June 29: Workshop and Last Day!

Greetings! Today marks the final blog post from the Allergy Brigade as we conclude our Community Field Experience and prepare to return to classes next week. For our last day, we hosted the final Orchard Garden Workshop of the school year, enjoying a peaceful morning in the Garden. Our day began with introductions from the wonderful individuals who joined us, many of whom are from the secondary program that recently completed their CFE in the Orchard Garden. We are grateful they took the time to participate in the workshop today!

Our first activity focused on herbal teas, discussing which plants can be harvested, the drying process, and the medicinal and healing properties of these herbs. Participants foraged in the garden for lemon balm, fennel, currents, evening primrose and raspberries. They also made tea sachets of herbs that had already been dried, to make their own blends, taste them and take home. 

The remainder of the workshop was dedicated to making leaf prints with watercolour and acrylic paint. Everyone created beautiful and creative designs inspired by the garden.

Thank you to Susan and Madison for the great few weeks spent in the Orchard Garden. Our time was filled with fun, collaboration, hands-on learning activities, garden work and engaging field trips. We leave this experience with new knowledge and perspectives that we look forward to bringing with us into our teaching careers. The peaceful nature of the garden as well as the opportunity to connect with each other and the land allowed for a much-needed reset after the busyness of our practicums. Here is the commemorative rock made by Danielle, showing the amazing eagle that joined us on our very first day.

Thanks for following along with us on this adventure!

- The Allergy Brigade

Summer Solstice at the Garden!

Salutations and gentle tidings fellow readers of the blog! Here is another blog instalment written by the Allergy Brigade! 

Yesterday was our summer solstice party! We had a wonderful day of crafts and food! We were joined by 4 local day care groups where the children participated in several activities. As the groups arrived we gave them a tour around the garden showing them the plants and animals that live in and around the garden. They enjoyed spotting slugs, picking raspberries and learning about the plants. Next they cycled through the following activities: bookmark making, natural dye painting, rock painting, colour matching, and they were read a story (Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor). They all had a wonderful time and were very engaged. We ended the morning with a lovely visit and speech delivered by Dr. Samson Nashon, Department Head of Curriculum & Pedagogy here at UBC. Susan also played us some lovely tunes on her accordion throughout, which brought a lovely feel to the day!

We have enjoyed a lovely bread and pastry donation from a Bread Affair in Granville island. Thank you for your incredibly generous donation, your food is truly delicious! 

During the second part of the day several other people joined for the “adult” portion of the event where they made pressed flower book marks, made witches brooms out of flowers, and painted with the natural dyes. 

This was a lovely event that brought together the local community in a special place!

Until we post again,

The Allergy Brigade

(Post by Alex and Danielle)

Solstice Workshop Garden Prep

Today, we met up in the orchard garden to do our final prep for our summer solstice workshop. The in-person meeting at the UBC Orchard Garden was a highlight of the week. Seeing everyone face-to-face was incredibly rewarding and allowed us to solidify our plans and address any last-minute details. The garden, in full bloom, provided a picturesque backdrop, inspiring us further. We walked through the garden together, visualizing our workshop setup and making necessary adjustments.

As predicted, the thistle was in full gear again in the garden. We spent some time tidying up the boxes, pulling out the persistent thistle, and making note of what was growing well. The raspberries are in full bloom and bountiful! It was a pleasant surprise to see how abundant they were, promising a sweet treat for those who come by.

We were definitely given some pause by the rain coming down. We sought refuge in the shed when the worst of it was coming down. This unexpected break gave us a chance to review our plans once more and enjoy some camaraderie, sharing laughs and stories while waiting for the rain to subside.

Back at home, I made a zesty garlic scape pesto, which will be a tasty addition to our workshop refreshments, so generously contributed by our group members and Bread Affair. The process of creating the pesto was enjoyable and fulfilling, knowing it would be shared with our group and the workshop participants. 

