FUN in the garden

Perennial bee garden, The (new) Orchard Garden

Yesterday, a wonderful thing happened in the garden. After many emails to figure out various scheduling challenges, Food FUN campers and 25 Pre- and In-service teachers in Dr. Sandra Scott's EDCP 328 Environmental Education course came together in the new garden on July 31, 2014.

The end of July is a spectacular time in the garden, and the abundance of food of every shape and size was exciting for everyone. For a giant garden salad, we harvested sweet, crisp kohlrabi, carrots, brilliant rainbow chard (enormous!), kale, basil, lettuce, arugula, cucumbers, zucchini, turnip, and, for a splash of colour, nasturtium blossoms.

While some worked to harvest and prepare the salad, others got the opportunity to explore the beautiful perennial herb, flower, bee garden with Navi & Jen's scavenger hunt.

Brilliant rainbow chard

The theme of the FUN camp is food and environment, so after we ate our delicious salad (kids came up for seconds & thirds!) we played a water game, racing as teams to transfer the veggie washing water in leaky buckets to our thirsty apple trees. In a world where 2 billion people are water insecure and agriculture consumes 70% of the world's water, there's lots to talk about when we think about climate change, food security, water issues, and the environment. Students--big and little--had lots of ideas to share for what we can do to make a difference.

"I have plants growing at my house - cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, and just last week I planted carrots!" said one child.

An EDCP 328 student shared how different plants can grow together (polyculture) so that they are healthy and use less water. Indigenous gardeners in North America frequently planted the Three Sisters, the corn, beans, and squash, to grow together providing shade (squash), fertilizer (beans), and structure (corn).

Watering game

Using less water through different irrigation methods was another suggestion, though this led to a discussion as to why most of our food comes from a desert climate in California, where climate change is causing serious droughts and terrible fires.

Thank you to everyone who came to the garden. It was just a short visit, so please come again. It was also likely my last class that I will host in the garden, since I am moving to Ontario in mid-August - so farewell garden, gardeners, and all the wonderful people I have had the pleasure of knowing these past few years!

Julia

Thank you, campers & UBC students!

Math Art Workshop - Wednesday, July 16, 12-5pm

George Hart (in blue) and a giant bamboo hyperboloid at The Orchard Garden

You are invited to two free math/ art workshops in the UBC Orchard Garden, a student-led teaching and learning garden on the central UBC campus:

RSVP & further information: theorchardgarden.educ@gmail.com

We are very pleased to have visiting Mathematical Artists in Residence George Hart and Nick Sayers visiting us next week, thanks to a grant from the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) and additional support from the PME (Psychology of Mathematics Education) 2014 international conference at UBC and PIMS, the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Studies.

Nick and George will be leading workshops to create functional mathematical art pieces for the garden as examples of ways teachers can teach math via art, in a school garden.

You can participate for the full one or two workshops, or just drop in for an hour at any point. PME participants are invited to come to the Orchard Garden on Wed. July 16 from 4:00 - 5:30 PM to "Meet George Hart" and take part in that part of the workshop.

Outdoor Environmental Education Courses

Check out this summer's Outdoor Environmental Education offerings with the Faculty of Education at UBC.

UBC Sustainability Fair: Recollections from February 24th

The UBC Sustainability Ambassadors organized the fair, which took place in the Student Union Building. Groups attending were wide-ranging, including UBC farm, AMS, and others.

Our display illustrated pictures of food, farming, and festivities. We also provided free kale and a game (see below)! Our team spoke with various people about the Orchard Garden, gardening, planting seeds, and sustainability.

Interested students asked us about volunteer opportunities.

We had many say they learned new things with the game, which involved matching tomato, corn, bean, beet, wheat, and lettuce seeds with pictures, and then locating where these crops were originally domesticated.

April 4th: Film Fundraiser for Britannia School Garden

The fundraiser starts at 6 pm, and is at Astorino’s Hall, 1739 Venables St. The suggested donation is $10 – $20. The first film starts showing at 7 pm. There will be a silent auction, food for sale, wine and beer.

Films:

A River Changes Course: Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at Sundance 2013, A River Changes Course tells the story of three families living in contemporary Cambodia as they face hard choices forced by rapid development and struggle to maintain their traditional ways of life as the modern world closes in around them.

Dancing Salmon Home: Winner of the Best Documentary Feature award at the American Indian Film Festival, 2012, Dancing Salmon Home tells the story of the Winnemem First Nation in California who travel to New Zealand to meet their salmon relatives for the first time in generations and return those fish to their rivers of origin that are being un-dammed.

Urban Farmer Field School - Check it out!

Find out more at SPEC's website: http://spec.bc.ca/uffs

The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) is running the third season of their Urban Farmer Field School (UFFS). The UFFS is for new and experienced growers who want to receive hands-on training in sustainable urban agriculture. Class topics are wide-ranging, including growing food, gardening, urban foraging, canning, and more. The next class is March 20th, 2014.