonderful time and they enjoyed all aspects of the event. My husband was impressed by the students who were running the event, as they were enthusiastic and very good with the kids. My son really liked the scavenger hunt and when he got home he was able to describe almost all the plants that he found on the hunt. He kept the map because he wants to go back to the Garden again to see the plants that he found. It was nice to see him so excited about plants.”
“This was a great event. Our daughter, who is just 4 years old, loved all of it. She is so interested in everything to do with nature. You made it fun and informative. It was well thought out with the stamps, so that the kids could make sure they saw everything. Well done.”
“Dear Nadine, I went with my two boys (3 and 5). The boys loved the treasure hunt style, and exploring the small trails in the garden. They were excited by the licorice fern, the candy tree, the story of the Jack-O-Lantern, the activity centre and the crafts. The volunteers were exceptionally enthusiastic and welcoming. And there was even candy! The event was a bigger hit than Halloween night itself. We will definitely come next year if it is on.”
“It was great having someone at every stop with info or a story about the tree/plant. Of course, the kids enjoyed the treats too. The feeling boxes were well done and it was great to get the small pumpkins from the garden to decorate. The jack o lantern story was well done, and the games and crafts were an added bonus to the walk around the garden.”
“Hi Nadine, My husband took our 5-year-old granddaughter. They both thought it was a wonderful event! It was a high interest introduction to the garden and plants for our granddaughter. The scavenger hunt keeps interest going, and it was a pleasant and enjoyable time for the adults as well.”
Posted by Nadine Diner at 10:39 AM| Comments (1)
October 12, 2007
17th Annual Apple Festival, October 13th and 14th
This is always a really, really fun family event. These photos were taken this morning just as the set up was getting started.
Please click here to read all about this year's Apple Festival (including details on how to arrive by public transit or car). There are lots of activities scheduled, and the weather people are forecasting a perfect weekend--we hope that you can make it!
Posted by Andy Hill at 5:10 PM| Comments (6)
May 29, 2007
Perennial Plant Sale
On May 13, 2007 the Friends of the Garden (FOG) held their annual Perennial Plant Sale at the UBC Botanical Garden, which as usual offered a great selection of “hard to find plants”', native plants, and garden favourites. The plant sale also included a kid’s tent, UBC Food Services BBQ, garden tours and workshops. Douglas Justice (Associate Director of the Garden) offered a Native Plant workshop; Judy Newton (FOG) offered a Container Garden workshop, while Julie Lane-Gay (FOG) offered a workshop on Perennials for Difficult Locations. In addition, FOG Hort-Line (UBC Botanical Garden Phone Line for plant-related inquiries) representatives had a tent on-site to answer a variety of questions.
The sale was a great success, with a crowd lining up as early as 7:30am to get first pick of the plants. Many groups had wagons and buggies in tow in preparation for a mass purchase.
It is important to note that the plants for this sale are hand grown, not commercially purchased, by the FOGs who spend a considerable number of volunteer hours amassing and caring for this impressive collection of sale plants. Not to mention, the FOGs contribute all proceeds from the sale to research and educational initiatives at the Garden.
Congradulations and thank-you FOGs!!
Posted by Nadine Diner at 3:17 PM| Comments (0)
April 30, 2007
UBC Botanical Garden Earth Day Celebration!
On April 22nd, 2007, the UBC Botanical Garden held its first Free Community Earth Day Celebration. This event included garden tours, a BBQ, “pollination street” kids education and activities, a sustainable magic show by the Solar Power Roadshow, and an indoor and outdoor information expo that included the following exhibitors:
- The Bug Factory
- Greenheart Conservation Company
- Ener-Guide Consultant
- Your Local Farmers Market Society
- UBC Sustainability Office
- UBC Waste Management
- The Land Conservancy
- The Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant Council
- My Living Canvas Organic Gardening
- Bring Your Own Bag
- The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition
- TransLink
- The Cooperative Auto Network
- Segway BC
- UBC Supermileage Team
- The AMS Bike Coop
- The Renaissance Bicycling Company
This event was proudly sponsored by:
- UBC Campus and Community Planning – to build cohesiveness in University Town and the community
- UBC Food Services – as part of its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility
- UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research – as part of its mission in education and conservation
The event was a great success, as 676 citizens (adult and children) from various parts of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland attended the event. We've also received some great feedback about the event, including:
- “Earth day was wonderful : really well done and lots of fun for the kids.”
- “With respect to the Earth Day Celebration, I thought this event went very well. My daughter, 3 1/2 years old, enjoyed the activities very much. She particularly enjoyed making the masks, pollinating the flowers and learning how to make the pine cone bird feeder. We had a wonderful time and found the day and the activities both fun and educational.”
- “I completed the scavenger hunt with my friends, even though we are all adults. I liked the fact that there was an adult prize and a children's prize at the end. I also was pleased to see a place where you could become a Garden member and took the opportunity to join. The highlight of the whole event was having a ride on the battery powered bikes and the segway. That was awesome! One item that particularly stood out was the concept of “food miles” and the notion that sometimes it is better to buy local even if it is not organic.”
The Garden staff and volunteers look forward to offering this Earth Day event in subsequent years!!
A special thank-you to the volunteers that included: UBC employees, Garden staff and UBC students!
Posted by Nadine Diner at 3:50 PM| Comments (3)
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UBC Botanical Garden Blog is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at The University of British Columbia.