The Sustainable Living Arts School and the Living Medicine Project introduce the Living Medicine Series…

monthly Learning Parties dedicated to the study and art of herbal medicine.

These hands-on, half-day intensives will include Plant Identification, Gathering and Medicine Making.  These 3 simple pieces are the tools required to know how, when and which plants can be gathered from gardens, parks and lawns to become food and medicines to keep our families and friends healthy.

Join us for the 2nd in this Series…

Dandelion Delight

Monday May 18th (Victoria Day)

11am-3pm

Commercial Drive Area  (carpooling will be coordinated where possible)

Register here! http://www.eventbrite.com/event/343913655

Suggested donation: $40 Pay As You Feel. Donations will be split between SLAS, LMP and the teachers. Donations to SLAS go to a slush fund to pay teachers, web costs and a tithe to our rural partner SLAS, Robert’s Creek.

Address and other info will be sent to registrants on May 15.

**This is a family friendly event.  Feel free to bring your kids. They’re much more likely to take the medicines that they help make.

Read more about our teacher, Garliq. Questions? Contact Garliq  LivingMedicine@riseup.net

Urban Apiculture Apprenticeship Program-Now recruiting!

The ‘Community Hive’ is a collaborative effort between the Environmental Youth Alliance (EYA), the Means of Production Artist Raw Resources Collective (MOPARRC), and Master Beekeeper Brian Campbell. The ‘Community Hive’ seeks to mentor and support youth in the apiculture industry and to engage Vancouver residents in the importance of the issues facing bees across North America.  To apply to be an apprentice in the program please contact Rhianna at 604-689-4446 or at rhianna@eya.ca.

Stay tuned for an upcoming Sustainable Living Arts School learning party with Brian as well. We’re cooking up ideas. Brian toured me around the Terra Nova Rural park where the Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing project is  based as well as the and the Terra Nova Schoolyard Project in Richmond a few weeks ago. I got a crash course in genetics while he shared his ideas for a  participatory plant breeding program. He’s has a wealth of wisdom and experience to offer… do encourage any eligible, interested youth to join the community hive project.

My relationship to the garden is shaped by weeds. I started young, pulling crab grass between rows of veggies in our big backyard garden in Scarborough, Ontario, complaining bitterly about the back breaking slog (10 minutes of whinging I suspect.)

When I started my first garden in Nanaimo 15 years ago my bible was John Jeavons, “How to grow more vegetables”.  I double-dug and planted my seedlings close together so the leaves would touch, shading out the weeds and reducing the need for water. It was successful but outside the beds I was at war with morning glory. I was brutal. But something changed. I got worn down and my laissez-faire attitude to housekeeping spread to the garden. New teachers appeared  (hello Robin!) who modeled a gentler and more accepting way of growing food.

Now I  never dig and I mulch like crazy and don’t have much trouble with weeds where I grow food (I’ve stuck to no rows and planting close). Any weeds that persist I figure have a good reason for being there. Everywhere else they have free reign as I discover and experiment with their messages and gifts.

This relationship with dandelion (in full bloom- trying wine this year), comfrey (nourishing tea from the leaves for me and plants) morning glory (better than manure weed tea for plants), buttercup (pretty groundcover, remediates oil?, nourishes my heavy clay soil), plantain (nature’s bandaid), horsetail (early shoots in vinegar is my spring tonic this year) has been liberatory. The earth provides- food and medicine. Stop fussing and start harvesting.

The last couple of years I’ve been waking up to the woods, both the forest we could stand to ignore for a while and the urban forest we need to grow. It started with a visit to Peter Light’s place for the first Practical Permaculture weekend that Robin offered in Robert’s Creek three years ago. Peter lives in a bamboo forest he planted. I know you’re thinking “Bamboo! Invasive!” I know because that was the scream in my head too. We are afraid of plants that grow quickly, that are abundant, that are useful beyond measure. We have been successfully trained to eliminate them from our landscapes. They are the enemy. Kill! Kill! Kill!

At the permaculture meet-up at Linnaea this past February I had the great pleasure of meeting Alastair Heseltine, an artist whose practice is the growing of willow and the shaping of it into forms both practically beautiful and breath-takingly inspiring.

Willow can be propagated by cutting a wand and sticking it in the ground. I did this and it worked. I didn’t believe it would work because I know nothing about propagation. Now I have a willow coming up where I don’t want it but no matter. I’ve taken to cutting it as it regrows and weaving little fences with the wands around my beds to keep Dexter the dogster out.  It’s happy. I’m happy.

