D.I.G.S. Douglas Island Garden Society

Fall Fair Exhibits

2026-07-14T17:59:44.987-07:00

GENERAL RULES FOR EXHIBIT ENTRIES

1. No late entries will be accepted.
2. Adults $1/entry, Children free,
even if entered in adult category.
3. Two age categories for children:
Primary - 7 yrs and under; Junior - 8 to 14 yrs.
4. Children may enter in their age category or in
any adult category.
5. Enter as many items as you wish.
6. Entries must be MADE, GROWN or BAKED
by the entrant on Protection Island.
7. Ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awarded
for each class within a category.

EXHIBIT CATEGORIES

1. Visual Arts

1.1 Painting

1.2 Sketch in black & white, mounted on a black

mat, no frame or glass, black mat supplied

if required

1.3 Photograph, mounted on a black mat,

no frame or glass, black mat supplied

if required

1.4 Natural Beach Art

1.5 Carving, Sculpture, Woodworking

1.6 Card Making using photograph or art

2. Home Arts & Crafts

2.1 Knitted or Crocheted item

2.2 Ceramics or Pottery

2.3 Sewn item

2.4 Weaving

2.5 Felting

2.6 Quilting

2.7 Needlework or Beading

3. Children (Primary 7 years & under; Junior 8-14 years)

3.1 Visual Arts - Painting, Sketch or Photograph

(mounted on black mat), Beach Art

3.2 Baking (for Juniors only, 8-14 years)

3.3 Fabric or Wool Craft

3.4 Lego Structure

3.5 Biggest Maple Leaf

4. Horticulture

4.1 Squash, biggest by weight

4.2 Zucchini, biggest by weight

4.3 Onion, biggest by weight (roots removed,

tops folded over with elastic)

4.4 Garlic Bulb, biggest by weight

(roots removed, top trimmed to 1")

4.5 Tomato, biggest by weight

4.6 Beets, best, any variety

4.7 Cauliflower, best

4.8 Apples, best, any variety, matched pair

4.9 Flower Arrangement, any variety

4.10 Single Bloom, any variety

4.11 Dahlia Flowers (if entries warrant,

judge will split flowers into subsections)

5. Baking & Preserves

5.1 Pie, any variety, topped (crust, crumble, etc.)

5.2 Yeast Breads or Buns (white, brown,

whole grain, sourdough)

5.3 Cookies, six of uniform size, same variety

5.4 Cake, any layer cake with icing or frosting

5.5 Cake, any coffee cake or loaf

5.6 Scones, six of uniform size, same variety

5.7 Muffins, six of uniform size, same variety

5.8 Pickles, Chutney, Relish, Salsa *

5.9 Jam, Jelly, Preserved Fruit *

* preserves must be in containers with

standard two-part lids, hot water sealed

and labelled with the date

Fall Fair Program

2026-07-14T17:13:33.082-07:00

Fall Fair Poster

2026-07-14T17:10:45.211-07:00

2026 DIGS ANNUAL PLANT SALE

2026-05-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

PLANT SALE PRICE LIST

2026-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

DIGS 2026 PLANT SALE LIST

Saturday, May 9th, 10am - 12 noon

FLOWERS – 6 pack $4.00 – alyssum, cosmos, impatiens, lobelia, marigold, nasturtium, pansy, snapdragon, viola, wallflower

2.5” pot $2.00 – basket stuffers, fuchsia, petunia

4.5” pot $4.00 – geranium

1 gallon pots $7.00 – sweet peas

VEGETABLES – 6 packs $4.00 – basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, dill, ground cherry, kale, leek, onion, lettuce, parsley, pepper, pumpkin

3.5” pots $3.00 – cucumber, squash (winter, summer and zucchini)

TOMATOES – 3.5” pots $3.00

Cherry: Sweet Million, Sun Gold, Sweet Gold

Patio: Bing, Napoli, Red Robin

Regular: Early Girl, Mountain Magic, Glacier (bush), Tasti-Lee

Beef Steak: Mortgage Lifter, Old German

Roma: San Marzano

PERENNIALS – 3.5” pots $4.00 – 1 gallon pots $7.00 – 3 gallon pots $10.00

New this year: some interesting plants including 7 varieties of roses, 6 varieties of hostas, clematis, loose strife, potentilla, columbine, 3 varieties of ground cover, ferns and wallflowers. And some old favourites: aubrietia, bee balm, grasses, hollyhock, hydrangea, lavender, mint, oregano, rhubarb, strawberry.

All of these will be in our perennial cage at the rear of the community garden.

PATIOS – If you are interested in some new varieties of plants for small spaces we have: “Snackabelle” peppers, “Bonsai” basil, “Katarina” cabbage, “Salad” + “Iznik” cucumbers.

And don’t miss the “Giant Onion” seedlings (to enter in the fall fair).

Questions – there will be a limited number of “consultants” on hand

Payment – cheque or cash (loonies & toonies are useful - no change available)

Boxes – don’t forget to bring your own containers to bring your purchases home in

DIGS Memberships will be available: $10.00 single, $15.00 family

Happy Shopping!!!

Asparagus for Sale

2026-03-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

Asparagus Plants for Sale

When: Saturday March 21st, 10:30-11:30am

Where: Community Garden

Bare Root: $2.00

Small Pot: $5.00

Large Pot: $7.00

Allotment Bed Rules and Guidelines

2026-03-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

Douglas Island Garden Society (DIGS)

Allotment Bed Rules and Guidelines

1. Registration Fees and Allotment Reservation

A. Each island resident is entitled to lease a plot, if space is available. Allotment lease holders must be current DIGS members.

B. Annual allotment fees are $50 per full plot, $25 for a half plot or $15 for a third of a plot. These fees are not refundable.

C. The fee includes frugal use of water and soil amendments (fertilizers). Compost, including seaweed and leaves from the community garden supply is for the communal beds only.

D. Allotment leases are good for one year (March 1 to February 28). DIGS reserves the right to change location and availability in future years. DIGS reserves the right to refuse to rent allotments if there is just cause.

E. Allotment leases are to be renewed and signed annually by March 1. Reminders will be emailed to current gardeners at the beginning of each calendar year. Plots will become available to those on the wait list if any lease holders have not signed and paid the fee by March 1.

F. Allotments must be cleared of weeds by April 1. Failure to do so will result in the plot being reassigned to another gardener.

G. If, for any reason, a renter finds that they cannot care for their garden, they are required to notify the allotment coordinator and make arrangements for the care of their garden during their absence. The care giver needs to be made aware of all the guidelines concerning the allotment beds including mowing and watering duties. If an allotment holder is absent for more than one year he/she must relinquish his/her bed. Appeals can be made as set out in 13B Cooperation and Community.

2. Wait List

Any Protection Island resident can be on the wait list for an allotment bed as long as they are a member of DIGS. As a full bed becomes available it will be divided in half and the gardeners in the overflow bed will get first option to take a lease on ½ of the bed.

3. Watering

The rental fee includes the frugal use of water. Only hand watering is allowed.

