Expanding the meaning of "local" food

On Monday night my class, Theories in Place-based Learning: Ecohumanist, Critical and Indigenous Lenses gathered in the garden at dusk to explore the remaining winter crops and discuss the multiple meanings of local food.  Some of our central questions (still unresolved) were:  How do we define local food within a diverse city such as Vancouver ?  Does "local" solely refer  to the land on which food is grown, or to the people who are growing it?  Is it possible to support local food while maintaining food traditions we may bring from distant places?

I am currently working with Gr. 4/5 children for my thesis- almost all of them come from  immigrant families.   As we begin to plant the school garden, I feel great discomfort in ignoring their food cultures and perpetuating Eurocentric plant choices.  There are many considerations for school gardens to be successful- plants need to be low maintenance, need to produce in the fall or the spring, need to be child-friendly, etc.  But rarely do we consider the culturally relevant plants that may be extremely suitable to school gardens.  The conversation of native, non-native, and invasive plants is complex and deeply rooted in assumptions.

Through our work in The Orchard Garden, one of our goals is to open up these conversations- to question our assumptions and bring culture and history into the dialogue.  Our partnership last summer with the Chinese Canadian Historical Society and our planting of an interpretive Chinese market garden was an initial effort.

Here is a related article on the multiple food systems that exist in Vancouver with a focus on the importance of Chinese-Canadian agriculture as also local:  http://vancouver.openfile.ca/vancouver/text/vancouver’s-other-local-food-system.

A teacher learning in the garden: Post #3

Here's Tia's third post- Enjoy!

Today my service-learning class partner Kailee and I met up at the UBC botanical gardens to begin doing some research on native plants in this region of BC. Being new to Vancouver and UBC I had never been to the Botanical gardens before and was really impressed with how beautiful it was! Kailee took me through parts of the garden and I could only imagine how much more beautiful it becomes in the spring and summer. We took out some books about native plants and began to research some of the plants being considered for the Orchard Garden this year. I look forward to sharing what I have learned about these plants in a future post. The next day when I went to volunteer at the forest school in North Vancouver I recognized one plant from my research! A deer fern? Is this what I have been seeing everywhere on campus and in the forest?

A teacher learning in the garden: Post #2

Here is Tia's second post- enjoy!

Here’s a book I just purchased on Amazon called “Apartment Gardening” by Amy Pennington. I want to apply what I am learning during this time at The Orchard Garden to my apartment and learn to grow some of my own herbs and vegetables. Wish me luck!

A teacher's journey in the garden

The Orchard Garden is fortunate to have two students (one from the Faculty of Education and one from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems) doing service-learning work with us.  One of these students is brand new to gardening and has chosen to document her learning over the course of the next few months on this blog.  It is with pleasure that I introduce Tia!  We look forward to reading about your explorations, questions and learning as a means to connect to other teachers interested in garden-based learning.

Greetings to all!

My name is Tia and I am a full time Master of Education in Early Childhood Education student at UBC. I feel fortunate to have been given the unique opportunity to participate in service learning as part of one of my courses this semester (EDCP 585). I will be volunteering and taking part in the meetings and activities organized by the Orchard Garden this semester and I really do hope to stay involved after the semester is over! I plan to work on my graduating project this summer and am very interested in outdoor learning and environmental education Specifically, I will be writing about the forest kindergarten movement. I recently began volunteering at an outdoor forest preschool program and am really enjoying it!

I am embarrassed to admit that I really don’t have any real experiences BEING outdoors or doing “outdoorsy” things. I have never gardened, hiked or really explored nature even though I feel very passionate about the importance of having these experiences in childhood and throughout the life span. Sadly, I am not from BC, I am from Windsor, Ontario so perhaps this has something to do with my lack of outdoor experiences. I had the opportunity to attend a planning meeting for the Orchard Garden recently and was very surprised to see how much I really didn’t know about gardening. I have always been very interested in gardening, even trying to grow my own seeds in my backyard over the years…but nothing really ever grew! I hope to learn what I have been doing wrong.

To give the blog readers a sense of how much I really need to learn here are few terms mentioned at the meeting in which I know nothing about and really don’t even know what they mean.

Term 1: Irrigation, Term 2: Mushroom manure, Term 3: Composting

These are just a few things I predict I will know a lot more about very soon! I am looking forward to this learning adventure and hope to be of some help to the Orchard Garden volunteers. I like to think that I am not alone out there and that there are many city girls like me who grew up playing inside most of the time and know very little about growing things! If people like me are reading, let’s learn together!