Alastair began the learning party with a brief explanation of what we were going to do (my favourite learning parties have us hands-on within 10 minutes, I think my blather took up 5 and he was done in 2). We were going to weave a living willow fence around the bee garden at the Means of Production garden. He shrugged and smiled “I’m sorry but mostly this is going to be preparing the soil and grading the willow but that’s the work of it. So come on, dig in, or you’re just another shopper.”

T-shirts please! I swear if I was fundraising a la wfmu that would be the slogan on some prime swag. We dug in. We raked the soil, we graded the willow which involved standing on a stump with a big swath to select first the willow that reached the top of our head (head grade), then that which reached the chin (chin grade) etc.  This is the sorting step, which seems to be a part of every sustainable practice.

The next steps are a bit foggy to me, so participants do jump in and fill in my gaps. I was tending to a freezing cold, wet and melting down Harry.  We poked holes about 4 inches apart (?) We used one of the grades (head grade?) to stick into the holes. Then began the weaving. Much like the spindling party I felt my resistance begin to kick in a this point. It was fiddly work. My hands were freezing.  It’s critical to stay focused- over, under etc. I get embarrassed at how hard sometimes this stuff is for me. Whatever. I am learning something over time that holds true across practices. Slow down. Breathe. Relax into it.

No pics of the weaving until tomorrow I’m afraid- it just got too cold at the end to hold the camera. Today would be a great day to stop on by and see the work and even jump in and help finish it. The artists who hold that space in collaboration with the EYA  are continuing the work. It’s free to stop by,  jump in and learn on various projects from 10-12 or 2-4.  Means of Production was started by Oliver Kellhammer,  a continual  source of inspiration on urban forestry and art and so much else.  It’s a space dedicated to growing the artist’s means of production and home to my favourite community artists working in Vancouver today.

A big thank-you to Sharon Kallis, who was our host for the day.  Do check out the Means of Production Raw Resource Collective blog as well as the artists individual blogs.

Here are some willow links, courtesy of Alastair.

Willow & bio-engineering

http://www.afhillandson.co.uk/willows

http://www.waterwillows.com/page13.htm

http://www.redstonecentre.co.uk/structures

http://www.windrushwillow.com/

http://www.naturalfencing.com/

http://www.kimcreswell.co.uk/

www.bramptonwillows.co.uk/fences.htm

http://www.englishbasketrywillows.com/wcatbook.htm

Upcoming: Bush weekend on April 25/25 in Robert’s Creek.  Learn from and support the folks who’ve  made it back to the land, including Peter Light, mentioned above.

For all of you lovely email subscribers comments are warmly welcomed  at http://slas.ca/2009/04/17/what-i-learned…learning-partywhat-i-learned-at-the-willow-learning-party/

This is the kimchee recipe and some recommended retailers for Korean ingredients that our teachers Inga Min and her friend Yunsil shared with us at the recent Sustainable Living Arts School learning party. If you didn’t make this one, we hope you get a chance to learn with Inga and Yunsil again. Nothing like learning from our local experts!

KIMCHEE RECIPE

Ingredients:
* 6 pounds/ 3 medium-sized napa cabbage
* 3 cups coarse salt
* 12 cups of water
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 cup red pepper powder
* 3 tablespoons white sugar

Recommended:
* Rue: 2 cups of white flour and 4 cups of water
* 3 tablespoons green onion in ½ inch lengths
* 4 ounces scallions/ onions, cut in 1-inch lengths
* 1 teaspoon finely minced gingerroot
* ¾ cup anchovy sauce
* 1 cup fresh shrimp paste, finely chopped

Optional:
* mustard greens, sliced white radish, watercress
* 1 cup oysters (for short-term kimchee, not long winter ferment)

1. Cut cabbages lengthwise into two or four sections.
2. Mix 2 cups of salt into the water in a container. Use your hand and mix the rest of the salt
evenly between the leaves especially at the stem end.
3. Cover and let it pickle for 3 hours. Make sure all of the cabbage is submerged in the brine, but not soaking in a pool of water. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage. You don’t want to lose the flavor of the cabbage in the water. Toss, turn over and pickle it for 3 more hours. Or leave it overnight if you want the cabbage to ferment longer. The cabbage should taste salty and be less crunchy, but not entirely limp. Strain the cabbage and discard the salt water.
4. Rinse the cabbage thoroughly 3 or 4 times and drain most of the brine. You can slice the cabbage into 1 to 1 ½ inch squares or leave it whole.
5. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the seasonings and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the green onions, vegetables and oysters last if you are using them. Taste test and add more salt as needed.