4. Planting Restrictions

A. Only organic methods of growing are permitted - no toxic chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Gardeners using these items will lose their gardening privileges.

B. No trees are allowed because of shade and root problems.

C. No invasive species, eg. bamboo. Please check the City of Nanaimo’s web page for local invasive plants.

D. Tall plants can only be planted where they will not shade neighbouring plots.

5. Smoking

Smoking is not permitted in the garden area. This is a safety issue and a means of preventing the spread of the tobacco virus.

6. Weeds and Trash

It is the gardener’s responsibility to control the weeds and trash in their own plots and adjacent pathways and to clear their plot of trellis and staking material, plastic mulching, and plant debris when not in use.

7. Rebar

Exposed rebar is not allowed for staking or trellising for safety purposes.

8. Pets

Pets are not allowed in the garden.

9. Storage

Storage on site for gardeners’ tools or supplies will not be provided. Gardeners must pack what they need in and out.

10. Gates

Gardeners are asked to close and latch all gates when leaving to keep the deer out.

11. Compost and Garbage

A refuse bin (for non-organic garbage) and an open compost bin (for leaves, stem and root material) will be available on site.

12. Harvesting

No one may pick another gardener’s crop unless he or she has been given permission by the plot user.

13. Cooperation and Community

A. In addition to the annual fee, gardeners are required to make a contribution of their time by participating in the following communal tasks:

i) grass cutting - each allotment lease holder will be required to cut the grass and trim edges of the whole garden (inside and out) for an assigned one or two week period.

ii) watering - each allotment lease holder will be required to water the communal beds as needed. Beds to be watered will be assigned. If the lease holder is unable to complete the watering and/or mowing duties he/she must discuss this with the allotment coordinator.

iii) construction tasks and maintenance tasks

iv) lease holders are encouraged to attend weekly work party meetings to contribute in discussing issues pertaining to the garden.

B. Conflicts or concerns among allotment gardeners should be worked out privately. If not, the coordinator will arbitrate.

14. Privacy of Personal Information

All information collected on registration forms will be compiled in a database accessible only to the executive and will be kept confidential. This information will not be lent, rented or sold.

15. Subletting

The leased bed is to be used as a garden by the lease holder and may not be used or sublet except as decided in section 1G.

____________________________________________________________________________

These rules will be reviewed annually and may be improved.

Updated and approved at the AGM held February 28, 2026

DIGS Directors Meeting - Feb 28, 2026

2026-03-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

DIGS Directors Meeting - Feb 28, 2026, 2:48pm

Attendance:

Veronica Zehntner

Jim Harris

Jurgen Goering

Jane Foxwell

Mike Gillespie

Marla Thorburn

Motion to nominate positions:

President - Veronica - nominated by Marla, seconded by Jane

Treasurer - Veronica choosing to remain in position

Secretary - Marla - nominated by Veronica, seconded by Jurgen

Allotment Coordinator - Jurgen - choosing to remain in position

CARRIED by acclaim

Events:

Plant Sale - Veronica, Jim Harris and Brenda Henderson

Dessert Auction - need team to organize, Jane says this needs to change, will re-visit

Fall Fair - need team to organize, Jim to contact judges, Veronica has brochure ideas

Tasks:

Perennial propagation - Jim to continue

Apple pruning - Jim to continue - could have a pruning workshop

Blog - Marla to take over from Jen Cluff - could let people know what we’ve done and what we’ve harvested and what’s coming up on Saturday www.digsgarden.blogspot.ca

Promotion - Jurgen - be more public with what we’re doing, pro-isle, facebook

Watering seminar - how to drain hoses, turn off the wand, water the soil not the plants

Allotment bed sabbatical extension: Chuck Butler would like to keep his allotment bed even though he is not feeling up to using it this year, for the second year. He has offered to pay for it and let the garden use it. After some discussion the directors decided to accept his offer.

Directors Meetings: we will meet more often, quarterly or by request, as needed

Motion to adjourn at 3:15pm, moved by Mike, seconded by Jane, CARRIED

DIGS AGM - Feb 28, 2026

2026-03-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

Douglas Island Garden Society (DIGS)

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held February 28, 2026

Members present: 19

Call to Order: 1:30pm - Land Acknowledgement

Adoption of Agenda, as amended

Moved Lin Neufeld

Seconded Mike Gillespie CARRIED

Approval of Minutes of the 2025 AGM, held February 22, 2025, as amended

(item 2, 3 and 6 should say CARRIED)

Moved Margaret Harris

Seconded Barry Elmer CARRIED

4. Correspondence: Received an email from Jane Watson and Graeme Ellis, well known residents on the island, with appreciation for the restoration activities on the island and the work of DIGS and Antler Swamp Restoration Group.

5. Business arising from the minutes: Regarding Allotment Bed Rules and Guidelines, Jurgen proposed a motion to replace the website listed under 4c (bcinvasives.ca) with the City of Nanaimo’s web page for local invasive plants.

Moved Jurgen Goering

Seconded Jane Foxwell CARRIED

6. Treasurer’s Report (Veronica):

Opening bank balance $15,618.23

Revenues $ 7,755.35

Expenditures $ 8,329.63

Ending bank balance $15,043.95

Partner in Parks contract: will ask for re-imbursement from the city for metal garden beds already purchased, plus for the city to purchase additional metal beds, all as part of the matching grant funds due to DIGS.

Motion to accept the treasurer’s report (detailed reports submitted)

Moved Kathy Goldsmith

Seconded Mike Gillespie

Discussion regarding money paid to the city and volunteer hours “in kind”.

CARRIED

7. Allotment Coordinator’s Report (Jurgen): we have 11 large garden beds plus an overflow bed, for a total of 24 allotment beds. Two lease holders took a sabbatical due to health reasons and their beds were used by the community garden. Two people from the overflow beds will be getting allotments beds and two new people are getting into the overflow beds. As of today we have zero people on the waiting list. The beds are physically deteriorating - many thanks to Mike Gillespie for his work shoring up the beds. There was a wasp nest in one bed this year. Losses due to unauthorized picking were minimal this year. Some watering issues this year.

Discussion: Kevin and Jim offered to be contacts for new members to learn how to mow and water. Barry will contact the city to turn the water back on for the summer. Mowing needs to start soon. Jim offered to cut the grass during the first week of March.

8. President’s Report (Jim): thanks for being here to show support for the community garden, we appreciate it. Major things happening at the garden this year:

two 8x12 greenhouses (one heated); public thanks to Mike Gillespie, Kevin Pistor, Sandy Crowe, and Jim Harris for assembling the green houses, taking 4 men 4 days per greenhouse
metal garden beds - Barry’s bed placement design was the winning entry, thanks to all for putting six metal beds together
Margaret and Jim are stepping down as president and secretary after many years, time to reset the board of directors for the future of the garden, with some new ideas from new people.

