The elders in our community have abundant knowledge of gardening practices. My grandparents grew up on farms on the Prairies during the Depression. Growing food and composting were facts of life. But as this generation of gardeners retires to smaller homes, their knowledge is leaving us.

At the same time, so many people are getting excited about growing their own food. Maybe it’s the recession, or maybe it’s just time: new parents want to teach their children how to garden, and flower gardeners are starting to cultivate food as well.

This year, the Sustainable Living Arts School, in consultation with the Edible Garden Project, is  working on a small garden mentorship program funded by North Shore Health. The Growing Traditions project is a small pilot program designed to help us learn how elders and new food gardeners can share their knowledge. We would like to learn how garden mentorships work, experiment with how learning parties can support these relationships…and get families growing food!

A big thanks to Stacey Friedman and all the participants of Intergenerational Landed Learning at UBC Farm who welcomed us to join them for a day of Landed Learning fun at the farm. We also took the opportunity to crash in on  Diane Johnson, who managed UBC’s Trimentoring Program through its start-up years.  They both asked great questions, created a context where we could ask what we needed and well, mentored us for a day.

The project is looking for experienced gardeners on the North Shore who would like to mentor newer gardeners. We’re also looking for families to participate - newer gardeners who would both contribute to and benefit from a community connection with an elder gardener. The mentorship would occur from June until the end of September.  At the end  families and elders will share their knowledge with their neighbors and friends by hosting a learning party.

Do you know anyone who would like to do something like this? Interested participants or those with any questions are welcome to contact Tricia at 604-842-3251 (please leave a message) or email growingtraditions(at)slas.ca.

Stay tuned for an upcoming learning party with Rin of the Farmhouse. In the meantime, check out this fabulous sounding workshop she’s offering around Vancouver over the next few weeks…

Do you want to grow more of your own food, but don’t know where to begin?  Think you don’t have enough space?  Are you interested in learning more about Permaculture and organic gardening?

If you have a 10 X 10 foot space and want to learn how to turn it into a full year of fresh, nutritious, yummy food without chemicals or hours and hours of work, this workshop is for you.

This one-day workshop with Rin from the Farmhouse Farm — an urban farm right here in Vancouver — will show you how to start from scratch and build a garden that will produce food all year long in just a hundred square feet!  Vegetables, herbs, and greens are all a part of the comprehensive garden plan that you’ll learn to build and maintain.  Perfect for those with small yards or working in allotment plots, this easy-to-follow plan incorporates Permaculture principles into a garden design you can follow to the letter or change and evolve to fit your space and goals.  We’ll spend the day going over the plan and then getting down and dirty and building the garden from scratch at the host site.  You’ll leave with a copy of the full garden design including crop rotations, maintenance routine, and all the information you’ll need to get started.

There are three chances to check it out:

Kitsilano:  Saturday May 16th,  12.00 - 6.00   13th and MacDonald.
Main Street:  Sunday May 17th, 12.00 - 6.00  Ontario & 24th.
New Westminister:  Saturday May 23rd, 12.00 - 6.00  Edinburgh & 16th.

The workshop is offered on a Pay-What-You-Feel basis, with a suggested donation of $60 to $100.

For more information or to register, contact farmhousefarm(at)gmail(dot)com or go to farmhousefarm.wordpress.com

–
www.farmhousefarm.wordpress.com

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

May 9/10 – Permie Weekend - Wild Weekend, SLAS, Roberts Creek Two days of moving into a wild space!

