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| This is a view of the lake outside of the cafeteria |
A week ago today, D and I were listening attentively to all the speakers (there were 8 in total) at our local Urban Farm Symposium. The location could not have been better, as we were in the cafeteria at our local College, which is adjacent to Patchwork Farm. Patchwork Farm, is a community collective farm, where people of all ages and abilities join in meaningful activities that fosters personal growth, strengthens the local food system and enhances appreciation for land, food, health and community. The actual location for the College and the Farm is on the hillside above Kalamalka Lake, a tiny bit west of where our homestead is situated.
It was Patchwork Farm, along with all their supporters, that put on this Symposium. I thought it would have been better attended, however there were under 50 in attendance, which was disheartening when you think water and food are the basics of life and supporting both were discussed in detail throughout the day.
On the plus side, having a small gathering meant we had great seats and the group felt intimate enough where we were comfortable asking questions throughout the day.
Our first speaker, and host for the day, Keli Westgate is a Certified Permaculture Designer, a Director of the Sustainable Environment Network Systems, SENS, as well as a multi-media producer and marketing freelancer. She shared the many community and environment projects that the SENS group has on the go, including the Vernon in Transition Movement, Beesafe, a monthly speaker series, and my personal favourite topic, the vision for a Vernon Earthship Healing and Education Centre.
An earthship, is a unique type of passive solar house that is made of both natural and recycled materials, designed and marketed by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico. The term is a registered trademark of Michael Reynolds.
Other than the fact that the original creator of this design shares my husband’s last name, D and I are intrigued by the idea of using recycled items, like tires and glass bottles, to create a totally sustainable housing plan. During our next short break we were bubbling with possibilities and our creative juices were flowing as we discussed how we could create such a place for our family. When I came home from the symposium and did some research, I see a family in Alberta is doing just that, and here is a link to the CBC report on this Prairie Earthship home.
Some earthship images,
Our next lecture was given by Jane Emlyn, who has a background in Soil Biology, is a co-founder in BeeSafe, is a master gardener and has a lifetime experience in self sufficient living. She brought her knowledge of natural farming practices and small lot design to the table. I loved how she started talking about her observations on how things grow when she was just a child. She shared her memories of living close to a richly forested area, where she was able to walk in nature, experience the changing seasons and notice how the trees and plants were growing without any help from man.
She also talked about her childhood being a time when everyone had a kitchen garden in their backyard and her neighbours, who came from diverse cultures with various gardening practices, all contributed to her learning and knowledge. She watched how in the fall, the hardest working gardeners cleaned their beds of all plant debris and placed it in a compost bin to be dug out again in the spring and spread around the garden. While these gardeners had beautiful productive gardens, she thought there had to be a more natural and efficient way that required less effort.\
Later in her life, she studied soil biology and learned how the earth is teeming with billions of organisms working in a symbiotic relationship to create the perfect environment for the continuing lifecycle of all things. The no dig philosophy was one she adopted and with great success. Her lecture was called, “Winterize Your Soil.” The general premise of her talk was to encourage us to think about leaving gardening debris exactly where it grew. Whatever was left after you harvested your vegetables, etc, remained in place in the garden. Break it down into smaller, manageable pieces if you wish for quicker decomposition, but leave it in place. She was also big on mulches, layering the garden with leaves, straw bales, whatever you have available and in the spring, she stressed that nothing be removed. You just plant right on top. She shared a few books that she highly recommended.
They were:
“The One Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka
“The Zero Mile Diet” by Carolyn Herriot
The easy, relaxed way, Jane spoke about her gardening practices made me think about how hard I sometimes work in my garden, hauling debris to my compost and then working it back in every spring. I was going to really think about how, “I can let nature do most of the work to create the rich fertile soil I desire. The basis for growing all things.” (Stay tuned for my upcoming blog post on “Grounding, or another word, Earthing” which ties into this belief)
After a tea break, we were introduced to Cuyler Page who shared his expansive knowledge on growing wheat, particularly Red Fife Wheat. He had interesting history to share and stories to tell about growing Red Fife. All Red Fife grown for use today in artisan bakeries around our area can trace its ancestry to a half pound he and Sharon Rempel planted at the Grist Mill at Keremeos in 1989. He told stories about growing wheat and also gave us a demonstration on threshing and winnowing the wheat that had been harvested earlier from Patchwork Farm. It was all very interesting but to grow enough wheat to make one loaf of bread in my opinion, was too much for the urban farmer. I appreciated all the knowledge however and as I was eating my lunch of bun with veggies and hummus, I was appreciating what went in to make the bun. A lot of work!