Discussion: Jurgen pointed out that Jim’s report was all about hardware and he wants to address produce, such as the garden had a record of 522 cucumbers this year. Others pointed out that the buddy system worked well, pairing a new member with a seasoned volunteer, to work together on a specific crop.

9. Directors for 2026: call for nominations from the floor (first, second and third), seeing none, the following are acclaimed and they will determine their roles within the committee executive:

Veronica Zehntner

Jim Harris

Jurgen Goering

Jane Foxwell

Mike Gillespie

Marla Thorburn

10. New Business:

a) update from Antler Swamp Restoration Project (Barry) - project is supported by 2024 City of Nanaimo Watershed Restoration Grant, grant term of one year but it is a multi-year effort. 70’ x 50’ blackberry thicket and large amount of lamium removed. South facing demonstration garden. Signage with land acknowledgement in planning stage. Site preparation lasted 7 months. Many plants, trees, shrubs and seeds planted. Small native plant nursery to propagate plants for restoration and DIGS plant sale. Coordinating with Emily Barnwell to provide plants for Pirates Park. Encourage DIGS to continue supporting the restoration project. Members of restoration group are Barry Elmer, Jurgen Goering, Nancy Turner, Marla Thorburn and Corinne Brolewicz.

Discussion: DIGS is an adjoining property with shared boundaries and we hope that you continue to share information at DIGS Saturday work parties. It was asked if there would be signs to identify plants with an answer in the afirmative. Discussion regarding terminology: stream, streambank, riparian area, drainage ditch, wetland, water channel. Request to amend the report to remove the word stream. It was generally agreed that water channel is a better term than stream. It was stated that there is a general understanding that there is a defined boundary to the wetland restoration area and to clarify that the ongoing support from DIGS is for work done within those boundaries.

b) announcement about Jim and Margaret Harris’ retirement (Mike Gillespie) - presented with bouquet of flowers, card and gift card for the View restaurant. - Jim has been vital for support from the city and has done an amazing job and it will be a challenge to move forward in the way it’s been before. All the board member and DIGS members will need to step up and we hope moving forward we will be able to do the garden justice. Jim will continue on the board as a director-at-large and will continue to provide his truck.

11. Announcements

Event dates: Plant Sale May 9th, Dessert Auction June 20th, Fall Fair Sep 5th
Promotion: DIGS blogspot www.digsgarden.blogspot.ca - a wonderful site for gardening information - should put a link to the blog on all emails and posts to pro-isle - and it can get advertised in the newspaper and Geo can come to the garden

12. Motion to adjourn

Moved Jurgen Goering

Seconded Neil Goldsmith CARRIED

Meeting adjourned at 2:39pm

Fall Fair 2025

2025-08-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

DIGS Eleventh Annual Fall Fair 2025

Saturday, September 6th at Beacon House on P.I.

Submit your entries at Beacon House on:

Friday, Sept 5th - 6:00pm - 8:00pm or

Saturday, Sept 6th 8:00am - 9:00 am

____________________

September 6 Saturday

9:00am to 12:30 Beacon House will be closed for judging

12:30 to 3:00 pm OPEN!! View exhibits

Hot Dogs, Chips, Ice Cream Bars, Drinks Available

Garlic Braid Raffle (Tickets only), Kids Races, Cock-a-Doodle Poo contest, Coconut Shie, Adult Team Relay Race, Egg tosses – 1)kids 2)adult, Tug of War

Exhibits to remain on display until 3 PM.

Pick up entries and ribbons and prizes from 3 to 4.

7-9 pm Dance at The Beacon House - Free Entry

__________________

General Rules for Entry

1. No late entries will be accepted. See times above.

2. Adults: one dollar PER entry. NO entry fee for Children, even if entered in an adult category.

Enter as many items as you wish.

3. Two age categories for children and teens:

Primary: 7 years and under

Junior: 8 to 14 years

Children and teens may enter in their age category OR in any Adult category.

4. Entries must be made or grown or baked by the entrant.

5. There are 5 categories and several classes within each category.

6. Ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded for each class within a category.

With each entry your name goes into a draw for the Grand Prize - $50.00 More entries Better odds!

We would like to thank the donors listed below for sponsoring the judging.

Thrifty Foods - Iron Oxide - Buckerfields - Anonymous Donors

____________________

Categories (please read instructions carefully)

Visual Arts - The winner in each class wins a $20 Gift Certificate donated by Iron Oxide

1. Painting

2. Sketch in black and white mounted on a black mat (no frame or glass) (black mat supplied if required)

3. Photograph mounted on a black mat (no frame or glass)

4. Natural Beach Art

5. Carving/Sculpture/Wood Working

6. Card Making

Horticulture - The winner in each class receives a $20 Gift Certificate donated by Buckerfields and the Anonymous Donor

1. Biggest Squash or Zucchini

2. Biggest onion by weight (roots removed, tops trimmed and folded)

3. Largest Garlic Bulb by weight (roots removed, top trimmed to 1”)

4. Biggest Tomato by weight

5. Flower arrangement of any variety

6. Single Bloom of any variety

7. Dahlia Flowers – If entries warrant, judge will split flowers into subsections with cash prizes for each of the subsections.

Baking & Preserves - The winner in each class receives a $20 Gift Certificate donated by Thrifty Foods

1. Pie, any variety, topped (crust, crumble etc)

2. Yeast Breads or Buns...white, brown, whole grain, sourdough

3. Cookies, six of uniform size, same variety

4. Cake, any layer cake with icing or frosting

5. Scones, six of uniform size, same variety

6. Jam in dated and sealed jar with lid

NOTE: The following must be in containers with standard 2 part lids, hot water sealed and labelled with the date.

6. Pickles, Chutney, Relishes, Salsa

Home Arts & Crafts - The winners in each class receive a $20 Gift Certificate donated by Anonymous donors.

1. Knitted or Crocheted item

2. Ceramics, pottery

3. Sewn item

4. Weaving

5. Felting

6. Quilting

____________________

Children – Primary (7 and under) Junior (8 to 14)

1. Visual Arts - painting, sketch or photograph- (mounted on black mat), beach art,

2. Baking (Juniors 8 to 14 only

3. Fabric or Wool craft

4. Lego structure

5. Biggest Maple Leaf

_________________________

Please pick up your entries between 3 to 4 PM

Don't forget the Barn Dance from 7 to 9pm at the Beacon House

Garlic Braid Raffle 2025

2025-08-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Garlic Lovers, (click on photo to enlarge)

Take a look at these garlic braids from each of the past three years! Aren't they sensational? Each year as a fundraiser the DIGS community gardeners grow garlic, select the juiciest and most perfect heads, and professional garlic braider, Mike G. braids them into garlic braid hangers that will last all winter in your kitchen. You just cut off one head at a time as needed.

What a thrill to win one of these braids! So buy a ticket!!

One braid will be a prize for each of the three draws!

