Flower Pressing

Here is Ellice placing her carefully chosen flowers in her plant press. The press is made out of 2 pieces of hardwood on either side. In the middle, sandwiching the flowers, are 2 pieces of blotting paper surrounded by 2 pieces of cardboard. About 3 layers of these sandwiches can fit into her press. Screws and wing-nuts on the 4 corners of the press make sure that enough pressure is applied so that the moisture from the flowers gets absorbed into the blotting paper. It usually takes 3 or more weeks before they can be taken out and used in crafts.

In the past we have used the pressed flowers to make greeting cards and to emboss handmade paper. This year, Ellice wants to try embellishing candles with her flowers and to give these away as gifts to her friends.

Breath and Meditation in the Garden

What a treat in the Garden this evening! Kathy Savage facilitated a workshop on breath and meditation. She first led us through a breathing exercise to relax us and to teach us how important it is to breathe properly for health and well-being. Then we silently toured the Garden, taking in as much as we could using our senses. When we sat back down, Kathy led us through a visualization exercise of the tour we just experienced. By the end of the evening we felt very calm and peaceful. Participants of the workshop took something very valuable home with them. Now, whenever they feel that they are in a stressful situation, they can come back to the Garden in their minds and re-create the feelings they felt being surrounded by beautiful sights, sounds and scents.

Thank you, butterflies!

A beautiful butterfly, called a Question Mark Butterfly, feeds on the nectar of a Rudbekia flower. Many monarchs have also been sighted in the Garden. It is so important to make sure that pollinators thrive and are allowed to do their work. Our own survival depends on this! For more information on endangered butterfly species in Canada, please visit: http://www.cbif.gc.ca/spp_pages/butterflies/conservation_e.php

Garden rewards

Nathan's Garden is doing so well! We were in it recently, seeing what goodies we could find.

We found lots!

Using Our Imaginations in the Garden

Beautiful natural settings can inspire us to use our imaginations to colour our lives. The Garden is located right by the Speed River, which Evie just loves. The river reminds her of a scene out of 'Anne of Green Gables', when Anne is acting out the role of Lady of Shalott, floating down the river that leads to Camelot.
As Anne is floating down the river, she is holding a bouquet of yellow flowers, so of course it made sense that the yellow flowers in the Garden meant something special to Evie too!

Making Herbal Vinegars

Last night we gathered in the Garden to make our own herbal vinegars using a wide variety of Garden herbs such as sage, rosemary, dill, and basil. Vinegar helps our body to better absorb vitamins and minerals from our food. When we flavour vinegar with herbs we can benefit from the medicinal properties they offer. For example, many of the bitter herbs aid with digestion.
We enjoyed chive and basil infused apple cider vinegar in a dressing during the workshop as we familiarized ourselves with the scents and flavours of mother nature's gifts. The dressing was a yummy yet simple one: we added our infused vinegar with olive oil and garden dried lemon thyme.

Art in the Garden

Community Living Flaherty residents did some flower art in the Garden. Here we are experimenting with purple and yellow pansies and pounding the natural dyes of the flowers onto fabric banners.
We hung up the finished works of art for all to enjoy along the arbor in the spiral garden. Folks passing through can leave comments in the Garden's mailbox to let us know what they think of the art display.