After many months of planning and coordinating, we’re finally ready to begin establishing the foundations for a project we’re very excited about: a Medicine Garden! This project has come to fruition thanks to two of EALT’s newest staff members, Gary Elaschuk-Pruden and Leigha Rind. Both of them have been in close consultation about this project with Indigenous communities and groups, including Papaschase First Nation, the Edmonton Native Healing Centre, Boyle Street Community Services, and Alexis First Nation. This garden, once established, will be primarily managed and maintained by EALT and the Nations and groups listed above, with the goal of restoring access to land and medicine to Indigenous Nations and communities.

In order to fully realize this project, we need to first make sure that the garden is ready to be planted with native plants and medicines. The garden will be in the shape of a turtle, which is a sacred animal in many Indigenous traditions across Turtle Island.

This will require a lot of helping hands! The tasks we’ll be accomplishing with this event are:

• Complete the installation of the edging for the garden

• Spreading gravel for the paths in the garden

• Assembling wood stumps in the shape of the turtle

Due to the nature of the work at this event, please anticipate a high level of physical exertion. Activities will include:

• Installing metal edging around the garden. This will involve kneeling, bending, and lifting metal edging (somewhat heavy).

• Shovelling gravel onto garden paths. This will involve repeatedly lifting a shovel loaded with gravel.

• Arranging wooden stumps in the shape of a turtle. We will have a “blueprint” available to guide the placement of the logs, but this will require lifting the logs into place.

• Walking will be limited to the immediate vicinity of the garden, which is quite close to where the vehicles will be parked. Ground may be uneven.

Since this location is not open to the public yet, the location will be shared with registrants multiple days in advance of the event. It is located close to Bunchberry Meadows, and takes half an hour to get to from west Edmonton.

Other notes:

• If you need to cancel, please do so through SignUp.com or inform us as soon as possible. Please arrive on time.

• Please note that there are no transit options to this site, so volunteers must make their own way to this event.

• Stewardship events are weather-dependent and subject to cancellation. If the temperature is forecasted to be below -15 before windchill we may reschedule or cancel this event for the safety of participants.

• If you wish to carpool with another volunteer, please review our Carpooling Policy here.

If you have any questions, please contact Gary at gary.elaschukpruden@ealt.ca. Click the button below to register.

We would like to thank the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation for generously providing funding for this project.