1 ticket for $2 or 3 tickets for $5

Tickets Available on Saturdays 10am-noon at the Community Garden, from Garden members, and at our annual Fall Fair

There will be two separate draws:

Draw #1 one braid to be won, drawn on Thanksgiving weekend

Draw #2 win one of two braids to be drawn at Christmas

Best, Jen for DIGS

For new neighbours; About the garden

2025-07-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Neighbours,

With the influx of new residents, it is probably worth mentioning how the Community Garden works.

How Our Garden Works

Allotments: How do they work?

We are a neighbourhood association, always happy to welcome new members. We cultivate communal beds and also allotment beds which are leased by individuals.

A lot of hard work goes into planning, maintaining all the garden beds with fruits, vegetables and flowers. We welcome guests to come in and visit (dogs must stay outside, sorry). However, please no harvesting of any of the crops in any of the beds. “You can look, but please don’t touch”. The garden should not be used as a place for children to play.

If anyone wants to learn more or get involved, please attend one of our garden work bees. We gather every Saturday at 10.00 to discuss any garden matters and assign chores. One of the more delightful chores this time of year is harvesting. We have harvested garlic and will be picking beans, cucumbers, potatoes, broccoli and other greens. The harvest is divided up among those who are present that day, and the surplus is placed out on the farm stand “harvest table” at the side of the road. Sometimes, we also harvest mid-week, so produce may appear on the harvest table on any day. These veggies are free to anyone passing by. But please do not pick inside the garden.

Check out our potato towers and the squash tunnel. A new feature this year is our cucumber trellis, 24 feet long, four feet wide and 6 feet high. We are hoping for a bountiful crop of cucumbers with plenty to share for the community.

See you in the garden….!

Jurgen

AGM from Feb. 2025

2025-06-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

DIGS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES: February 22, 2025

Number present: 19

1. Kevin called the meeting to order at 1:30 2. Approval of the agenda: moved by Kevin, seconded by Gerald 3. Minutes of the 2024 AGM: moved by Margaret that they be accepted as read, seconded by Barry 4. Correspondence: none

5. Business Arising from the Minutes: 1) Corinne wondered if there was any space inside the garden for native plant propagation plants? Kevin asked what happened to the $600 requested from the City for the Native Plant Restoration project. Jurgen explained that funding was provided from DIGS and the City’s money was not needed.

6. Treasurer’s Report: read by Veronica. Opening balance as of January 31, 2024 $9688.40 Revenues: $8502.26 Expenses: $2572.43 Bank Balance as of January 1, 2025 $15,618.23 Revenue over Expenses: $5929.83 Allotment Reserve per 2023 AGM motion: $1980.00 Cash on Hand: $13,638.23 Moved by Jurgen seconded by Corinne.

7.Allotment Coordinator’s Report: Jurgen 1)mentioned that allotment gardeners are strong supporters of DIGS. They mow and water the garden throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons. 2) there are 24 allotment beds 3) one person is on the wait list 4) the David/Milena E. and Lynn R. will be giving up their beds 5) Lynn R. has donated much to the garden financially and otherwise from the year the garden began, 2007.

8. President’s Report: read by Jim: Achievements this past year include: a) purchase of 2 smaller greenhouses instead of 1 large one which was going to cost too much b) DIGS is good financially largely due to our successful fundraisers 1) the garlic braid raffles have been very successful due to the efforts of Mike and Andria G. who planted, weeded, watered, harvested, dried, braided and ran the raffles. 2) the plant sale in May each year is our biggest fundraiser and is successful due to the efforts of many DIGS members.

3) the Dessert Auction: Thanks to island bakers who baked a lot of delicious desserts and islanders who made lots of generous bids it, too, was a successful event. 4) The Fall Fair is not really a fundraiser but rather an opportunity to showcase island talent and have some fun. One of the highlights was the dance, a line dance rather than a barn dance with old people and young people alike “kicking up their heels” and stomping and clapping throughout the evening. Some ways to improve the Fall Fair include: i)more entries needed in the Horticulture and Baking/Preserves categories. Even with cash prizes offered this year the lack of entries was sad. We have professional judges coming to judge the baking and preserves and there weren’t even enough entries in some categories to hand out second and third prize ribbons. To help with this problem we have been posting on the DIGS blog every month with advice about how to prepare and plan for items in the Fall Fair. And that was last year in the garden as I saw it.

9) Directors for 2025: President: Jim H. Secretary: Margaret H. Treasurer: Veronica Z. Directors: Jane F,, Jurgen G, David E. Mike G. Kevin moved and Nancy seconded that Marla T become a director. Passed 10) New Business: 1) Jim H.: DIGS is facing an aging problem. The garden has been operating for 17 years and with a lot of the same people. We need get more people interested in taking an active role. How do we do this? We are trying out a ‘buddy system” where an experienced gardener takes on an apprentice, coaching him/her how to grow cucumbers, or squash. Maybe next year we can include more crops with the buddy system. 2) Jurgen proposed changes to the Allotment Bed Rules and Regulations. These changes are meant to bring guidelines into sync with current practices, remove redundant clauses and increase clarity and brevity.

DOUGLAS ISLAND GARDEN SOCIETY – ALLOTMENT BED RULES AND GUIDELINES

As updated and approved at the February 2025 AGM

1. Registration Fees and Allotment Reservation

A. Each island resident is entitled to lease a plot if space is available. Allotment lease holders must be current DIGS members.

3. Watering: The rental fee includes the frugal use of water. Only hand watering is allowed.

4. Planting Restrictions

C. No invasive species eg: bamboo, morning glory etc. Please check the following link to find out which are listed as invasive. https://bcinvasives.ca

6. Weeds and Trash

It is the gardener's responsibility to control the weeds and trash in their own plots and adjacent pathways and to clear their plot of trellis and staking material, plastic mulching, and plant debris when not in use.

11. Compost and Garbage

A refuse bin (for non organic garbage) and an open compost bin (for leaves, stem and root material) will be available on site.

13. Cooperation and Community

B. Conflicts or concerns among allotment gardeners should be worked out privately. If not, the coordinator will arbitrate.

11. Announcements: Plant Sale May 10, Dessert Auction June 21, Fall Fair Sept. 13

12. Meeting Adjourned 2:50pm Kevin moved, Barry seconded

Plant Sale May 10th at 10am

2025-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Announcing the annual Digs Plantsale on Saturday May 10th this year!

A Community Garden Bulletin

by Jim Harris

Our annual Plant Sale is just weeks away. It will be held at the DIGS Community Garden on Saturday May 10th starting at 10am. We will have a variety of annual flowers and vegetables, over 50 kinds of perennials, small fruits and native plants. Be advised...come early and bring boxes to hold your purchases.

We will also have all the plants you need to start growing your prized winning produce for the Fall Fair. So plan to enter. Pick up the plants you need and good luck!

We will also have an area set aside for featuring "Plants to Grow in Small Spaces" such as pot cucumbers, peppers, beans, strawberries and dwarf tomatoes to name a few.

