Category Archives: Events

Event notices and information

Plant Swap and Sale Coming to Burnaby

Things in the yard getting a bit cramped? Do your perennials need dividing? Or do you have a lonely spot in need  of a new plant?

The Plant Swap and Sale is your chance to trade your surplus with other gardeners and add some new additions for your garden.

Saturday, June 20, 2009
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Eagles Estate Heritage Garden, 5655 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby

The Land Conservancy will also have donated plants for sale to raise funds for the Eagles Estate Heritage Garden. Plant donations will gladly be accepted prior to the event.

For further information or to arrange to donate, call 604-733-2313 or email lralph@conservancy.bc.ca.

Workshop: Composting in Bear Country

Composting is all well and good, but no one wants their bin to send the equivalent of an engraved invitation to critters. Especially really big critters!

The Edible Garden Project is offering a workshop on Composting in Bear Country — Coexisting on the Edge of a Rainforest:

Wednesday, June 24
6:30 pm
District of West Vancouver City Hall, Council’s Chambers

Register with the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre by calling 604.990.3755. (Note: they only take reservations by phone or in person.)

You can also visit the Edible Garden Project events calendar for more information on this and other workshops.

Michael Pollan at UBC Farm

I had a chance to take in the UBC Farm Fundraiser with Michael Pollan last weekend, a well attended event for all ages.

Not yet having read In Defense of Food — my newly autographed copy is now on the top of my stack of 20+ must-reads — it was interesting and novel to hear his abbreviated version of how we’ve come to be in this place where we need, as he put it, an investigative journalist to tell us what and how to eat.

It IS more than a little odd that in a few short decades we as a society have moved so far away from the land and any sense of the source of our food.

During his humorous and sometimes tongue in cheek presentation, I was gratified to hear Pollan talk about many of the things that I’ve come to believe about the value of choosing more local food options — even without me having read his book:

  1. Eating food, real food not “food-like edible products,” has a huge impact on our overall health.
  2. Farmers markets build community. Research shows people have 10x more conversations at a farmers market than in a grocery store. I have experienced this on a regular basis.
  3. Many worldwide issues are addressed in shifting to a local food focus, including reducing greenhouse gasses and carbon footprint, reducing health issues, creating sustainable farming…
  4. And my favourite, no one idea will be the solution to our ills, we need to use multiple approaches: urban farming, organic, sustainable farming practices, innovation, etc.

I don’t believe in having a narrow approach or that the same approach will be right for everyone (i.e. I am not, and do not believe I ever could be, vegan). It’s not about finding THE answer, it’s about finding AN answer. And another one, and another one.

Now I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth into In Defense of Food…

Main Street Station Farmers Market Opens this Wednesday!

Are your leafy greens running out? Vancouver Farmers Market has the perfect place to stock-up for the rest of the week.

Come to the new Main Street Station Farmers Market, starting this Wednesday from 3pm to 7pm. It is located near the very urban, yet surprisingly beautiful, NE corner of Main and Terminal.The 90-year old Pacific Central Station forms the backdrop while Thornton Park sprawls out in front. Visit your favourite vendors and listen to music as you pick up something on your way home from work.

Conveniently located on SkyTrain’s Expo Line, this market is close to multiple bus routes and driving thorough fares. Parking is available near the site. Ask about their bicycle delivery service!

More information: www.eatlocal.org

UBC Farm 2009 Season Kick-Off Event

The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm and the 100-Mile Diet Society are celebrating the Farm’s first market of the year and the official launch of the Vancouver 100-Mile Diet Foodshed Map.

Saturday, June 13
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
UBC Farm, 6182 South Campus Road Map

Mark Bomford, UBC Farm Program Coordinator and Kelly Kuryk, Foodshed Project Coordinator will be speaking about the unique collaboration between the 100-Mile Diet Society and the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, synthesizing action, research and education.

As the only working farmland within the city of Vancouver, the UBC Farm is an urban agrarian gem, featuring a landscape of unique beauty and productivity. Currently, it is highlighting how sustainable agricultural techniques can reduce the negative impact of the food system on climate change and the environment.

Everyone welcome! Fun for the entire family, including farm tours, live music, a 100-mile pancake breakfast cooked by local chefs, fresh, local produce, garden tool sharpening (bring your tools!), bike tune-ups, local artisans, baked goods, children’s activities, and more.

Growing Food 101: Weeds and Water

This week’s Growing Food 101 workshop is “Weeds + The Art of Hoeing” and “Working with Water”.

Taking place this Saturday, June 13 at Terra Nova Rural Park (2631 Westminster Hwy, Richmond), the session, offered by Richmond Poverty Response Committee, is taught by professional gardeners and includes both classroom and hands-on time. Beginners and intermediate gardeners alike will take away new skills.

Bursaries are available for low-income families. Contact Arzeema Hamir at foodsecurity@richmondprc.org for more information or to apply.

Ready to sign up? Choose your sessions and mail the registration and information page with a cheque to Richmond Food Bank (100-5800 Cedarbridge Way, Richmond).

Are you planning to attend? Let us know how it goes — leave a comment…

Gardening That Feeds a Community

The Edible Garden Project is a brilliant initiative of the North Shore Neighbourhood House. The simple aim of the Project is to ensure that the community’s low-income citizens have local fruits and vegetables to eat, by collecting donated food from home gardeners and running community gardens that then supply produce to organizations, such as the Harvest Project, which in turn distribute food to those in need.

The Project also offers workshops and information on how to grow, preserve, and store your produce. Check out their events calendar for details on upcoming sessions such as Composting in Bear Country and Invasive Plants, Identifying and Replacing the Bad Guys.

You Can Get Involved
The Edible Garden Project is always sourcing new land for growing food. Do you have an unused backyard space that could be cultivated by the Project’s volunteer team? Or, if you are already gardening, how about donating some of your excess harvest? Take a look at the drop off schedule for details and locations.

Workshop: Dealing With Invasive Plants

Invasive, non-indigenous plants (i.e. not from here originally) can choke out the local vegetation and impact localized micro-ecosystems. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but think about the big picture. When the plants that house and feed the bugs that feed the birds we’re used to seeing no longer grow, neither do the bugs or the birds.

And, contrary to popular belief, some bugs are actually good bugs that we’d be lost without! Same with the birds.

The Edible Garden Project and local landscaper, Heather Schamehorn, are offering a workshop to learn to identify plants that threaten our native species and find out what to do about them:

Invasive Plants — Identifying and Replacing the Bad Guys.
Saturday, June 13
1:00 pm
Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre, outdoors

Call the Ecology Centre at 604.990.3755 to register. You can also check out the Edible Garden Project events calendar for more information on this and other workshops.

Workshop: Winter Vegetable Gardening

If you’re a gardener with a year or two under your belt and are ready to expand your horizons, maybe you’d like to learn how to expand the growing season.

The Winter Vegetable Gardening workshop explores what to plant and when. Simple designs for home-made cloches and greenhouses will be covered as well. The session will be held:

Saturday, June 13
1:00 to 3:00 pm
Eagles Estate Heritage Garden
5655 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby

Instructor Heather Johnstone has spent years learning with organic farmers on the west coast and is now working with home-scale urban gardeners to help them grow food. She is the coordinator of the Edible Garden Project on Vancouver’s North Shore and has recently joined the Board of FarmFolk/CityFolk.

The cost of the workshop is $20, with proceeds going to The Land Conservancy of British Columbia. Pre-registration is required: phone 604-733-2313 or email lralph@conservancy.bc.ca to register.