NEWS Lectures - Thanks to all those who attended my winter lecture / workshop series at the Calgary Public Library. The workshops and lectures will resume in the autumn, as I’m now pretty busy with the spring planting season at the Priddis Valley Gardens. Donations needed - The Priddis Valley Gardens Healing Centre, an Alberta non-profit society and charitable organization, organizes the activities of the Priddis Valley Gardens. We are planning the gardening and outdoor art workshops for seniors, people and children with disabilities, school children, women in crisis, children in group homes, hospital day patients and more. There are also the three annual events with live music, an outdoor market and lots of great fun:
We need your donations to make the events a success! We are looking for gardening tools, paint, wood, wood chips, garbage and recycling bins, carpentry supplies, craft supplies, and snack supplies like plastic cups, straws, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, popcorn etc. Volunteers needed - If you are interested in volunteering for the non-profit society, we welcome your participation! We are now registered with Volunteer Calgary to help coordinate our volunteer efforts. We are looking for volunteers to help staff the events (gate, parking, bar, kids’ tent, etc), as well as volunteers for gardening, marketing, administration and more. Many thanks to those that have helped already; your hard work and time are really appreciated and make a big difference. Opening weekend – The Gardens open for the spring season on Sun May 1, and are open weekends until the May long weekend, when we are open daily. Get your spring plants from the Priddis Valley Gardens this year! Our plants are carefully hand-tended and grown pesticide-free from seed and seedling. We also have many unique and artistic hanging arrangements, and the prices are just as good as you can get elsewhere. See www.priddisvalleygardens.com for hours. Festival of the Lady Bug – Sat Jun 11 – Join us to release 100,000+ lady bugs and allies into the pesticide free gardens, and for live music, workshops, a kids’ fair and outdoor market, 11am-11pm. This family-oriented festival transforms into a super party as night falls…hope to see you there! Check www.priddisvalleygardens.com for ticket information. Time to spring into spring!! This is how the earth’s renewal affects us—it inspires us at a very deep level. Understanding how our emotions are so connected to the earth’s renewal is just one way of acknowledging that we are not separate from the earth; we are deeply connected to it. Did you know that in outer space, people’s biological clocks and other hormonal functions stop working properly? As electrical transmitters (this is how our brains work), we have a very important magnetic relationship to the earth that is not yet understood by science. There are many frightening events happening that currently dampen our spirits—the radiation leaks in Japan, the middle-east revolutions, the mass graves in Mexico. It is critical to get grounded, and to focus on the positive in your relationships, counting your blessings rather than your wounds. When you fixate on your problems you make more problems—it is the Law of Attraction. Working with the earthy elements is very grounding. That’s why we host workshops for people who may not have the opportunity to do this on their own. The sense of accomplishment and validation that comes from working with your hands outside is immediate. The negative ions from trees and earth literally ground us. The effect is the same on everyone! That’s why children benefit so much from outdoor time. Exceptionally busy boys will benefit tremendously from increased outdoor time. Take the time to get your kids unwired and plug them into the outdoors; you will notice right away how much of their nervous energy burns off. (Not recommended to have your kids play outside during precipitation; they are more likely to ingest some radioactive particles). Make earth-time for you part of your self-care programme, just like you would a massage or a run. Join in the spring fun and get outside into the dirt. If your dirt is still covered in snow, start growing some seeds indoors. (By the way, we’re not yet done with snow in Southern Alberta. Boo hoo! I’m still waiting for my creek pump to thaw! Normally at this time of year, the ground is thawed enough for my water to get from the creek to the greenhouses!) I look forward to seeing you at the Gardens this spring! In love and peace, The following statement is required of Charitable Organizations in Alberta per the Charitable Fund-Raising Regulations: |