Lots to look forward to this season. Hope to see you and may everything you plant flourish. Jim Harris

Jen adds: See last year's plant list to link to the plant growing instructions and photos/colours/varieties that we typically will have at the DIGS plant sale (all proceeds go to support our PI Community Garden). From last year:

Plant list from 2024

Fall Fair 2024 information

Getting Ready to Plant

2025-03-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Fall Fair Bulletin for March

Planning to Grow for the Fall Fair

As many of you know, our annual Fall Fair is the smallest in Canada (!) and we have tiny competitive categories to show off all our island artwork, garden work and baking and preserves (just like in pioneer days; it's so adorably historical).

In planning your participation you might like to grow some prize winning vegetables or flowers, but be saying: Alas, I have no sunlight, no soil, no plot (and the deer eat all my flowers too!).

Perhaps a solution to your growing needs would be an allotment at the community garden (contact Jurgen G by email to get on the waiting list and/or see what's available) where you could be behind a deer fence in the sun!!

Or perhaps you find that you could indeed use that shaft of sunlight you have to grow some wire or bird-netting protected tomatoes or other container vegetables!

If so, you'll want to know how to get started as March to May are the months of the year to start your vegetable plantings for a September showing.

See the BC Coastal planting guide to know when exactly to plant which food crops for our area:

What seeds can I plant in March?

BC Coastal planting guide (Westcoast seeds)

Allotment guidelines/rules

Growing Food in Containers

Allotment co-ordinator email will be on ProIsle,

Community Garden co-ordinator email is at the top of this blog.

Fall Fair Horticulture Categories

“BEST” means best representation of the species

1. Biggest Squash

2. Best Root Vegetable

3. Biggest Zucchini by Weight

4. Biggest Onion by weight (roots removed, tops folded over with elastic)

5. Largest Garlic Bulb by weight (roots removed, top trimmed to 1”)

6. Biggest Tomato by weight

7. Best Potted Herbs

8. Flower arrangement of any variety

9. Single Bloom

10. Best Apple

11. Best Tomato

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Previous "Get Ready for Fall Fair" blogposts:

All the Fall Fair Categories and Events from 2024

Seed catalogues and links

Fall Fair Photography

Growing Giant Onions

Growing Dahlias

Growing Giant Garlic

Happy planning and planting!

Best, Jen for Digs

Seed Catalogue time of year!

2025-02-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

Fall Fair Bulletin for February

Seed Catalogues
by Jim Harris

This month's gardening item is discovering the rich troves inside the newest seed catalogues! Now is the time to pour over them and plan what to plant in your garden. If you order seeds now you avoid disappointment (seed companies have limited stock and can sell out early) as well as learn a great deal of new information! There are new varieties and new methods every year.

I usually order all the seeds for the year from three Canadian companies: Veseys (in P.E.I.), William Dam (in Ont.) and Westcoast Seeds (in B.C.)

And reading through their new 2025 catalogues, here are a few things of interest that I came across this year:

1. Aspabroc - a hybrid of Broccoli and Gai Lan
2. a blue winter radish (pg. 71)
3. a new way to germinate carrot seeds (pg. 24)
4. "Snacking Peppers" (pg. 62)
5. a winter spinach (pg. 73)
6. a list of deer resistant flowers (with links to seeds/bulbs)

See:
William Dam 2025 Seed catalogue

Westcoast Seed 2025 catalogue

Veseys Seed 2025 catalogue

Did I mention that all this good information is free?

Happy reading and happy gardening!

from Jim Harris

Fall Fair Photography All Year

2025-01-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Garden Lovers,

As part of the "Get ready for Fall Fair all year" series, here is a reminder from our photography-hobbyist Jim M. about taking great photographs all year, (just in case you'd like to enter one in the fall fair). Here's his take on it below. From Jim M:

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Jen for DIGS

Growing Giant Onions

2024-12-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

December's earthy excitement is in growing the Giant Onions (see photo below) for the Giant Onion Contest at our Fall Fair each year. Luckily most of the work is done for you as you can pick up your giant onion sprouts from DIGS, already sown and grown indoors under lights, and then all you have to do is care for the wee sprouts and plant them in the ground when it's warm enough (in March) and then grow them as large as you possibly can and win the prize at the fall fair (as Jim often does; do you want to beat Jim?) :>) Photo shows what he's capable of.

Here are Jim Harris's words of advice on this topic.

______________________

Fall Fair Bulletin #3

How To Grow Giant Onions

by Jim Harris 2024

Onions are a long season crop and must be started early in the darkest and coldest part of the year. To that end I will plant the giant onion seed in mid-December. The particular seed I'm using is from a single giant onion I grew two years ago.

I will grow the seedlings through January and February and you will be able to pick up some giant onion seedlings in March, when they should be planted outdoors. The reason I'm speaking about this now is that what you can be doing right now is preparing a garden bed for these future transplanted onions. Be prepared for the year ahead.

Firstly, find a sunny spot, spread manure or leaves or peat on top, sprinkle with dolomite lime and a measured amount of high phosphorus fertilizer (high middle number of the three numbers on the bag; a good example is "Superphosphate") and dig it all in.

When planting out the seedlings, I like to put a tomato cage over the plants to support the leaves and to top mulch the onion bed.

You must water regularly and use a high Nitrogen fertilizer (a high first number of the three on the bag) until June 21st. Then you can switch and fertilize with a low Nitrogen fertilizer. You should end up with both a Fall Fair entry (largest onion) and also a great ingredient for making French onion soup next fall.

Good luck!

______________________end Jim's advice

For those wanting to learn more about perfecting your onion growing know-how here are some visuals:

How to grow giant onions:

Part 2: caring for seedlings (video):

Part 3: Onion harvesting, curing and storing (video):

_____________________

Happy growing,

Jen for DIGS

Let's Grow Dahlias!

2024-11-22T08:15:00.005-08:00

Let’s grow Dahlias! by Claire C.

Dahlia’s are a wonderfully strong, colourful, showy plant that are great for cutting. There are over 50,000 varieties within about 40 species, with 15 recognized colours.

Fall October - November

If you still have dahlias blooming in your garden - great! but they will soon die down with the first frost.

Now is a good time to either:

1. Cut down the stocks and leave the tubers in the ground with as much mulch as you can on top and keep your fingers

crossed for a winter that isn’t too wet and freezing.

Dahlias tubers don’t like being wet and if they freeze they will die.

2. If you’d like to save some of the tubers from your plants now is the time to dig them up, wash them off, divide them, and store them.

You are likely to have between 6-10 tubers from each of your plants.

There is a lot of information on how grow, dig, and store dahlias and I’ll reference my two favourite websites for complete directions.

Floretflowers.com offers a free fall mini course on digging, dividing, and storing dahlias. This is a free course but you have to register. Click on the banner near the top of their website to watch the videos.

The American Dahlia Society also offers a ton of information on all aspects of growing dahlias. The Dahlia University section is great for viewing various topics of interest.

Spring March-May

I usually wake up my stored tubers early April. If I see an eye growing on the crown I plant them in small to medium pots with good soil until they are ready to plant out in the garden about mid May. Dahlias like to be planted out roughly when your tomatoes do and for our areas and "never before the snow is gone from Mt. Benson." (according to a seasoned grower).