9:30 – 11:00 Wildcrafting Indigenous Herbs with Lyrae Emerson
An examination of the methods of ethically harvesting wild and indigenous plants in a manner that minimizes impact on the population while maximizing their medicinal potential. A focus will be given to native medicinal herbs, but we will also discuss traditional medicinal plants and look at how the practice of wildcrafting in itself can be a healing experience. We will also look at some of the methods of processing the leaves, flowers, berries, bark and roots that we collect. Comes with take home instruction sheet on wildcrafting and harvesting guidelines. $25

11:15 – 12:45   Introduction to Wild Edibles with Annette Clarke
Easy to identify plants that do not need any complicated cooking methods are the topic of this course. An emphasis is placed on respectful collection and proper identification of the food plants. Different plants are growing and ripening with each season. Topics change slightly depending on the time of the year.  We will cover berries, wild weeds and edible trees. $25

12:45 – 1:30 Lunch (paper bag it or order $6 snack lunch)

1:30 – 3:00   Building Emergency Shelters with Annette Clarke
Building shelters is something very essential, not just for a survival situation, but also for the soul. The feeling of warmth and protection is joined by feelings of accomplishment, pride and community; we did this ourselves!

The course teaches how to feel confident and comfortable in the outdoors without tent and sleeping bag. It explains how to choose the right location and how to create a functioning shelter out of natural materials without harming living plants. Includes lots of hands-on work, handouts and a short introduction into cordage and simple tool-making. $25

3:30 onwards -  Into the Wild with Peter Light (off site – 2692 Highway 101)
Covers all the resources one can find close to your doorstep in our west coast woods.  Learn how to recognize the principal trees in our forest; spot useful old, moss-covered logs for multiple uses; process cedar poles and beams for all your building needs; split cedar shakes for roofs and walls – in short, how to go into the woods and harvest all you need for a FREE house, barn, shed, bench, fence, gate, handle, etc., etc., as well as a FREE supply of fuel to heat your home and cook your food.  Learn, too, of more unsuspected wealth that lurks among the trees!  Includes an introduction to the hand tools you will need to harvest these resources. Firecircle and dinner to follow – bring goodies to add to the feast. $30

Sunday May 10 10 – noon – Native Plant Technology with Cymba
The workshop will consist of a walk around the area to identify plants that were (are) commonly used in various technological ways (providing materials for cordage, adhesives, shelters, clothing, tools etc.  Samples of important materials from off-site will also be provided for discussion.  In a hands-on component we will play with simple tool construction (includes binding and gluing). * The exact nature of these workshops will vary according to interaction between participants. We will attempt to cover all materials and the instructor is willing to spend more time if participants feel a need.

12:45 – 2:45  - Wild Containers with Annette Clarke
We may find ourselves in the bush, wanting to carry berries, mushrooms or other precious finds. Annette will show us samples of various containers made from bark, leaves and vines that will last for years.  Container materials will be:
Grass, Leaves, Sedges and Rushes, Cattail and Birch bark. We won’t make all the different container types, but I will bring them all for showing the options and then pick one simple version (Leaf or Grass) and a Cattail container to make ourselves.

3:00 – onwards –  Cooking With Fire – TBA - Siting, building and maintaining a functional and safe cooking or signaling fire – and we will have a meal with bannock, wild greens and tea, and whatever else to brought to us – perhaps some home made wine!

Call Robin at (604) 885-4505 or email at info@ediblelandscapes.ca to register or get more information.

Camping available on site.

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.

From the good folks on Denman Island who are working a 40 acre piece of land with permaculture and subsistence skills and values at the forefront:

This is an invitation to come to the farm to participate in workbees and to share and expand your skills at the workshops we are offering. For those of you who haven’t been here, we are living and working on a 40 acre piece of land on Denamn island. Our activities here are subsistence focused, and include organic gardening, hunting, child rearing, harvesting wild foods, making music, planting fruit and nut trees, among many other projects. We are excited about opening up some projects here to include our friends and neighbors.

WORK BEE’S

April 24^th-29^th – Chip Slip Work Bee

May 29^th – 31^st – Chip Slip (probably plaster work, too). Learn how to insulate your walls using local materials – clay and woodchips (will probably include doing some basic carpentry too if you want!)

WORKSHOPS

Some of these are free and some of these have a suggested donation because of the amount of work that we must do in order to prepare the workshop. No one will be turned away for inability to pay and we are also open to trades.

