Alison Colwell

4th annual on Sat Oct 15, 10:00am-1:00pm at the South Hall

Shop for winter storage crops directly from LOCAL farmers IN BULK to fill your pantry for the winter. Load up on local root veggies, greens, cabbage, squash, apples, tomatoes, peppers, meats, fish, preserves and pickles. Last market of the season! Volunteers needed to help with set up and clean up.

CABLE BAY FARM, Retreat Cove

Galiano organically grown produce: Green‎ and Red Peppers; bunches of Hakurei White Salad Turnips, Merlin & Cylindra Beets and Beet Greens

CLEARSKY FARMS

Garlic, winter squash, tomatillos, kale, bulk tomatoes, pole beans, black beans, and apples.

COUNTRY WOOLS, SIDNEY

Olde country sheep with pasture perfect lamb, including sausages. Eggs, squash, cascade berry vinaigrette.

DAISY HILL FARM, Galiano Island

Preserves, salsa, tomatoes.

DONNA MARBEN

Preserves, dried fruit, and fresh fruit and vegetables.

GALIANO COMMUNITY FOOD PROGRAM

Organic applesauce.

LAURIE MACCALLUM, Therah valley, Galiano Island

IOPA certified garlic.

SCHNARE, HYNICK, CROUSE & SONS {OCEANWISE SEAFOOD} – Captain Thomas Schnare

Fresh frozen Sockeye fillets; cold-smoked Albacore Tuna loins; Smoked Sockeye half-fillets; pre-sliced goldboard cold-smoked sockeye; thick-sliced ‘pounder’ smoked salmon bellies.

GALIANO SUNSHINE FARMS

Squash, potatoes, storage onions, hot peppers, broccoli, kale, apples, garlic and chard.

HOPE HILL FARM, Salt Spring Island

Whole frozen chicken, beef, winter squash, garlic, and sweet onions.

BECKY’S HOT FOOD available while you shop.

Spicy Jamaican patties (beef and veg.) samosas (beef, chicken, veg., and spinach), chicken wraps (with coconut milk base and spices), homemade Jamaican ginger beer, and ginger cookies. These products are available at wholesale, on order.

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Another fruitful season of the Gleaning Project is drawing to a close. Every year I’m amazed at the generosity of this island, and the incredible bounty that we share. I feel so lucky to have this job since picking fruit outside with friends and neighbours is one of my all-time favourite activities. There really is nothing more beautiful than the sunlight coming through the leaves of an apple tree, and there is a special kind of zen to picking ripe fruit. And always the promise that the next one will be the biggest or the most perfect or the sweetest.

This year so far, the Gleaning Project has brought 65 volunteers together to pick over 8,500 lbs of produce, including assorted varieties of plums, figs, hazelnuts, crabapples, apples, pears, quinces, corn and kale. The volunteers who come out find all kinds of creative ways to use the harvest for their families: drying, pickling, canning, and of course just fresh eating. This year, one picker is using an upcycled washing machine to make cider! The Food Program’s share was distributed to families in need, as well as used for workshops and community kitchens and events.

This year it seems the word about this project really got around, as we had double the number of landowners and farmers who reached out and invited us to come pick. We are very grateful for their generosity – without it there would be no Gleaning Project. Thank you everyone, and see you next year!

Are you a landowner with trees that are dripping with fruit, but you don’t have time to pick them? Is climbing a ladder getting to be too much? Did that one tree have a bumper crop this year? Do you have more than your family can use? Is your garden overflowing? Would you like to share the bounty with other members of the community? Would you benefit from access to healthy produce, but have no trees or garden of your own? Do you enjoy the simple pleasure of harvesting in a group?

If you answered yes, then Gleaning Project may be for you. The Food Program organizes volunteers to gather to pick surplus crops that are shared between the pickers, the landowners, families in need and the Food Program’s kitchen events. We bring orchard ladders and picking bags and try to gather as much as possible so there’s no waste. A staff member from the Food Program is always present to supervise the pickers and liaise with the landowners, and the Food Program carries insurance that covers our activities on your land.

If you’re interested in harvesting or having us come pick, contact us for more information. Any produce or fruit is appropriate–we love unusual offers!

Similar to gleaning, but with a twist, is the Berry Co-op, which is returning this year at the same south-end site. Thanks to a special arrangement with the landowner, the Food Program organizes community members who will pick either organically-grown tayberries (a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry) or thornless blackberries throughout the summer, with two-thirds of the harvests going to the Galiano Club and the other third going to the pickers. (Last year, Club share berries were sold as a fundraiser, were used in jam-making classes, or were baked in pies for the annual Blackberry Tea.)

Depending on weather and the pace of ripening, co-op members will likely be picking every Tuesday evening (6:30-8pm) and Friday (9-10:30am). We are looking for a commitment of at least three sessions over the course of the summer. At our trial pick we found that a person averaged 6lbs of tayberries in two hours (blackberries may yield more). Based on that rate, a co-op member could expect to take home 2lbs of berries per session.

If you are interested in participating in the berry co-op, please email Colleen as soon as possible at galianofoodprograms@gmail.ca or phone #2737 and she will send interested parties a sign-up sheet for dates, with more details to follow.