We are just tightening up our Permie Primer Weekend in Roberts Creek! Take a peek, choose one or choose them all! Registration is now open … email info@ediblelandscapes.ca or call Robin at (604) 885-4505

We often end up stewarding land with fewer basic skills than we thought. This weekend was designed to cover some first steps in land analysis, plant propagation, plant maintenance, simple framing, making the most of a chicken and more! Stay tuned for more of these summer and fall courses!

Friday July 9 Chickens can be vital to the sustainable farm as they quickly return our kitchen waste back into food, and their manure is a rich source of nitrogen for our sandy soil. We will learn chicken care later this summer, and for now, will learn gentle dispatch of these valuable creatures, and then how to maximize every bit

4:30 – 5:30 Gentle Butchering (instructor TBA)
Sometimes we have to put a chicken out of its misery after a dog attack, or we may be culling an assertive rooster. Knowing how to do the deed with the least distress to the animal is crucial. And there is now an opportunity to analyse the organs to assess flock health, or to prepare the animal for the table. ($20)

Introducing - Chicken from Beak to Cheek with Ian Lai
We will huddle around the picnic table for outdoor cooking of the following:

5:30 onwards Part one - From block to board.
Learn how to butcher the chicken professionally with the greatest of ease. Utilize the right parts of the chicken for the right dish by understanding moist and dry heat cooking methods. Techniques such as marinates, salt cure and dry rubs will help you enhance flavour and tenderness.

Part two – Liquids and solids.
It all starts with the stock – learn to make a flavourful stock that can be utilized as a broth , turned into a stew and converted into a pot pie. Use constituent parts to smoke, grill and fry to incorporate into light summer fare. ($32 includes dinner) (BYOB)

Ian Lai is a consultant and Chef Instructor at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. He is the Founder and Project Coordinator of the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society. The Terra Nova Schoolyard Society is a non-profit urban agriculture project for elementary school children located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Ian has been in the hospitality industry since 1979 and has worked for the Four Seasons Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, Cara Flight Kitchen and he was the Resident Chef for the Consulate General of the United States of America. Ian is the Principal of Urban Agriculture Consulting. He lives in Richmond with his wife and daughter.
604-767-9264
ianlai@telus.net

Saturday July 10 –

10:00 – 11:30) Basic Permie Plant Care with Robin Wheeler – What if we decide to follow the no prune/no spray method of plant care? What to do with those raspberries, rhubarb, fruit trees and other traditional plants to keep them in good year round condition? We will look at that as well as Permie plants like mashua, cinnamon yam and discuss overwintering needs. ($25)

11:30 – lunch – your brown bag or order $5 snack lunch.

12:15 - 3 or so Beginner Framing with Tim Forester
Many of us begin to build a coldframe, plantstand or chicken run without any idea of framing the structure for strength and weightbearing. It’s good to have some basics and Tim will guide us through ground prep and design and get us going on a vine arbour. ($30)

3:30 – 4:30 Understanding Your Land - for the new small scale food producer with Robin Wheeler

Growers face many challenges, and having a firm understanding of their own strength and weaknesses, and of the assets and drawbacks to their land will help direct them to use energy efficiently. Participants will be led through a series of lists that will help them use space and time better and to direct resources where needed. Also excellent for any new landowner or wannabe. $20

4:45 – 5:45 – Understanding your Woodshed/Woodstove with Robin Wheeler
Siting of a wood shed can make a huge difference in pollution at burning time. We will talk about the ideal shed, and then go inside to look at the physiology of the wood stove and how to use it to best reduce smoke pollution. Also good for beginner woodstove users ($12 – priced low to encourage people to use carbon reducing skills)

Sunday July 11
10:00 – 11:30 Intro to Plant Propagation with Robin Wheeler
We want our land covered in a diversity of healthy plants and few of us can afford the nurseries. Robin will guide us through sourcing, seed growing, divisions and cuttings and participants will go home with a few babies. ($25)

11:45 – 12:30 Creating an Irrigation System (instructor TBA)

Using water properly is vital in terms of plant care and farm efficiency. A good irrigation system can be a boon to a grower. This class is geared towards the greenhorn who would like to learn the names of all the components, how they fit together, and why they should be selected. We will do a quick irrigation modification to end the class ($25)

1 pm – lunch – your brown bag or $5 snack lunch

2 pm onwards TBA

Saturday, November 15, 2008 10am to 4pm

Location: Langara College, room to be announced. 100 West 49th Avenue, Vancouver, BC. Directions

Cost: $85 includes a delicious lunch with local and seasonal goodies

Register: In person or by phone 604-323-5322 with Langara College Continuing Studies. Course code: 70709

Please bring a simple map of the space you’re working with: your home garden or community garden.

Learn more about the practical applications of Permaculture – a design system based on mimicking natural ecosystems. Permaculture offers much for the busy urban gardener who wants to sustainably grow more food in a small space with minimal maintenance time. Students will design their own perennial food systems based on a simple site plan they bring to class.

Schedule for the day:

10-11:30: Introduction to Permaculture – Exploring the (hard to define) concept, its history and ethics.
11:30-12:30 Lunch provided- local, seasonal and delicious!
12:30-2:00 Defining permaculture design principles and discussing examples of their application in day-to-day life.
2-2:15 Break
2:15-3:45: Learn the basics of site assessment and apply them to your own space. Bring a basic site plan of the space you are working that includes a rough sketch of your space, including any permanent structures, cardinal directons and rough dimensions or we can provide one for you.
3:45: Wrap-up including final questions.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to:
* define permaculture and briefly discuss its history and ethics
* articulate permaculture design principles and the basics of site design
* design a low maintenance perennial food system for their own space

Teachers:
Heather Johnstone is the coordinator of the Edible Garden Project on Vancouver’s North Shore (www.ediblegardenproject.com). She has spent years learning with organic farmers on the west coast, and now teaches urban home gardeners to help them grow food. She teaches workshops ranging from Permaculture to cooking to seed saving.

Sheryl Webster is a landscape designer and permaculture teacher who has worked and studied in both Vancouver and San Francisco. She has worked in both the public and private sector as a project manager for various sustainability initiatives focusing on native and edible plants. Her design experience ranges in scale from garden beds to habitat corridors.

This 10 hour class will take place:
Saturday November 1st  12 noon - 5 pm
Sunday November 2nd  10 am - 3 pm

It will be rain or shine, taking place both inside and outside.
Taking place at the Sustainable Living Arts School in Robert’s Creek on the Sunshine Coast: the Heart Gardens.

The cost is $20 per person. Limited to 13 people .
Register and pay in advance to secure your space.

Design is Destiny.

As the seams of the corporate-military world begin to unravel, local organic food production, conscious relating and low impact living become increasingly important. Enhanced by technological toolsets, there is a
vitalfocus on sustainable community development on a bioregional and planetary level.

Permaculture is an emerging approach to designing relationships and landscapes based on the history of agriculture and social organization with its roots in the tribal wisdoms of our deeper past.

This autumn a small group will gather in the fabled elphinstone rainforest for a 10 hr course in permaculture. We will explore introductory level practical permaculture including organic gardening with native plants, sacred food plants of the Coastal First Peoples and dynamic composting strategies. In addition we will focus on permaculture principles, design concepts and mapping strategies. There will be an
exploration of advanced level permaculture including discussion about permaculture education and media in the context of local and global strategies launched from the Heart Gardens.

In effect this will be both a class in learning about permaculture and learning how to teach permaculture, covering a range of interest from introductory to advanced.