On a beautifully bright, yet crisply cold January morning, 27 participants gathered in the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden for a winter walk. We were honoured to have award-winning educator, Julia Alards-Tomalin, back again this year to share her knowledge about winter plant ID. Julia Alard-Tomalin… Read More »Buds, Branches, & Bark Walk – Jan 18, 2025
January 15, 2025, marked Free the Fern’s 4th year anniversary. Free the Fern Origin Story: Back on January 15 2021, there was a windstorm. Grace Nombrado, Free the Fern founder, had decided to head out and help rake up the fallen branches and leaves to… Read More »4th Year Anniversary!
14 volunteers (5 joining us for the first time) gathered for our Monthly Invasive Pull on Saturday, January 4, 2025. We gathered at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden, adjacent to the Red Alder Trail in South East Vancouver. Grace Nombrado, Free the Fern Executive Director,… Read More »Periwinkle Pulling & More – Jan 4, 2025
In 2024, we wanted to give back and support local Indigenous youth, so we decided to launch a Fern Fundraiser in support of the Urban Native Youth Association. We partnered with Coast Salish artist, Andrea Fritz, to design t-shirts and bags. We then had them… Read More »In Support of Indigenous Youth
Dec 15, 2024, was our 4th annual Light up the Night in Champlain Heights festival! The day before our event there was an extreme windstorm, which brought down many branches and several trees along the trail. Luckily, we had the help of several Free the… Read More »Light up the Night in Champlain Heights
In partnership with the Everett Crowley Park Committee (ECPC), we were honoured to be able to host 2 lantern making workshops at the Champlain Heights Community Centre on Sunday, Dec 8, 2024. Globe Lantern Worskhop At 10am-12pm, we began with a Globe Lantern Worskhop. It… Read More »Lantern Workshops – Dec 8, 2024
Despite the rainy drizzle, we had a very successful monthly invasive pull today! 18 volunteers gathered at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden (just east of 3530 Swansacre), 7 of whom were joining for the very first time. Grace Nombrado, Executive Director of Free the Fern,… Read More »Pulling Periwinkle and more! – Dec 7, 2024
On Saturday, Nov 16, 2024, we were honoured to have Willoughby Arevalo, mycologist and author of DIY Mushroom Cultivation, lead a Making Friends with Fungi Walk with us. Douglas Fir Willoughby began by welcoming everyone in the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden, pointing out that the… Read More »Making Friends with Fungi Walk – Nov 16, 2024
On Wednesday, Nov 13, 10 artists gathered at the Champlain Heights Community Centre to learn lantern building techniques and begin constructing lanterns for our Light up the Night in Champlain Heights festival! Eco-Artist, Joshua Ralph, helped lead the collabaration. He began with a land acknolwedgement… Read More »Artist Collaboration!
Today, on Sat, Nov 2, 18 volunteers gather at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden on the Red Alder Trail for our monthly Invasive Pull. We began with a welcome circle and land ackowledgment. Our volunteer co-lead, Genevieve, invited each volunteer to introduce themselves, share their… Read More »Wild Chervil & Native Plants!