Generally a a water soluble or granular fertilizer or one with a higher nitrogen number can be used until mid summer when the nitrogen should be minimized.

Dahlias are not the favourite food of deer but they are definitely NOT deer proof. I keep most of mine behind a fence but I also have some in unfenced areas in our yard.

If you’d like to buy dahlia tubers from growers in the Nanaimo area the Nanaimo Gladiolus and Dahlia Society has a tuber sale near the end of April at Country Club Mall. When the date has been finalized I will post to the ProIsle Group and you are welcome to contact me there by email for more information.

In closing I’d like to thank all of you who have bought dahlias from my stand. I will continue to do this to raise funds for our local food bank - Loaves and Fishes.

Happy growing - Claire C.

Become a Lettuce Monarch!

2024-11-17T15:16:00.009-08:00

Dear Garden Lovers,

The time has come for me to move my "Lettuce Queen" focus onto other projects, and so I am handing over the growing of our community garden's lettuce to the next Lettuce Monarch who has stepped forward to take on the tossed salad of it all. Currently there are six flats of sprightly spring lettuce babies in the big poly greenhouse at DIGS which need an occasional look-in until March (keep them from freezing or drying out). Hopefully they will not freeze if we can get it together, and others will take over this miniature crop of starters for the winter. Thanks so much for Sheny for offering to do next spring and summer's lettuce crop! Happy news!! :>D

Here is all the best info. on how to grow lettuce below.

I use the West Coast Garden Guide to determine our coastal growing season for lettuce (March through October) and have planted several different varieties to determine the best eating lettuce. It's fun to experiment!

Here was my easy kitchen table method:

On damp ProMix soil/media, sprinkle a few lettuce seeds every couple of weeks. Once the seeds have sprouted, transplant them gently into six packs (36 plants per tray - mix up the colours; make a quilt!) on a table at DIGS, in the shade. Keep them watered and then eventually move each lettuce into a one gallon container or into a raised bed. I even recycled the plant-sale media (old soil) and mixed it with leaf mould to create a no-cost mixture to plant the mature lettuce into their gallon pots. Add a sprinkling of organic pelleted fertilizer; plonk in the lettuce plug. Easy.

Click on pictures to enlarge them.

The biggest enemies of lettuce are slugs and too much heat/sun. So at DIGS we grow them on a shady table (slugs can't jump that high), keeping them safe until they have grown to the hardy size that slugs will leave alone before planting them out into beds around the Community Garden. Anywhere shady is a good bet. We also use Safer's Ferrous Sulphite to get rid of slugs in the raised beds.

More info. below.

Best, Jen

How to grow great lettuce video.

All my notes are below:

Types of Lettuce:

- Jim H. has my all the lettuce seeds from this year. We take our seeds home and keep them in the fridge in waterproof containers. Seeds kept dry and cool can last up to ten years.

- some useful lettuce varieties are "slow to bolt" which are great for July and August heat

- some are called "winter lettuce" which tend not freeze until it gets truly icy. Have fun looking at the catalogues.

- most lettuce we grow is leaf-lettuce and we leave it to mature as long as possible so people can pick outer leaves and keep growing the centers.

- also some of the "head lettuce" never actually forms a head at DIGS (the raccoons chomped on the iceburg lettuce just as it was making heads last year, the idiots!) so don't feel bad if you only get floppy leaves. All is beloved. :>)

The most popular lettuce variety last year that did make a head was a little Boston lettuce called "Tom Thumb" (harvest one head per person; so cute!) from West Coast Seeds.

- romaine has been the one most successful head-forming lettuce to grow and is sturdy and resilient.

- eaters also tended to like curly bright lime green leaf lettuces such as "Black Simpson" and "Grand Rapids".

- feel free to purchase seed and get reimbursed or ask Jim & Veronica to order

- pelleted lettuce seed can be very hard to sprout; avoid it unless you really want that variety.

- if you are trying to sprout pelleted lettuce, use wet paper towel between two yogurt lids, and wrap in plastic for three days. Once the pellets split and the seed emerges as a sprout, tweeze out the sprouts gently and plant in moist pro-mix; I also do this with spinach to save time.

Timing:

- As a 55-60 day crop for lettuce you just count back from when you want to harvest and plant on the date 60 days earlier the number you wish to have. I only every planted 20-30 seeds a week or every two weeks to be sure I didn't run out of table or bed space.

Light levels:

- lettuce seeds are stimulated to sprout in the light so do not cover the seeds deeply. I just sprinkle a tiny amount of soil over the seeds, barely covering them.

- lettuce plants can live on 3 hrs. of dappled sunlight a day. At DIGS they get mid-morning light and are shaded for the hottest part of the day by the forest height along that front fence.

Temperatures:

- lettuce loves an average temperature of 10 to 22 C degrees (peak seasons are May-June, and Sept-Oct due to this factor).

- hotter than 23 C in the daytime and it starts to go bitter and bolt, so plan to have baby lettuces ready to replace those going leathery leaved, or which are about to bolt. Baby lettuces can withstand the heat due to youth, but shading material also handy.

- if colder than 10 lettuce starts growing slowly (lack of sunlight will also arrive at same time usually) but as long as it doesn't freeze it can be held at 5 C all winter (Veronica suggests transplanting those six-packs to bigger 4" pots and maybe double cover with Reemay, or keep a lightbulb to create heated greenhouse?). In the spring when the light and heat increase, those over-wintered teenage lettuce will mature rapidly if it doesn't freeze and soak.

- I spoke to Veronica about how to deal with the unheated greenhouse lettuce this year, and we're still looking for some styrofoam to put under the crop, and for Jim to put the winter doors on the greenhouse. (next year we'll have the new heated greenhouse but will have to use sterilized media/pots).

Fertilizer:

- ProMix already has some plant fertilizer in it, apparently.

- once the plants go into six packs a little boost of diluted liquid organic fertilizer can be helpful if plants are yellowing

- when filling the gallon pots (bottom half leaf-mold, top half used pro-mix) I put a scant teaspoon of "Real McCoy" granular fertilizer in each gallon pot right at the lettuce's root level.

Watering:

- in hottest weather it's likely the lettuce will need a good soak once per day. They are 98% water and will wilt, go leathery, stunt, if not kept cool and moist. I used to water at 8-9 am with the hose. The other lettuce beds are looked after by whomever is on the roster. They might need double checking if the person doesn't come every day.

Spacing:

- you can space teenager plants quite densely and then harvest some plants at a younger/smaller stage to let the bigger ones grow into the spaces left.

- if you're getting rid of older lettuce seed packets, you can plant very densely for a square of "cut and come again" mesclun (mixed lettuce types) which can be harvested with scissors and left to grow twice/three times.

Supplies:

- soil and compost at back of garden outside the fence

- pots, Pro-Mix bails, wheelbarrow, and flats/six-packs in brown tent

- organic pelleted fertilizer in Joyce's Greenhouse

Giant Garlic tips for next year's Fair

2024-10-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

This year's winner was so large, the earth shook!