OPTIONAL RUE
This is optional. Mix 2 cups of flour with 4 cups of water in a sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and keep stirring until you get a rue-like consistency. Let the rue cool down to room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Mix all of the seasonings into the rue and let it sit for 10 minutes. This rue should not be used for summer kimchee or radish kimchee.
6. Blend the seasoning into the leaves using your hands. Massage the seasoning between the leaves into the cabbage, don’t just stuff it in there. You will want to wear gloves if you have sensitive hands.
7. Tightly pack the cabbage in a jar or plastic container. Press the cabbage down to get rid of air pockets. Stuff the seasoning and loose pieces of cabbage to fill the spaces in between the heads of cabbage. Layer the loose pieces on top to make a bit of a seal. Store at 70 degrees for at least 24 hours up to 72 hours ferment or keep it out longer if you prefer. The warmer the room, the faster it will ferment. This is up to you. Once you are happy with the flavor, keep it in the fridge or a cool place. If you keep it in a cool cellar and only bring up what you need for the fridge, it should last for a while.

GROCERY SHOPPING
Downtown: H-Mart, 590 Robson St (southwest corner of Seymour)
Phone 604-609-4567

Broadway & Fraser: There used to be a Hannarum in a stripmall by the Pojang Macha restaurant at Broadway & Fraser. I don’t know if it’s still there, and I can’t find any sign of it on the internet.

Coquitlam: Hannarum, 205-329 North Rd
(604) 939-0135

When I told my mom I was curating a learning party on how to make kimchee, she laughed and asked why we don’t just go to the store. I reminded her how many hours our family spent making kimchee together in the kitchen, and how I loved being fed kimchee paste wrapped in freshly fermented cabbage by my father’s hand. He would never let me touch it because it was too spicy for my hands, but not my stomach. I also told her I thought it was important to preserve and share our cooking traditions with others who wanted to learn. She didn’t buy any of it, but she understood when I told her it would cost half the price for me to make my own kimchee at home.

I singularly consume at least a gallon of kimchee a month. I can’t believe I’m admitting this publicly, but it’s the truth. As a condo living spinster (the first sentence in this paragraph could explain why), I never considered making kimchee for myself at home because I didn’t think I had space and I thought it would be too difficult. Now that I know how simple and economical it is to make a fresh batch in a small space, I want to make it a monthly cooking ritual.

As a Korean-Canadian gal who learned how to make kimchee with my parents, I was never allowed to participate in the mixing of the kimchee paste or the stuffing of the paste into the cabbage because my “skin was too delicate”. I never understood how hazardous the kimchee mix was until I watched Rob–the only person tall enough to reach into the cooler and mix our kimchee paste—mix the batch of chilis, garlic, ginger and other goodies up and get blinded by the intensity of the mix. He was told by Inga and Yunsil that he put a lot of “soul” into his mixing and that the mix would be good.

Click To Play

The kimchee is great, and I think there was a lot of “soul” put into the kimchee by all participants of the learning party. As Yunsil said to Inga who translated to me “Don’t stuff the cabbage with the mix, massage the mix into the cabbage.” She was right; you could see the reaction in the cabbage immediately. I think this was the best tip of the day, love the cabbage.

Without a doubt, there was a lot of cabbage loving going on at the kimchee learning party. There were 8 working participants, 7 ‘helpers’, husbands, dishwashers, pot grabbers, mixers, one girl and one toddler. Altogether, 15 people made 40 lbs of kimchee in 90 minutes! There was about 2 hours of prep work including cleaning, brining and washing the cabbage before the party.

This was my first experience curating a party for SLAS, and I really enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed the process of learning how to curate a party with Keira, and working wtih Inga and Yunsil. It was special for me because I got to share it with Elaine and Rob, the hosts, who I became friends with in Korea. I also thought it was great to see Heesoon and her daughter, Serenne, work side by side making kimchee. Inga, our instructor, and Yunsil, her assistant, also had a wonderful experience working with us and are eager to do it again. Inga’s husband also tried kimchee for the first time, and it was a genuinely touching moment.

Stay tuned for another kimchee learning party in May.

Yes that’s Andrew in full hoe-down mode, who has curated many fine learning parties and workshops with the Sustainable Living Arts School. Join us all Tuesday, April 7 3:30 at the Student Union Building on UBC Campus and afterwards at the farm itself. Come on down! All the details here.

The Sustainable Living Art School and the Living Medicine Project introduce the Living Medicine Series…

Monthly learning parties dedicated to the study and art of herbal medicine.

These hands-on, half-day intensives will include Plant Identification, Gathering and Medicine Making. These 3 simple pieces are the tools required to know how, when and which plants can be gathered from gardens, parks and lawns to become food and medicines to keep our families and friends healthy.

Join us for the 1st in this series…

Healing with Spring Herbs:   Nettles, Noxious or Nutritious??

Sunday April 5th

11am-2pm

Burnaby Lake Area  (carpooling will be coordinated where possible)

Read more about our teacher, Garliq.

