Welcome to the Quadra Island Garden Club website!
There is so much our ever-growing garden club members want to share with each other and with visitors to our website. Most of all, we want to share our love of gardens and gardening.
We want to tell our gardening stories, even the embarrassing ones. We want to show pictures of our beloved gardens. We want to encourage and inspire everyone to garden organically.
We have 175 garden club members! Our members range in age from seven to 87.
We grow food. We grow flowers. We grow herbs, berries, fruit trees. You name it and someone in our club is probably growing it.
We swap plants. We share seeds. We host plant sales, garden parties and potlucks.
We are constantly learning from each other and from our featured guest speakers and workshop presenters. Learn about some of our featured speakers here.
We have the most wonderful monthly meetings with speakers sharing their knowledge and expertise on all kinds of garden-related topics! Check out our upcoming talks and events here.
We’re big on organic gardening, saving pollinators, composting and food security. And we have fun. Lots of fun. We’re a super-friendly bunch of gardeners who love to share our love of gardens and gardening.
OUR MEETINGS
Everyone is welcome!
We generally meet on the second Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. (except on stat holidays) from September to May. We have special events throughout the summer, too. There is a lot to interest any level of gardener from novice to expert so join your friends and neighbours; share your questions and knowledge.
***NEW for Fall 2023*** The cost to join our club is only $20.00 per individual or $30.00 per family, or come as a guest and pay $5.00. This helps us to cover the fair rates that we pay our speakers plus our other costs.
Join Us on Facebook!
Stay connected with lots of other gardening devotees! Share pictures & info, trade plants, make announcements about gardening and enviro events. Find us here.
MEET OUR GARDEN CLUB LEADERSHIP TEAM
Robin Beaton, Membership
My garden is an invitation to be creative, nurturing, and energetic with rewards of beauty, fragrance, and nourishment. I love walking out into the garden without a to-do list and find a task that calls to me. Many of my plants come from Quadra gardens shared at plant sales. I have learned so much from other garden club members who with extensive knowledge about plants and gardening, generously share their experience and expertise. The annual spring plant sale is a great way to share plants and talk about gardening with our fellow islanders.
Jeanne Stoppard, Treasurer
My husband Mike and our 3 children Spirit 2, Rogue 5 and River 7 moved to a blank slate on Maurelle Island in February 1981. We spent the next 10 years developing our land including building a house, a large garden, greenhouse, and 20 tree orchard. My passion has always been food. The closer to home the better and as self-sufficient as possible. My greatest pleasure is letting the garden dictate my culinary direction.
In 1990 we purchased land on Quadra Island so our children could attend middle and high school. This involved a full-time job and no time for serious gardening. I retired in 2017 from my job with School District 72. I’ve always been a local and organic consumer. Now I could grow my own vegetables. Becoming part of Quadra Gardening Club has restored my confidence and my passion. I love learning from the experience of others and sharing ideas.
Jen Banks-Doll, Web Mistress & Communications
I moved to Quadra in the summer of 2017 with my husband Marc and twin daughters Charlotte and Gabrielle. The first event we attended was a pruning workshop put on by the Garden Club. We joined that day and have been heavily involved ever since, making many friends, having a ton of fun, and learning lots a long the way! We are inspired by permaculture and are learning to garden, and live, in a regenerative way. I have started many small urban gardens, and gardened in many other people’s gardens. But now, here on Quadra, we finally have a garden that we built from scratch and will garden in for many years to come. At last I will get that feedback loop I so need to advance beyond beginner gardener!
Mary Ann Mooyman, Pop-Up Garden Tour Organizer
My husband and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. Here is where we raised our three sons.
With the kids now following their own paths and retirement at our doorstep, in 2021, we decided to return to our Canadian roots and move to beautiful Quadra Island.
Gardening has always played an important part in my life. Whether it be growing food with our family, volunteering to raise food to a local food bank, to now, being a part of the Garden Club, community has always been the beating force. The knowledge I continue to learn and even more importantly the friendships that are created along the way have always brought me much joy.
Colleen Carter, New LT Member & Presenter Extraordinaire
With a lifelong passion for flowers, gardens and the natural world, Colleen Carter has always been drawn to all things horticultural. Her love for horticulture led her to explore various facets of the field, from greenhouse management to landscape design. Though largely self-taught, she has complemented her knowledge with formal education and holds certifications in horticulture, eco landscape design and permaculture design. Her journey also includes hands-on experience in floral arranging, plant propagation and Horticulture Therapy.
Colleen spent over 20 years living in the beautiful Cowichan Valley, raising kids and living on a rural hobby farm. She is grateful to have spent that time in an area rich in farms, orchards and vineyards. In 2006, she moved to Nanaimo BC where she operated a landscape design business. She then moved to Read Island where she developed a property and learned a lot about boat-access-only, off-grid living. Colleen now lives on Quadra Island where she offers her garden design services. Through her work she strives to help others create beauty and functionality in their outdoor spaces.
A BIG Thank you to all of our other volunteers
Mary Ann Mooyman & Jeanne Stoppard, Plant Sale Organizers
Heather Classen & Mary Ann Mooyman, GC reps on the GC/ICAN Food Security Team
Jen Banks-Doll & Bradford Vinson, Technical Assistance
Marian McMeekin & Lynda Bell, Concession
Heather & Bruce Classen, Plant & Seed Table
Eileen Mackay, Show & Tell Table
and everyone who helps out at our many meetings and events!
Happy Gardening!