Note: the speakers for 2019 will not be confirmed until early to mid-October of 2018. Please check back then, and, in the meantime, enjoy learning about our two 2018 speakers!
QB Seedy Saturday 2018 Speakers ~ Saturday, February 3rd, 2018
(2018) Donna Balzer – 10:30 am to noon
TOPIC: 3 Tips to Sow & Grow a Better Food Garden
(45-60 minute PowerPoint with life stories and video components)
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Donna Balzer lives in Qualicum Beach where she has two greenhouses and a big vegetable garden on her double lot. She is an award-winning media personality and garden consultant with a personal passion for food growing in northern regions.
Growing a food garden and creating a perfect life are like hugs and kisses – they just grow together. If you garden in Qualicum area and you are limited to doing one thing, you must build better soil. But if you can do three things, you can build soil, add garden covers and plant vertical gardens while saving the world one honeybee at a time. Gardening is an all-age event. Get inspired and start growing world health today.
Horticulturist, speaker, and author, Donna has a degree in Agriculture with a specialty in Horticulture. She has a Youtube channel and 3 seasons as host of the Internationally broadcast Bugs & Blooms on HGTV.
At Donna’s website and bookstores, explore (and purchase) Donna’s books: No Guff Vegetable Gardening is a best seller and her newest book, The Three Year Gardener’s Gratitude Journal, is hot off the press (published in January 2018)!
Click each book to view. 
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(2018) Kathy Claxton – 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
TOPIC: Keep Calm – Plant on…
(Make gardening fit YOU!)
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I can no longer call myself a new transplant to the island. I have lived in the Parksville/Qualicum area for 20 years; therefore I am now a seasoned west coast gardener.
My interest in all things gardening began in the early 70’s with gaining employment at Whitburn’s greenhouses in Calgary. I responded to my new obsession by seeking out as much knowledge as possible through my work experiences and continuing education programs. I persevered, pushing the climate zones in Alberta; feeding my interest in self-sustained gardening.
Moving to Vancouver Island in the late 1990’s opened up a magnificent new world of gardening. My knowledge base has expanded with experiences working at Arrowsmith Greenhouses (15 years), the Master Gardener program at VIU (2003), running my own garden consult and maintenance company for 15 years and in the past 8 years I have cultivated a spring time business growing organic tomatoes for sale.
I have enjoyed the privilege of sharing my knowledge and experiences with many as a guest speaker at events:
- Qualicum Beach Garden Club: yearly for approx. 15 years
- Eaglecrest Garden Club
- Gabriola Garden Club
- Nanaimo Horticultural Society
- Mount Klitsa Garden Club, Port Alberni
- Seedy Saturday Qualicum Beach (Keynote Speaker): 4 years
- Seed Swap co-ordinator for QB seedy Saturday: 2013-present
When I am not up to my elbows in soil and transplants, I can be found reading (not just garden related materials), Knitting and Quilting.