Here is a photo of myself and my vase of fake sunflowers that I keep on my kitchen table…I should really get some real plants in my apartment!

Soil workshops at the UBC Farm!

It is frequently forgotten that the key to a successful and healthy garden is healthy soil!  Now is the time to really focus on soil quality as we prepare for the upcoming growing season.  The UBC Farm is offering 4 workshops on the topics of soil texture, formation, cultivation and management beginning on February 11 (sign up for a single workshop or for the whole series). 

Don't miss this excellent learning opportunity!  

Click here for more information:  http://www.eventbrite.ca/org/84001926?s=6260614

"you can't garden nature": considering the meaning of native and non-native plants

Thanks to Dr. Pat O'Riley for sharing this article with us:  http://odewire.com/187471

As we write a grant for native plant material and research appropriate ways to use the garden to dialogue around the topic of native and non-native plants, we are reminded of the fluidity of origins, place and time, as well as the importance of understanding the relationality of plants without romanticizing or privileging one type over another.  While we seek to incorporate a diversity of plants in our garden, we must recognize that this diversity is for the benefit of cultural learning and sharing, as well as for the direct ecosystems with which we partner.  The conversation of native and non-native plants is complex, involving issues of invasiveness and ecological balance as well as stories and ancestry.  We look forward to continuing this conversation in our research and gardening...

2011: A retrospective on place

March 2011: Stormy and tray

Our team came together in early spring of 2011. It has been a learning year for all of us- challenging, beautiful, sweaty, delicious, surprising, fragrant, overwhelming and fruitful in every way. As we settle into a new year of growing (literally, organizationally, and energetically) it is helpful to reflect on our efforts and accomplishments. Following is a photo retrospective highlighting the previous 10 months in the garden. Tomorrow our team gathers for the first meeting of the year. We will discuss the possibility of a CSA, embodied math workshops, vermicomposting, grant writing, aphids, wireworms and all things garden related. Stay tuned for updates...

Working the soil by hand (and foot)

April 2011: Radish sprouts

Brave new asparagus spears

June 2011: Meeting our insect friends

Queen Gwyneth: The hive settles in

Digging new potatoes for the summer solstice

New entrance gate for our solstice party

Dean of Education, faculty, staff, students and community attend solstice party

Interpretive Chinese Market Garden

July 2011: One of many Education classes plant carrots and parsnips

Environmental Ed. course weeds and plants bee forage and herbs

Whimsical signage made by students

Natasha checks on beets

Jay munches carrots :)

Summer strawberries

September 2011: Leanna leads bean pickling workshop

Hand-picked beans are brined and jarred

Late summer garlic

Beauty in the afternoon

Our only real tomatoes to speak of... too much cold rain.

Root veggie harvest!

LFS Wednesday night dinner creates menu based on garden harvest!

Feeds 100 students, faculty and staff.

Experimenting with grains...

Espaliered apple trees blush in October

Leanna leads apple preserving workshop

Fall Harvest Celebration- students pressed 200 lbs. of local apples!

Dried beans: A delight for the senses

Eric gives compost demonstration for soil workshop

November garlic planting

an early snow on the spinach

December 2011: dreaming of sunshine...

Some quotes from UBC professors and students:

"It is a glorious space for gathering, teaching and learning"

"We loved the space, and next year, I plan to use it more"

"We really enjoyed exploring and interacting with nature"

"I am excited to get my hands dirty and do some planting!"

"I was inspired by our Orchard Garden experience... I decided to plant some radishes at our place- I can't wait to see them grow!"

And here is 2011 in the numbers:

- Facilitated 5 community summer camps.

- Forged and strengthened partnerships with Think & Eat Green @ School, Agora Cafe, UBC Farm, and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

- Hosted Think & Eat Green @ School Summer Institute.

- Welcomed 160 university and community partners to our solstice and harvest celebrations.

- Facilitated 12 undergraduate and graduate Education courses in the garden.

- Facilitated 5 undergraduate LFS courses using the garden as an outdoor classroom.

- 99 graduate students, 116 undergraduate students, and an additional 155 UBC and other community members (including garden volunteers) engaged in learning experiences in the garden.

- Received a $2,000 AMS sustainability grant to upgrade our compost system.

- Implemented the student-written monthly newsletter, Field News, currently with over 300 subscribers.

- Initiated this interactive website/blog which to date has had 5,407 views! Thank you to everyone for your interest and support. Happy 2012.