The final preparations today involved not just setting up and cleaning but also connecting with the garden and each other. We reflected on the hard work and dedication that has brought us to this point. The beauty of the garden in full bloom, the excitement of the upcoming workshop, and the sense of accomplishment in our preparations made for a memorable day.

That's all for now from our group. We are excited for tomorrow and eager to welcome our participants to the solstice workshop. It's going to be a wonderful celebration of nature, community, and the summer solstice!

-Kathleen

June 26 Workshop planning

        Today, I visited the garden to grab more plants to practice making a tea out of. So far I have been mixing dry lemon balm leaves with various raspberries and currants. I have noticed many raspberries come out recently so I was very excited to use them in making tea. I was also going to try using the raspberry and currant leaves to make tea and see how that goes. We then met up as a group to talk about our Saturday workshop and figure out the types of activities that would help better understand for participants like how to explain the harvesting process and drying out plants for tea so that they have a longer shelf life. I have not much success with fennel in tea as I did not really enjoy the flavour in tea, but I’m sure someone out there does. Justin did some research on leaves we could include in the teamaking process, so that was exciting!

Andrea also showed her progress working with acrylic and watercolor to do leaf prints on canvas/paper. They came out well and had some very vibrant patterns, the only issue was the time to dry to layer the paints together.

Overall, this is very exciting as we are getting closer to the workshop day and can't wait to share the knowledge we have developed and do fun activities with people.

June 25, 2024 Testing The Supplies

 Today the Solstice group met over WhatsApp again to discuss what supplies are working or need revision. We also confirmed the schedule for the upcoming days. 

Kathleen confirmed her pesto recipe is ready and she has all the ingrediants ready. Alex confirmed he has investigated what natural paints will work best.

Danielle and Sarah counted rocks and confirmed 40 should we enough.

I (Sarah) tested the bookmarks and will make revisions to make it easier. First, they need to be bigger. Second, dried flowers will work better than fresh. Third, I will pre laminate some of them to make them easier to decorate for the younger children. I discovered the whole punch doesn't work through the plastic so will have to allow time to attach string. 

I (Sarah), also tested some new water based paints on the rocks just in case we have some colors that have been used up. 

We are grateful for this time to test our products and to fine tune them. 

We are looking foward to meeting on Thursday at the Orchard garden to plan the set up of the event.

Further updates to come;

The Solstice group ( Sarah, Danielle, Alex, and Kathleen).

June 25th - Collaborative Planning

 Today we reconvened for our second day of planning! 

We’ve been collecting various plants from the garden and attempting to brew some tea with them!  While some teas have been wonderful, we are discovering that some other teas have not been so tasty. We discovered that lemon balm has a bit of a strange flavour. We think that perhaps we over brewed the tea or used too much lemon balm. 

Andrea has been working on an art project involving various leafs from the garden as well!

This is a learning process for us too, and we have definitely been learning a lot!

- Justin, Andrea, Dom

June 24: Workshop Planning!

Today one half of the Orchard Garden CFE crew, Justin, Dom and I met on zoom to plan our activities for the final Orchard Garden workshop of the school year. We have decided on leaf printing and tea making. Today we were trying to figure out what plants we will use for our tea making, as we want to use ones that we already have in the garden or that are native to this region. As we go, we are learning about the traditional methods of drying herbs and other plants and how Indigenous peoples have used them for their healing properties. We are fully embracing this learning opportunity as none of us really knew how to dry herbs or the amazing properties many of these plants hold. Dom is foraging many of the plants we will be using for our tea and will be taste testing as he goes. Justin is making the information sheets on the plants so our workshop participants can look at them. Andrea is doing tests of different ways to make the leaf prints and gathering the materials so these can be made into cards. 

Here is our group zoom call featuring Dom showing off some of the plants he has dried.

In the afternoon, I (Andrea) went to VanDusen Gardens to see Fleurs de Villes ARTISTE that is showing until June 30th. The event showcases 25 one-of-a-kind fresh floral art-themed installations inspired by accomplished artists throughout history and Vancouver’s vibrant art scene. I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful display of garden art, made of fresh flowers, plants and things for nature. 