Before Lunch was served, Bill Hickey, uncovered the secrets of growing cold hardy varieties of figs in the Okanagan Valley. Bill is a lifetime gardener with an adventurous streak. On hearing four years ago that a few people in Vernon had fig trees in the ground he decided to find the best suited fig cultivars for our climate. Over 20 varieties are candidates. Eight varieties are ripening in his yard currently. He went on to show us how to grow and prune figs for quick production but after the talk, although I admired his tenacity, I thought, that is something I don’t have time to entertain. I just want to feed my family and spend my time more efficiently. However, for those people, who want a hobby, growing figs would be lovely…and eating them even better.
Our lunch was rich with discussion and food. As D and I enjoyed a deliciously thick pumpkin soup and our choice of sandwiches or buns loaded with yummy veggies inside, we talked about the direction we saw our own homestead traveling and the dreams we had on the horizon. Before the afternoon lectures began, we took a walk outside to enjoy the day. I was thinking perhaps the real gardeners had stayed home to work in their yards on this Saturday, as although the day had begun cold and cloudy, by lunch the day had warmed and the sun was shining brightly. It was a perfect day to muck around in the yard. Here is a picture of the raised gardens at Patchwork farm and below is a picture of the view from the farm.
Before we went back inside, I snapped a picture of D…I was so happy he decided to join me and share in my passion. He has been so busy at his office and I think all these lectures opened his eyes to the endless opportunities available for our homestead.
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All refreshed, we were ready to discuss some pretty serious issues on, “Food, Farming and Community.” Wendy Holm, is an award -winning resource Economist, Agrologist and Journalist. She has covered stories at the forefront of Canadian policy since the early 1990’s picking up eight national journalism awards since 2003. Wendy holds an honours B.Sc. in Business Administration, an M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics and a Masters of Management, Cooperatives and Credit Unions. She talked about world food and farming practices and how important the small family farm is to the world. Also, in great detail, she discussed the necessity of protecting our agriculture lands from corporations who want to profit without any care or consequence for the environment.
Check out the following YouTube video called, A Vision Of Agriculture with Wendy Holm
As Wendy left to leave for the airport, I thanked her for coming and giving me, “Food for Thought!” It’s people like this who help to change the way we think about growing food in the world. I felt really empowered and while I don’t have any of her credentials, she left me feeling that I could make a difference in the world.
As my head was still spinning from such a meaty lecture, our next speaker, Heather Clay brought 30 years of experience working in the beekeeping industry and recently co-edited a book on Honey Bee Diseases and Pests. Her topic, “The Urban Beescape” was exactly what I had been looking for as I tried to think about how we could become small scale beekeepers. I was thinking how wonderful it would be for our children to watch how the bees pollinate our crops and how they all work together to make an elixir for life. Honey! Check out the site, www.capabees.org
Our second last speaker was Curtis Stone, who owns “Green City Acres” in Kelowna, B.C. He talked efficiently for one hour discussing how to practically turn 2000 square feet of lawn into a productive garden which can earn a substantial amount of money…..my notes say, $18,000 dollars however this is all dependent on your crop and who is purchasing your produce. He discussed the technical process of converting a lawn into a mini-farm and the economics of production. Of course this was interesting to see how quickly he moved into production and also introduced the idea that just because you live in an urban setting, doesn’t mean you can’t become a farmer. A profitable farmer turning lawn into food….and money. Here’s a Youtube video, “Meet an urban farmer….Curtis from Green City Acres.” Gets one thinking for sure!
And finally at the end of a wonderful day of stimulating ideas and thoughts came a lovely speaker, Gordon Hiebert, of Element Eco-design, who is a permaculture practitioner in the North Okanagan. He uses his knowledge of ecological systems to create sustainable building, regenerative agriculture, water harvesting and waste systems to create unique integrated designs. His easy going, relaxed approach made me feel peaceful, believing I was moving in the right direction and it was comforting to know there was this wealth of knowledge in my backyard. His topic also brought me back to the speaker of the day that really inspired both D and I; the Earthship home, which feels like the perfect direction for us to move towards. Perhaps, D and I won’t live in such a place in our lifetime but perhaps our grandchildren will be so fortunate. We told our son Clark about it when we came home and you never know when you plants seeds if they will grow, as Clark is in his 4th year studying Evironmental Sciences and he hopes to become an architect in the future.
We ended our day feeling really blessed to be on this earth with other people so passionate about growing food, conserving water and caring for our planet. For healing our earth and healing our souls is going to require a conscious connection in our communities. It was just what I needed as the season of Autumn throws a blanket of leaves on the ground. It lays a blanket of possibilities at my feet. Endless and exciting.
Now I’m off to winterize my garden…….I’m just cutting up my corn stalks, my tomato plants, raking up my leaves and laying them on the debris. Letting it be still. Then I’m going to sit and drink a hot cup of tea and give thanks.
To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. ~Mahatma Gandhi
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| Will picking the perfect pumpkin at the patch this week. |
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope