Home & Garden Show 2016

The last weekend of April 2016 was full of spring activity here in Powell River...

In one short weekend, our community enjoyed the Trash Bash community clean-up, the CJMP Reuseathon, the Ecoutoure Fashion Show,  the garden club plant and the 3rd Annual Powell River Home & Garden Show!

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

Powell River is by no means a  huge city, but the enthusiasm this little town has for gardening and home maintenance & renovation is really quite astounding!

It was a pretty great show for its third year, and I have a feeling that it's only gonna get better as we continue to grow the home/garden scene in this little town. This year, the show included an eating area, so people could hang out and enjoy food at the event, and it showcased far more vendors! There was also a Lego contest, as in previous years; here are some of my favourite entries:

At the show, I ran into Matt Zaste, a young horticultural entrepreneur and botanical enthusiast. I first met Matt when he came to Powell River a year ago, visiting this small town to decide whether he would be living here; it's very exciting seeing young people moving to Powell River and starting up original businesses. Check out Plants Canada

The Home & Garden Show had some interesting ideas from other towns as well; I wandered over to a nearby booth and chatted with Dylan Armour, a representative of a Surrey-based company focusing on live plant wall systems. Very neat idea!

When it comes to nature and technology, it`s pretty amazing how far we've come! I was very impressed by the Vegetated Wall Systems; according to Dylan, these living walls are safer, longer-lasting, and more environmentally sustainable than concrete... it seems like wall-building technology has come a long way! Speaking of technology, I wandered over to the next booth, and saw something I had never seen before... something out of a science fiction movie, only real, and right here in front of me at the Home & Garden Show...

Allow me to introduce you to the AUTOMOWER, a robotic lawnmower which will help you keep your lawn in tip-top shape! I was pretty relieved the blades for this machine weren't engaged... maybe I'm too paranoid about the robot revolution, but I'm fairly confident it's coming! Want to see one up close? Check them out here!

 I thanked Dana from the Thunder Bay Saw Shop for letting me interview him about the Automower and I wandered through the Home & Garden show, daydreaming about the things that I wanted to grow. As I chatted with other vendors, I discovered that plants aren't the only thing growing in Powell River; there are all sorts of communities growing as well! As I wandered over to the next booth, I was very fortunate to gain some insight into a particular scene that's quickly growing Powell River... the climbing community! Listen in for an interview!

Shout-out to Leah Rourke of Relish Interiors, and to all other Home & Garden Show organizers! I feel very lucky to make my home and garden in Powell River, BC. Thank you for showcasing and celebrating our local creativity, talent and resources!

Happy homes & gardens,
--Ioni Wais

Hand-built home display by Bert and Lil Baillie