Here are some photos to show you some of the amazing installations!

June 24, 2024 Collaborative Planning

 

Today the Solstice planning group met on WhatsApp to discuss the day’s schedule, along with the upcoming week’s schedule.

Today we made a list of all the supplies had, and the ones we needed to forage.

Danielle and Sarah said they will gather rocks this afternoon.

Alex will test the natural paints he can find in and around his home.

Kathleen will find the perfect recipe for the pesto.

Sarah will find items for the bookmarks, and the entire group will send quotes.

Danielle will check in with Maddie to see if there is a finishing product that exists to keep the paints nice.

Tomorrow we will meet again and test our products. Pictures to come.             

We are enjoying the collaborative nature of this workshop, and excited to work with the garden as a co-teacher for the upcoming workshop. We have flowers and plants drying in the shed as we speak, and we hope they will be ready in time for the workshop.               

That is all for now from the Solstice Group.

p.s. It turns out that today was a great day for gathering rocks, as the tide was still out after the recent full moon. 

June 21, 2024 - National Indigenous Peoples Day

Salutations and gentle tidings fellow readers of the blog! Here is another blog instalment written by the Allergy Brigade! 

Today is National Indigenous People’s Day. It is a day that marks not only the longest day of the year, the solstice, but it is also a day that many Indigenous people celebrate their cultural and heritage. As a settler I am continually learning about the past and present acts of colonialism, assimilation, and genocide of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. This is something that I put the the utmost importance on not only as a Canadian, but as a future Teacher. Knowing about these acts and how to explain them to students is an act of the truth part in truth and reconciliation. To honour this, a small group of us went to the newly renovated museum of anthropology. This was an opportunity to think about the past, present, and future interactions between Canada’s First Peoples, settlers, and the Canadian Government. 

The museum as installed a new exhibition called “To Be Seen To Be Heard - First Nations in Public Spaces, 1900-1965.” This exhibition brings a light to how First Nations people represented themselves in the public as “indigenous, self-determined, and modern.” This exhibit has a collection of modern art, regalia, clothing, and other prices. The main part of the exhibit is a documentary primarily composed of short video clips and pictures accompanied by various First Nations modern narrators. The narrators describe and explain the acts of colonialism and assimilation during this time period and how it impacted their family and communities. This was an incredibly informative viewpoint as much of the dialogue is from personal accounts, not widely known to many people. This is an incredibly important addition to the museum and I strongly encourage those who visit to sit in the room and listen to these voices and their stories. 

Sarah Frehlick

On Friday June 21, 2024 we were invited to attend an event to celebrate Indigenous cultures and traditions. I chose to attend the Carnegie Centre Street Party. 

The event took place on the 400 block of Main Street. The day presented an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to come together and celebrate the traditions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. 

As I entered the venue I was struck by the generosity of greetings and of food being offered. There were cookies, apples, bananas, oranges, and saskatoon berry tea offered at no cost. The tea tasted like the saskatoon berry jam I remembered making as a child. The cups were generous and welcomed on the hot day. 

Next, I was struck with the covered seating that was placed in front of the stage. It made for a great spot to watch the Haida Dance Group, an amazing rapper who got the crowd dancing, and a couple who played the drums. 

Then, I explored the booths. I was impressed with the warmth of the vendors, but also the hard truths that were shared through story. I was handed a piece of moose hide. I was told it symbolizes standing up towards violence towards women and children. Another booth had beautiful clothes called, ‘Decolonized Clothing.’ She is an artist who will host pop up shops throughout the summer. Her shirts were gorgeous and weaved in messages of awareness of whose land we are on and the importance of nature. 

Finally, I came across a woman handing out art and medicine bags. The medicine bags were made with local sage, tobacco, and cedar. She stated the bag would help me and others feel connected to spirit, to each other, and to the community on this day. 