The 2024 Fall Fair is now a happy piece of P.I. history, and already planning has begun for the 2025 version scheduled for Sept. 6, 2025.

Will you be ready for next year's fair with your GIANT GARLIC?

Written by Mike G. former garlic professional:

Believe it or not, there are some things that need to be done now to prepare your entries for next fall’s fair, namely The Largest Garlic Bulb competition.

The winning bulb in the 2024 Fair weighed in at 7.5 ozs (or 178 grams). If you’d like to beat that bulb, here’s what you have to do this month, according to Mike and Andria Gillespie, DIGS’ growers who used to run their own commercial garlic farm in the Ottawa Valley:

First you have to understand that garlic is not a difficult crop to grow and by following just a few directions now you could be in next year’s winning circle.

Find a sunny, fairly dry spot to grow your bulbs. It doesn’t take a whole lot of space. Keep in mind garlic doesn’t like to “get its feet wet” so water sparingly during dry spells.

Prepare the soil this month by working in lots of compost to feed the fungi and bacteria. Remember, at this point, you are feeding the soil, not the plants. That compost will be broken down to feed the garlic when it’s planted. Also, it’s time to work in a little fertilizer, (they all have three numbers on the bags. You’ll want one with a low nitrogen rating — first of the three numbers. You don’t want to produce a lot of leafy growth, rather something to help the roots develop (that’s the job of phosphorus, the second number). The third component is potassium, another key nutrient. A mix of 4-10-10 is something to aim for.

The type of garlic you plant should come from a reliable garden centre or garlic grower. (Planting bulbs from the grocery store is a non-starter since they are often chemically treated to stop them from sprouting). Look for a variety like Red Russian and a bulb size of at least two inches across at the base. Store bulbs in a dry, cool place until you’re ready to plant.

Planting in this region is generally best at the end of October into early November. Here’s how to plant:

The day before planting, crack open each of your bulbs (by sliding a blunt blade between the cloves and twisting to loosen the first clove — the rest can now be pulled off).

Press each of the cloves four inches into the soil (butt end down). Space your cloves at least four inches apart in rows. Cover the plantings, sprinkle a handful of fertilizer over the bed and then top with a mulch of chopped-up leaves or straw.

Your crop is now ready for winter. Underground, while there’s still some warmth in the soil, the cloves will establish a small root before going into dormancy.

Come spring, the cloves will start to shoot through the mulch, which can either be left in place to help control weeds or teased off the shoots.

By mid June each of the plants, now about knee-high, will begin to produce a “scape” — a small bulb coming out of the top of the plant. Once that scape has coiled around, snap that coil off and remove the tough grassy spike at the top. Your scapes can be enjoyed fresh, chopped up into one-inch pieces and sautéed in butter or olive oil until soft (delicious on rice, new potatoes, fish, etc.). You can also chop them up, pop them into the freezer and use all winter in stews, sauces or soups. Be aware, to leave scapes on the plants will suck all the bulbs’ energy, so make sure you take them off.

By mid-July when half the plants’ leaves have turned brown, it’s time to harvest your crop (it’s a seasonal dance — bulbs left too long start to lose their paper and won’t store well, picked too soon and they’ll be missing out on potential growth).

Pull the bulbs gently from the bed, tease the dirt from the roots and bunch them (10 to a bunch is good), then hang on a rack in a dry shed to cure for two weeks.

Now you’ll soon be ready to start preparing your entry (follow the directions) for the Fall Fair’s garlic competition.

Be sure to save a quarter of your crop for replanting next fall. Just leave your good-sized bulbs hanging in the shed until planting time. For calculation, just remember there’s usually about five cloves to a bulb, so keep that in mind when planning the size of next year’s crop (e.g.: 10 bulbs will produce about 50 plants — an amount eaten by the average family over the winter. But don’t forget, too, bulbs for your next crop.

Happy growing!

Mike G. for Digs

Tomato science & fall planting

2024-10-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Tomato science! Did you know these things? (video)

And if you enjoyed the above video, you may find these two also of tomato growing interest: (video1) (video2)

Now is the last chance for seeding fall crops (see right side bar links to see the BC coastal planting chart for veggies, from WestCoastSeeds.) and Hakurei turnip have been planted (2 weeks apart) in Bed no. 1 under Reemay cloth (prevents roots being ruined by chewy bugs).

And this past week we uncovered the white Reemay cloth from the carrots and parsnips so you can see what they look like (the chewy bugs are hopefully finished their life cycle for those crops). Carrots can be tasted by those gardeners who are curious. These are not as sweet as last year's. They are Bolero instead of Nantes, so the sugar quantity is naturally lower.

Still rhubarb, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini to be harvested every few days to keep the plants producing continuously. Enjoy these harvests, as cold weather of fall is coming!!

Jen for DIGS

Garlic Braid Raffle

2024-08-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Garden Lovers,

Each year we sell raffle tickets to win one of these three gorgeous garlic braids. All proceeds go to support our garden (to buy peat moss/wire/string/potting soil/planting materials/lumber etc.).

The garlic was grown here on P.I. by us organically and was expertly strung into professional braids by Mike G. They are beautiful as they are tasty. You just hang it in your kitchen and snip each head of garlic off the braid as you need it, and the braid will last all winter.

Tickets to win a braid of giant, organic garlic will go on sale at the Fall Fair on Sept. 7th. at $2 a ticket, or three tickets for $5.

There will be three draws for one garlic braid each time.

You may also get a Great Garlic Raffler coming door to door with tickets, so sit back and wait, and don't count your cloves until they're smashed!

Three draws for one braid each time. Consider the odds. And aren't they radiant (see photo)..... Zoom in on the botanical photo, bottom right, to see some exquisite garlicy beauty. :>)

Click on photo to enlarge it.

Veggie News in early August

2024-08-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Find out about our Fall Fair here. It's the tiniest but it's the BEST! :>)

DIGS veggie news from this past July:

Sorry for not much blogging in July. But here's what's planted in each bed at the moment as of August 3rd:

click on map to enlarge it

And now for the diggy veggie specific news....

First the bad news:

HEADLINE - Destructo Rocky Racoon and his Relatives Strike Again:

Raccoons broke through the TOP of the bird netting over the raspberry cage, and, as usual, lumpishly crashed through the fruiting canes. Depressing for the humans, but extremely fun for the drooly racoons. Notice they only go for the caged raspberries. They don't touch the blueberries (also caged) nor do they eat many of the ever-bearing raspberries, which are open and easy to reach. Strange.

We await the annual feeling of raccoon DOOM when they eat all the grapes and apples just on the very day they were ripe. Yikes.

Also this week a bird (likely) nipped off the growing tip of the newly planted clematis. (what?!) We'd replanted a new one after losing the climbing clematis to frost this past winter.

Also, 45% of the more aristocratic garlic suffered Fusarium Wilt and had to be destroyed. Usually we have a modest sized crop, but this year not so much.