May 2^nd – Traditional Beer Making. We’re gonna make beer the old way. We will be using herbal ingredients (but no hops!), home sprouted grains, and sourdough culture instead of yeast packets.

Suggested donation – $20.00-50.00

June 6^th and 7th – Buckskin Tanning Workshop. Limited space. RSVP. Learn how to turn animal hides into useable fabric. We will go through the process of ‘brain tanning’ a deer hide from skinning to softening. Small class with lots of hands on work. Wear an old pair of clothes.

Suggested donation – $50.00-100.00

Our land has limited infrastructure at this moment so please consider this if you would like to come over. We can only offer camping options to visitors at this time (bring your own gear!). During the summer months our well can not be overtaxed so we are also unable to offer showers. There are, however, lakes and beaches near by.. also a marsh if you are so inclined. For people who are participating in the work bees we are planning on providing lunch and dinner. If you have special requirements or are vegetarian or vegan we highly recommend bringing food with you (especially snack foods and – for the veggies - protein sources). We have no flushing toilets, only outhouses and similar set ups. Don’t worry – there’ll be toilet paper. We will not be preparing food for workshop participants, but bring food to make communal meals if you like. if you have a dog in your life and want to bring them, please talk to us first!

if you are coming to the work bees and have any of the following, please bring them along:

• shovels

• work gloves

• wheel barrow

• buckets

• hammer

Please RSVP if you plan on attending workshops or work bees so we can prepare for your arrival. we can arrange pick ups from the ferry. denman island is 2 1/2 hours north of vic and 1 1/2 from Nanaimo. the ferry to Denman leaves from Buckley Bay, 20 min south of Courtenay. Please contact Janette via email if you are planning on attending any of the events. cormier.ja@gmail.com

Also upcoming: the Bush Weekend in Robert’s Creek on the Sunshine Coast (15 minutes from the ferry at Langdale.)

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/

Whew! The wind is high, clouds are shifting back in. I am looking at my trays of “starts” that I picked up at the local nursery, and figuring the time is right to stick them in.

I bought them a few days ago and observed the warning on the wall above them - Hard Frosts! Do not Plant Immediately! So I brought them home and planted them into big, round pots, just in the solid, rectangular cube that they came out of their little trays in, and behold - they had already taken advantage of the extra space and nutrient rich medium and had put fresh roots right down to the bottom of the new pot! It is definitely worth “potting up” those starts once you get them home.

I prepped some areas by raking back the mulch and loosening the soil. I quickly raked in some alfalfa pellets and rabbit poop I just conveniently had. Then I listened to the forecast. Change in the weather after a clear spell is a good thing. The cloudy days mean warmer nights, and the plants like a few days of overcast to adjust to their new lot in life. The chance of rain means no blasting sun to pull the moisture out of their leaves before the roots have set into the soil to take over the job. And if these plants have never been in direct sunlight before, then a few days of overcast will protect them from getting sunburn.

I placed the little plants in with their roots well loosened and heading straight down, firmed them in, smoothed the soil and applied a loose mulch. The loose mulch all around them will also protect from a bit of frost.
Then I set out some beer in little cat food tins for the slugs, to distract them from this new finding. As the plants take, I will deepen the mulch. And drink the rest of the beer.

If I had lots of time, I would put pegs around the garden bed and stretch clear plastic around it, to keep the wind away. This would give an extra boost in our cool springs.

I only planted out things I knew could tolerate some cold - walla walla onions, bok choy and chard. I will likely put out the cabbage and lettuce in a few days.

A good test for “end of frost” is to check on a very clear night, such as the full moon we just had, and see if there is frost following that. Since there was little if any frost up here at 800 feet above sea level, I took this as a sign. This doesn’t mean we won’t get a cruel surprise, but with properly hardened off and protected plants, a cold night will not be a great danger.

Meanwhile, the precious muskmelons and tomatoes are only an inch high, under good light in a heated room - it is WAY early to even think of kicking those little fellows out!

Happy Gardening,
Robin

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