I left the event feeling nourished, educated, and connected. I am grateful that this day was given to us in the field experience curriculum  to explore  and celebrate Indigenous cultures and traditions in the community.

Today, I spent my time at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. I spent most of my time wandering around the main floor of the museum. Most of the floor was lit by the tall windows of the museum, so it was incredibly bright on such a sunny day!

There were two exhibits that especially stood out to me during my visit. The first was a collection of bentwood boxes with the following plaques:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1acnLpq49sJFnFfRDfkhflXJ0fuziUDVX/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1adykZvUwQb2isneJ-aQWvZB31LLR9BBe/view?usp=drivesdk

The other exhibit that struck me was in Pursuit of Venus [infected] by Lisa Reihana. It features an immersive, panoramic, looping video based on the artwork Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (The native peoples of the Pacific Ocean) by Jean-Gabriel Charvet—a wallpaper set that adorned wealthy homes in the 1800s. I took a picture of one of the plaques that explain the artwork below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aheUBYU5mjy1Lf6oAmJIhxtRpT2ejb6W/view?usp=drivesdk

The room was very dim, and with the loud surround sound it was quite an impactful piece. I noticed that the tone of the piece told a story of the arrival of Europeans to the Pacific Islands as it transitioned from the different Indigenous peoples of the islands experiencing peace and joy to their first contacts with Europeans, finally building in volume and tempo to the violence that the Indigenous peoples experienced at the hands of European colonizers.

You can also view the work for free on YouTube through the Auckland Art Gallery’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmMRF5nw9UI&t=20s

Both works really made me reflect on how objects can carry such strong cultural significance. The bentwood boxes, for instance, reminded me how the cultural practice of craftsmanship can be carried from generation to generation, and just how important it is to keep that practice safe and alive through belongings for future generations. In Pursuit of Venus [infected] also showed me how objects and works of art can reduce others’ experiences for the purpose of others’ enjoyment or pleasure; for me, this became evident through the juxtaposition between the original work’s use almost as a way to “tour” or “experience” the Pacific Islands and Reihana’s exploration of the reality of European violent colonialism.

All in all, I really enjoyed the Museum of Anthropology and learned a lot there! There was so much to experience that there wasn’t enough time for it all. Until next time!

One of the most captivating pieces for me was the artwork crafted from cedar planks. This included a segment of a house screen that dated back over 200 years. The intricate linework and imagery only became visible under the right amount of lighting, creating a mysterious and enchanting effect. In contrast, other parts of the screen had eroded over time. The combination of erosion and remnants of paint formed a subtle texture on the wood, which highlighted the artwork in a unique and compelling way when you applied the correct amount of lighting. This was both a visually stunning piece and I loved the interactive nature of it

With this I hope that everyone has had a lovely day and I hope you are well!

Best,

The Allergy Brigade

A Day at the Orchard Garden: Workshop Planning, Art, and Garden Work

Today was a fun and jam-packed day at UBC, filled with creativity, laughter, and hands-on work. As the sun peeked through the trees, our team gathered inside in Scarfe, ready to dive into the nitty-gritty of planning our upcoming workshops. With coffee in hand and whiteboards at the ready, we brainstormed ideas for our Solstice Workshop, a celebration of the longest day of the year. We came up with all sorts of fun possible activities, from bookmark making to stinging nettle rope creations. 

The collaboration was electric, with ideas bouncing off the walls. We discussed engaging teaching techniques, interactive activities, and ways to make our workshops memorable. Our goal is to create experiences that are not only educational but also leave a lasting impact on our participants.

The second group focused on planning the grand finale of our ongoing Orchard Garden workshop series. This workshop is set to be a blowout celebration, with ideas swirling around the room about creating our own nature-based paints and paintbrushes. We also had exciting conversations about flower pressing and sketching, adding even more creative flair to the event.

One of the coolest moments was uncovering the hidden orchard garden gear cupboard in Scarfe. This little treasure trove is packed with hidden gems. Finding these items sparked new inspiration and reminded us of the rich possibilities of the Orchard Garden and the potential for creation. 

