July 24/25 - Small Farm Skills in Roberts Creek - Good basic skills! Take one class or take them all. Congenial camping ($5 a night per person), take in the beach or a restaurant while you’re on the coast. Contact Robin at info@ediblelandscapes.ca to register or for more info.

Saturday July 24

11:30 – 1 pm Hand Tool Maintenance and Repair (Instructor TBA)
Although we presently live in the day when it costs more to buy a new handle than to replace the broken hand tool, this might not always be the case. Our instructor will first show us how to prolong the life of our tools, then show several techniques for replacing handles using old and freshly made examples. $25

1:30 to 3:00 Year Round Gardening with Robin Wheeler
What does it take to eat our own garden food for as much of the year as possible? This is as much a space/time mapping exercise as anything, and Robin will guide us through the steps it will take to plan this wide spectrum food garden, and we will address storage issues. $25

3:30 to 5 pm Intro to Bee Keeping with Martin Cook - off site (directions provided)
Get all your basics in this class – life cycle of the bee, equipment required, siting and maintenance of the hive, a year in the life of a hive, diseases and predators, and more. See an active site and taste some results. Martin Cook is an experienced bee handler and honey producer. $25

Sunday July 25

10:00 – 11:30 Improving your Soil with Alain Bergeron
Alain turned a raw forest clearing into a fine and productive working market garden using everything he could find around him. He will discuss quick soil analysis and materials needed for correcting typical soil issues, and will get everyone working on a patch of ground trying out his methods! $25

11:45 – 12:45 Plant Nursery Skills with Robin Wheeler
We know that if we want to cover our landscape with lots of healthy plants, we need to know how to propagate and then how to tend many plants in pots. We will learn about soil mixture, pot size, overwintering and water problems. $20

2 pm – 3:30 Advanced Bee care with Al Cobbin
The new bee keeper will want to keep improving their knowledge. Master Bee Keeper Al will discuss swarming, disease issues, comb or chunk honey, granulation and seasonal preparations and more. $25.M

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

June 19/20 - Herb Weekend These classes are directed towards the beginner, to help round out recognition and other early skills. Held on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in the informal and relaxing gardens of Edible Landscapes. Take one class or take them all. Good learning, good networking, good fun. Some camping available ($7 a night).

Saturday, June 19

10:00 – 12:00 Herb Walkabout with Robin Wheeler
This is an introduction to many of the herbs used in folk medicine. We will observe, smell and taste dozens of plants, and participants can take leaf samples and photographs for their records. We will learn about some highlights and cultivation issues. $25

12:00 – 1:00 brown bag or order $4 snack lunch with beverage

1:00 – 3.00 – Introduction to Herbal Medicine with Robin Wheeler
Poultices, salves, tinctures and oils – what are they made of, how are they used, and why are choices made in this way? We will also learn about solvents and learn why understanding solvents is key to knowing how to free medicinal constituents for our use. $25

3:15 – 4: 30 Herbal First Aid Kit with Julie Starsage and Robin Wheeler
Learn to quickly recognize the plants around you that will slow bleeding, draw out foreign bodies and protect from infection. Learn what can be dried and packaged for quick use when the plants are dormant. $20

Sunday, June 20
10 – 12.00 - Native Use of Herbs with Cymba
Consisting of in-the-field plant identification, discussing traditional and contemporary uses of these plants. Food, medicinal and ceremonial uses will be covered as well as ecologically sustainable harvesting techniques. A hands-on component will include topical salves making (everyone will leave with a traditional medicine). $25

12:00 to 1:00 – bag lunch or $4 snack lunch and beverage.

2:15 – 3:45 Eastern Classification of herbs based on Observation with Julie Starsage
Learn the general patterns of plant use from a Chinese and Ayurvedic perspective through colour, taste, smell, parts used, and the season grown and harvested.. Examples are yellow coloured roots for digestive issues, summer flowers for fevers and infections, arial parts for the upper part of the body. $25

4:00 – 5:15 - Herb Harvesting and Storage with Robin Wheeler
Original placement of plants, exact day and time of harvest – these important points lead to a powerful herb that keeps its medicine intact for a long time. Learn proper techniques for berries, flowers, leaves, roots and seeds. $20

Biographies:
Julie Starsage completed a course in Professional Herbalism through East West School of Herbology in 99 and in West Coast Wildcrafting in 2000 through Douglas College. She has a diploma of Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine which included 1,445 hours of Chinese Herbalism from Oshio College. She is owner of Sage Mountain TCM in Wilson Creek, practicing as a Registered Acupuncturist as well as spending time in the garden and raising two small children.

Cymba (Robert Vincent) spent several years living and learning his lore with a First Nations group on Vancouver Island. He is proficient at wildcrafting and also teaches native technology classes. He has led many guided walks and educational tours in the lower mainland. He is also a carver.

Join one or all six of these workshops by Robin Wheeler about food security, apartment gardening, and community. They are specially oriented toward urban dwellers living in apartments in Vancouver.

Green Millennium Foundation (GMF), Village Vancouver (VV), and West End Residents Association (WERA) are proud to present Robin Wheeler (www.ediblelandscapes.ca), author of Food Security for the Faint of Heart, and Gardening for the Faint of Heart, and founder of a local organic growers’ group (www.onestraw.ca) and the Sustainable Living Arts School (www.slas.ca) in a series of workshops on the food-secure household, gardening, food growing, and community organization, targeted especially for residents of the West End. The workshops will be held on one Sunday and two Saturdays at the West End Community Centre in Vancouver.

April 11 (Sun) 10:00-11:30 am THE FOOD SECURE HOUSEHOLD
April 11 (Sun) 11:45-1:30 am APARTMENT GARDENING
May 1 (Sat) 9:15-10:30 am — FOOD DIRECTED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
May 1 (Sat) 10:45 am- 12:15 pm — SEED SAVING IN THE CITY
June 5 (Sat) 9:15-10:45 am — FOOD PRESERVATION
June 5 (Sat) 11:00 am-12:30 pm — INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY - SHAPES IN SHARING.

Price: $15 per workshop. Anyone who registers for all six workshops will receive a bonus gift of their choice of either of Robin’s books.

Registration. Register online (www.westendcc.ca), in person, or by calling (604-257-8333). You can download the Spring 2010 Guide. See page 22!