**This is a family friendly event. Feel free to bring your kids. They’re much more likely to take the medicines that they help make.

Suggested donation: $40 (Pay As You  Feel).

Space is limited, please contact Garliq early to register… LivingMedicine@riseup.net

Details will be emailed to registrants by April 3rd, 2009

The Sustainable Living Arts School is gladly hosting another hands-on learning party…

Upcoming:

• Join the Great Farm Trek to Save the UBC Farm Tuesday, April 7
• Alastair Heseltine is teaching a Willow beginner weaver’s weekend intensive on Bowen Island March 21/21.
• Have you wondered about buying land either to homestead or run a small farm? Visit 4 farms and learn practical lessons from those who have done it at the Sustainable Living Arts School’s Bush Weekend April 25/26 on the Sunshine Coast.
• Grégoire Lamoureux of the Kootenay Permaculture Institute will be teaching a permaculture design course in the Kootenays May 31 to June 13, 2009.

Art & Culture of Kimchee

Saturday, March 28

2:00pm to 3:30pm

Vancouver, Near Thurlow & Robson

Fermenting food is a sustainable practice that is ideal for all of us that live in small spaces.  Join us for this hands-on learning party where we will be introduced to the art and culture of making kimchee, the traditional Korean fermented condiment made with cabbage, garlic, ginger and hot peppers. It’s spicy, delicious and very, very good for you!

You’re warmly invited to share your thoughts and questions  on fermentation and kimchee before we meet. You can add recipes, links, family stories and personal experiences in the comments to this post so we can share our knowledge.  Let’s get this learning party rolling online!

Our hosts for the day live in a small apartment on the second floor of a building with no elevator-stairs only. Please check in with us first if you want to bring the kids.

About our teacher: Inga Min is a kimchee devotee and the the founder of the Shin Myung Korean Drum Group. The group was created to build a community of drummers interested in learning the traditional form of Korean drumming. Watch Inga in action on Living Vancouver.

To register: There are limited spaces to allow for hands-on practice and conversation. Learning parties fill up quickly! Please register with Mona at monaATslas.ca

By Donation: You can’t put a price on a learning party. That said, we want to honour the time and experience that goes into learning valuable skills and sharing them with others. The suggested donation is $25. Donate what gives you joy! If you can afford more, we’ll put it towards making more learning parties happen. If you can afford less, come on down and share your learning with us anyway. All are welcome!

Please bring:

• $5 to cover the cost of vegetables we’ll be transforming into kimchee.
• A jar or other small container so you can tend your first batch of kimchee at home.
• A knife and cutting board for chopping vegetables

We will send out an email with final details (address etc.) to registered participants by Thursday, March 19th. Thanks and looking forward to seeing you there!

This from Andrew Rushmere who has curated a great  Sustainable Living Arts School learning party series and who has been on the front lines of the Save the UBC Farm Campaign over the last year. Please distribute this far and wide to all your Vancouver friends:

Save the Farm: Join the Trek!

We can’t wait to see you there!

The Sustainable Living Arts School is gladly hosting another hands-on learning party…

Upcoming:

• Robin Wheeler will be giving a free talk on food security this Saturday, March 14th in Vancouver.
  
• Alastair Heseltine is teaching a Willow beginner weaver’s weekend intensive on Bowen Island March 21/21.
  
• Have you wondered about buying land either to homestead or run a small farm (or just curious for the stories)? Practical lessons from those who have done it will be shared at the Bush Weekend April 25/26 on the Sunshine Coast.

Weaving with Living Willow

on

Monday, March 23

near Clark and Broadway

1:00pm to 2:30pm

Join us for this hands-on learning party where we will be introduced to the art of weaving live willow. Living willow can be woven for furniture, fences, garden panels and more.

Parents, you are welcome to bring children along. The learning party will be outside so there is room to run and opportunities to participate with grown-up help.

About our teacher: Alastair Heseltine is a sculptor who works with mixed media relating to the environment. “Imagery is guided by the inherent nature of material and by construction systems evolved through mindful observation and play. I also draw from the full spectrum of routines and activities that support my practice:  Design, craft production, farming and rural life.” For more on Alastair and to see some extraordinary images of his work visit  http://www.alastairheseltine.com/

Registration: There are limited spaces to allow for hands-on practice and conversation. Learning parties fill up quickly!  Please register with Keira keiraATslas.ca

By Donation: You can’t put a price on a learning party.  That said, we want to honour the time and experience that goes into learning valuable skills and sharing them with others. The suggested donation is $25. Donate what gives you joy! If you can afford more, we’ll put it towards making more learning parties happen. If you can afford less, come on down and share your learning with us anyway. All are welcome!

We will send out an email with final details (address etc.) to registered people by Thursday, March 19th.