With our planning hats still on, we headed out to the garden to let our creativity run wild. The Orchard Garden is a treasure trove of natural resources, and we couldn’t wait to transform these materials into art. Leaves, flowers, stones, and branches became our artistic tools as we experimented with creating beautiful, nature-inspired pieces. It was not only fun but also a wonderful reminder of the garden’s endless beauty and versatility. A big part of our artistic adventure was pressing flowers for the bookmarks we plan to make during the Solstice celebration. These bookmarks, adorned with pressed flowers from the garden, will be a lovely keepsake for our workshop participants. They’ll serve as a sweet reminder of their connection to nature and the beauty of the solstice. Working directly in the garden allowed us to visualize and fine-tune our plans in the actual space where they’d be implemented. 

We also focused on creating barriers and markers for the garden beds we've been nurturing. These markers are not just functional but also add a touch of artistry to the garden.

One of the day’s highlights was watching Madi, who was steadily working away at collecting loads of raspberries. Her dedication and meticulous care in harvesting were amazing. The bounty of raspberries was overwhelming in the best possible way.

Working in the garden as usual was so fulfilling. It reinforced the connection between our planning sessions and the physical space of the garden. The hands-on experience of working with soil, plants, and natural materials grounded our ideas and brought them to life in a very tangible way.

Today was the perfect blend of planning, creativity, and hands-on work. Our time in Scarfe was productive and inspiring, setting the stage for the solstice workshop and the final session of our workshop series. The artistic explorations added a fun and engaging layer to our planning, highlighting the endless possibilities that the Orchard Garden offers. Ending the day with hands-on work in the garden was a grounding experience, connecting our ideas with tangible outcomes.

The workshops are shaping up to be truly special events, celebrating the beauty of nature and the power of community. We can’t wait to share these experiences with our participants and continue exploring the wonders of the Orchard Garden together.

- Kathleen

June 19: Exploring The UBC Botanical Garden

On this sunny Wednesday morning we ventured out of the Orchard Garden and to the beautiful UBC botanical garden. Most of us had not been to the botanical gardens before but we are glad to have this experience now before our time at UBC comes to an end (it is free admission for UBC students with your student card). The garden follows a windy network of paths, in which you are surrounded by lots of lush greenery and flowers blooming with the rain and sun combination over the last week or so. Susan and Madison both commented on how different the garden looked today compared to their recent visit a couple weeks ago. We also loved the scents of the flowers filling the air and the active hummingbirds playing around in the trees above us. 

During our visit we were particularly interested in the Physic Garden. ‘Physic’ is an ancient Greek word that originally meant ‘natural’. This special section of the botanical garden is dedicated to the cultivation and display of medicinal plants, giving us a glimpse into the historical and contemporary uses of many plants for health and healing. It was interesting to learn and reflect on the evolution of medicine over time and the significance of these plants in many cultures. Each plant in the garden is labeled with its common and scientific name and provides information about the medicinal properties and historical uses. As you walk around the garden you may encounter familiar herbs like lavender known for its claiming properties. Most of the plants I did not recognize such as lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis, which helps to treat respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and asthma. While all plants in the Physic Garden contained medicinal properties, some you need to watch out for more than others due to their poisonous nature. Overall, it was a great experience walking around the garden and was a good reminder of the incredible potential the plants around us hold for health and well being. So, if you have a free couple of hours we highly recommend wandering over to UBC botanical garden, you won’t be disappointed!

For the afternoon we returned to do some hands-on work in the Orchard Garden. It is starting to look pretty spiffy, as we prepare the garden to welcome visitors for the upcoming solstice event. There are (almost) no thistles to be found! Although the morning glory and buttercups are another story so we spent time continuing our weeding frenzy for much of the afternoon. We finished the day by putting some logs around one of the garden beds to make it look nice and tidy. It was a lovely day in the UBC gardens, although some shade is becoming necessary with the turned up heat!

- Andrea