The funky offspring of the Galiano Club, the Food Program began in 2008.
The Galiano Community Food Program strives to ensure that Galiano Island is a thriving, livable, food-secure community, where every resident feels included, welcome and empowered to build a deeper connection with their food system. In so doing, the Program improves Galiano’s ecological sustainability and community resilience in the face of climate change and uncertainty. The program seeks to set an example that reaches beyond our local community and spreads across the country.
Food Program Blog
Foodie Film Night!
Seed, the Untold Story
Thursday May 4th, 7pm
Join us for the screening of Seed: The Untold Story, followed by a discussion facilitated by the Seed Library of Galiano. Doors open at the South Hall at 6:30pm, with organic popcorn and beverages included all for $5/per person. Theater Bytes refers to this film as: “A brilliantly filmed, scripted, and directed documentary that we all should probably view. The frank testimonial approach used in this film tells a very compelling story…”
Watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/97882647
Wild Kitchen—Nettle Cooking Workshop with Alison Colwell
Prepping Nettles in the Cooking Class – photo: Karen Barnaby
5:30pm, Friday, March 31st
Learn how to make a variety of delicious nettle dishes and how to remove the sting so that you can take advantage of all of nettle’s incredible health benefits. This hands-on class includes cooking demonstrations and is suitable for all levels of cooking skills. It’s a prime opportunity for those looking to develop their skills and incorporate wild foods into their diet. We will create a delicious meal to share around a communal table at the end of the evening. This is a chance to bring questions, and get ideas for your entry into the Galiano’s Next Top Nettle Cooking Competition at the Potluck.
Registration includes all ingredients for a meal we prepare in class, plus a copy of Alison’s Nettle Cookbook. Please register at galianofoodprograms@gmail.com. Sliding scale $15-$25
Nettlefest Forest Foraging Walk
Forest Foraging Walk with Naturalist Reed Osler & Holistic Nutritionist Cedana Bourne from the Galiano Conservancy
10:00am-12:00, Saturday April 1, Millard Learning Centre, main parking lot
Bring your cameras and notebooks and learn about foraging in our local forests. We’ll walk through Galiano’s wild places and talk about nettles and other edible wild greens, how and when to pick them for a sustainable harvest, where they grow, and their roles in our local ecosystems. We’ll also learn about their nutritional and health-giving properties, and how best to preserve them.
Suggested donation $15-$20. Please register at galianofoodprograms@gmail.com
Galiano’s Next Top Nettle Cooking Competition
Chefs, cooks and foragers: It’s time to put your “pedal to the nettle” in this year’s competition. Sunday, April 2nd as part of the 10th Annual Nettlefest Community Potluck Celebration at the South Galiano Community Hall. Come “test your nettle” by entering your best nettle dish against fierce island competition. And the sting: all dishes must be in by 5:30pm.
Categories
- Dan the Man Island Style (featuring ingredients grown and foraged on Galiano)
- Avant-Garde Cuisine
- Homestyle Cooking
Propagation Workshop with Manon Tremblay
RESCHEDULED to MARCH 25 9:00am-3:00pm
This workshop looks at different techniques to help you grow the plants you always wanted without having to buy them! We will learn about hardwood and softwood cuttings, layering, air layering, division, grafting, as well as looking at different seeding techniques to ensure germination. Morning at South Hall, afternoon at Community Greenhouse. Car-pooling will be organized. Please bring a bagged lunch. Sliding scale $25-$35. Registration is required – just email galianofoodprograms@gmail.com
More details below:
Perhaps you have seen the videos on Facebook teaching you how to “magically regrow” vegetables from your table scraps, such as celery or onions from discarded ends. While that is definitely one use for propagation techniques, there are other benefits too, such as growing plants that are hard to find in a nursery (but spotted in your neighbour’s plot), growing cuttings to give away as gifts, or saving the cost of buying seeds or nursery starts when you’re expanding your garden.
Plant propagation is “the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts.” (Thanks Wikipedia.) It’s surprisingly simple, as well as sustainable and cheap. And it reduces your dependence on multinational seed producers, while building community too.
We are very happy to host Manon Tremblay for a Propagation workshop in March. This workshop looks at different techniques to help you grow the plants […]
10th Annual Nettlefest
As I write this article we are just emerging from an unusually snowy winter, and it’s hard to believe that spring is just around the corner. But it’s coming. One of the first signs of spring, and maybe Galiano’s favourite, is bright green nettle shoots poking out of the ground. The new leaves are full of calcium, protein, and iron. Perfect to recharge us after our cold winter and get us healthy and ready for spring.
To quote Sandy Pottle’s famous nettle song:
And then I tried granny’s spring tonic
And now I feel simply bionic
I’m stepping more lightly
I’m looking more sightly
And my brain it ain’t quite so moronic
When you are picking nettles for cooking, choose the young and tender leaves, usually the top four or six on a plant. Use scissors to cut the tip and you won’t damage the plant. Nettles are delicious — but most first time nettle eaters are nervous about being stung. Use kitchen or garden gloves when you are picking and in the kitchen until the nettles are processed in some way. Once the fresh nettles are steamed, frozen, dried or cooked the sting is neutralized. There are lots of different ways to use nettles. Some of my favourites are: soup, pizza, nesto, nettle and edamame crostini, and nettle pakora.
This year the Galiano Community Food Programs 10th Annual Nettlefest weekend runs March 31st […]
Upcoming Food Program Events
