Saving Seed with Dan Jason – Sat April 25th 12:30-3:30pm
How can I make my food supply more local? Why can’t I find seeds for those varieties my grandmother grew in her garden? How do I save seeds from plants that cross-pollinate? What do we need to do to start a seed bank on Galiano?
Join Dan Jason of Salt Spring Seeds and learn how to take part in the age-old practice of seed-saving, and answer these questions and more. Understand the importance of heritage seeds in the modern food system and enjoy a hands-on demonstration of harvesting seeds in preparation for this season, including harvesting, cleaning, storing and labelling.
Dan Jason is the founder of Salt Spring Seeds. An active critic of genetically-modified seeds, patents on living organisms and industrial agriculture in general, he is a dedicated educator on sustainable organic gardening and farming, food politics and seed saving. He is the author of Saving Seeds As If Our Lives Depended On It.
$15-$25 Please register at: galianofoodprograms@gmail.com
The Galiano Club Community Food Program is offering Food Safe Level 1 on island. The course will take place April 18th at the South Community Hall. The class runs from 9am to 4pm. The cost of the course is $75, which includes the workbook and certificate upon completion.
Are you afraid of your Pressure Canner?
The Food Program will hold a Soil and Compost Workshop on Sunday, May 11th from 10:30am-12:30. Barry New and Roger Pettit will lead a discussion and demonstrations about the soils we encounter on Galiano.
The Food Program is hosting Ken Cameron, instructor, on Saturday, April 26 to teach the Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) course, a program for BC residents who are 14 years of age or older. It covers conservation, ethics, law and regulations, first aid and survival in the wilderness, firearm safety, and animal and bird identification. This course is required in order to get a hunting license.
Foraging for food has never been more popular, and come spring, stinging nettles are among the first edible plants to burst from the ground in the Pacific Northwest. Join Cedana in learning how to create nettle products so you can enjoy the benefits of this healthy-giving wild plant all year round.
“One of the first real signs of spring, and one of my favourite wild foods, are the new nettle shoots that start poking out of the ground early in the spring. At a time when we’ve been living on frozen veggies, or cabbage and root vegetables, fresh greens are a welcome sight. Plus nettles are actually good for us! Nettles are extremely rich in vital nutrients, including vitamin D, which is rare in plants; vitamins C and A; and minerals, including iron, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium.” -Dora Fitzgerald
Ever since childhood, the concept of plants as healers has captivated Dora Fitzgerald. Dora has been a Galiano resident for 24 years and has focused her energies on learning about our native plants, and healing plants used in other cultures and locales as well. A self-taught herbalist, she has facilitated the Food Program’s monthly herbal collective for the last three years. Her goal is to deepen the connection we feel towards the natural world and understanding the role of plants in helping us to maintain our own well being.
Cedana Bourne is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and has completed the Wild Seed School of Herbal Studies intermediate program. She is a wild food medicine forager, a gardener, a baker, a brewer and a fermenter who has spent the last few years immersed in learning rural rhythms on Galiano Island. She has been working with the Galiano Food Program developing community food sustainability, and has had the delicious pleasure of growing and preserving much of her own food. Since completing her studies she has had the opportunity to study online with herbal teachers such as Sean Donaghue, and 7song. Cedana has trained and worked as a baker at Wild Fire Bread and Pastry in Victoria, True Grain Bread in Cowichan Bay, and Radha Yoga and Eatery in Vancouver. She has been teaching workshops on food and plant medicine for five years.
If I told you that there was a fantastically tasty, nutritious and absolutely free foodstuff growing probably meters, and certainly no more than five minutes’ walk, from where you now sit, would I pique your interest? If I said it was easy to cook and very versatile, might I be whetting your appetite? And if I mentioned that it beats both spinach and broccoli for vitamins and minerals and protein, would that seal the deal?