And now for the good news:

We are harvesting lots of blueberries, kale, chard, rhubarb, green beans and broccoli right now. Come on down on Saturday mornings at 10am and be part of the tasty harvesting!!

The many many heads of lettuce had to be harvested during that 32 degree heat wave, but in a week or two, there will be more lettuce to make salads with. Right now garden workers can pick outer, larger leaves from the bigger lettuces by the gate and on the table.

The early potatoes this year were glorious, creamy dreamy and thin skinned. What a pleasure. We are also harvesting New Zealand Spinach (not everyone's fave, but prolific) and the zucchini are starting to come in (grated with onion for pancakes is a great use for them now!).

And in curious news:

The parsnips were successful, but now seem to be bolting in the heat! Will they work? Will the transplanted ones be hydra-headed?

Also, I'm curious if it's too early to start fall spinach, so have twelve tiny spinach seedling in my air-conditioned house right now. Wish me luck!

The specially cared-for DIGS carrots are terrific, try reaching under the Reemay to try one. Are you curious to taste what a real organic carrot is like?

Come on down and visit the garden. It's looking so very LUSH!

Harvesting on Saturday mornings is a togetherness activity! See you there!

Best, Jen

Fall Fair on Sept. 7th, 2024

2024-08-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

DIGS Tenth Annual Fall Fair 2024!

Saturday, September 7th at Beacon House on P. I. with a dance in the evening!

Submit your competition entries at Beacon House on:

Friday, September 6th: from 6pm - 8pm

Saturday, September 7th : from 8am - 9:00 am (Baking entries only Saturday morning)

How the day will go: September 7th, Saturday

9 am to 12:30 Beacon House CLOSED for judging

12:30 pm OPEN to 3 pm with Hot Dogs, Chips, Drinks available

View exhibits

Garlic Braid Raffle (Tickets only)

Kids Races

Cock-a-Doodle Poo contest

Coconut Shie

Kids Face Painting

Egg tosses – 1) kids 2) adult

Adult Tug of War

Pick up your competition entries and ribbons from 3pm to 4pm

7pm to 9 pm DANCE AT BEACON HOUSE Entry is FREE!!

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GENERAL RULES FOR ALL ENTRIES

1. NO LATE ENTRIES will be accepted. See times on previous page.

2. Adults…one dollar PER entry. NO entry fee for children, even if entered in an adult category. Enter as many items as you wish.

3. Two age categories for children and teens:

Primary 7 years and under

Junior 8 to 14 years

Children and teens may enter in their age category OR they may choose to challenge the adults in their categories

4. Entries must be MADE or GROWN or BAKED by the entrant within the last 12 months.

5. There are 5 categories and several classes within each larger category (see below).

Ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded for each class within a category.

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CATEGORIES (please read instructions carefully)

VISUAL ARTS

1. Painting

2. Sketch in black and white mounted on a black mat (no frame or glass) (black mat supplied if required)

3. Photograph mounted on a black mat (no frame or glass)

4. Natural Beach Art

5. Carving/Sculpture/Wood Working

6. Card Making using photographs

HORTICULTURE

“BEST” means best representation of species

1. Biggest Squash

2. Best Root Vegetable

3. Biggest Zucchini by Weight

4. Biggest Onion by weight (roots removed, tops folded over with elastic)

5. Largest Garlic Bulb by weight (roots removed, top trimmed to 1”)

6. Biggest Tomato by weight

7. Best Potted Herbs

8. Flower arrangement of any variety

9. Single Bloom

10. Best Apple

11. Best Tomato

BAKING/PRESERVES

Special Category: Judge's Challenge Recipe* Soft Pretzels! See below for recipe details for this special entry in the baking section.

1. Pie, any variety, topped (crust, crumble etc.)

2. Muffins (4 of one variety)

3. Yeast Breads or Buns…white, brown, whole grain, sourdough

4. Coffee cake or Loaf cake

5. Cookies, six of uniform size, same variety

6. Cake, any layer cake with icing or frosting

7. Fruit Crisp

8. Judge’s Challenge: entrants bake the judge’s recipe

9. Homemade Candy, Fudge, Peanut Brittle

10. Kombucha (fermented tea in clear glass container)

NOTE: The following must be in containers with standard 2 part lids, hot water sealed and labelled with the date.

11. Jam, Jelly, Marmalade

12. Pickles, Chutney, Relishes, Salsa

13. Fruit preserves

HOME ARTS AND CRAFTS

1. Knitted or Crocheted item

2. Ceramics, pottery

3. Sewn item

4. Felting

5. Spinning

6. Weaving

7. Dyeing

8. Needle Work

9. Quilting

10. Rug Hooking

11. Card making – crafted or drawn

CHILDREN– Primary (7 and under) Junior (8 to 14)

1. Visual Arts (painting, sketch- mounted on black mat, beach art, photograph – mounted on black mat)

2. Best dressed or decorated veggie or fruit

3. Baking (for Juniors only 8 to 14)

4. Fabric or Wool craft

5. Ceramics – pottery or woodworking

6. Lego structure

7. Play dough structure

8. Biggest Maple Leaf

9. Script Handwriting (not printing)

______________________

*Judge’s Challenge Recipe

SOFT PRETZELS - Four 4" pretzels

Recipe must be followed exactly. No substitutions.

First prize will be a $25.00 Thrifty’s Gift Certificate

Ingredients:

1 and ½ cups (360ml) warm water

2 and ¼ tsp (8g) instant or active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled

3 and ¾ cups – 4 cups all-purpose flour (469-500g)

2 tbsp coarse salt for sprinkling on tops

baking soda bath: ½ cup baking soda 9 cups water

Directions:

In large bowl or stand mixer bowl, whisk yeast into warm water. Allow sit for 1 min. Then whisk in the salt, sugar and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour into bowl, 1 cup at a time.

Mix with wooden spoon or dough hook attached to stand mixer, until thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until no longer sticky. If still sticky add 1/4 cup more flour or as needed. Poke dough with finger; if bounces back it is ready to knead.

Continue to knead the dough in the mixer with dough hook and beat for additional 5 full minutes. Or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 tsp of flour at a time if the dough gets too sticky while kneading.

Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10 mins. Meanwhile boil 9 cups water and Baking Soda.

Preheat oven 400°F. (205°C)

Cut dough into 1/3 cup sections (about 75g each). Roll each section into a 20-22 inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the two ends together at the top of the circle. Twist the ends together. Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and press them down to form a pretzel shape.

Drop 1-2 pretzels into the boiling water & baking soda. Remove after 20-30 seconds using a slotted spoon. Remove as much excess water, place pretzel onto baking sheet lined with silicone or parchment paper, sprinkle with coarse salt. If using parchment paper it is recommended to lightly spray with a nonstick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 F. (204 C.) until golden brown.

Submit for Contest: 4 Pretzels x 4 inches in size

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Reminder: PLEASE PICK UP YOUR ENTRIES AFTERWARD, between 3 to 4 pm and see you there!!

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