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Earth Day, Cheers to the Planet, & our very own workshop!

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Photo credit: BCLocalNews Christian Cowley, executive director of the CEED Centre, plants potatoes in a photo taken before last year’s Earth Day events. This year’s second annual Cheers to the Planet event will be raising funds for the CEED Centre again.

Whew! Life is busy right now. I’ve got a lot of farm updates to share (sooo many!), but those updates will have to wait for a few more days because right now I’m going to plug some great events that are going to be happening this weekend in Maple Ridge. 

This coming Sunday is Earth Day and there’s lots to do to celebrate! Here’s the low-down:

Celebrate Earth Day festival from 10am-2pm at Memorial Peace Park on Saturday, April 21st. Come down for lots of family-friendly activities and displays from local environmental groups, including the CEED Centre and GETI. This date will also mark the opening of this year’s Haney Farmer’s Market – yay!!!! Can’t wait to get some locally grown produce to munch on! The festival will also celebrate 40 years of the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society.

Cheers to the Planet: Eat, Drink and be Eco is the second annual food and wine fest fundraiser for the CEED Centre. This year’s event will be held at Meadowridge School, 6-9pm, Sunday, April 22nd (Tickets $45 in advance, $55 at the door). We’re DEFINITELY going to be here! Find out more on the Cheers to the Planet facebook page.

And if you’re going to be in Vancouver instead of Maple Ridge, Chris K. and I are giving our first workshop: Permaculture 101 at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House in East Van from 3:30-6:30pm on Saturday. Fun times!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Free Permaculture Event in Vancouver coming up!

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Chris M. and I are heading into Vancouver on Saturday to attend this free permaculture event. Looks like it’s going to be a great chance to connect with other permaculture folk and learn from their experiences. The event is free so if you’re curious about permaculture, come check it out! Event info reposted below. Reserve your free ticket here. 

Pacific Permaculture Alumni Convergence:

Stories of Success from Pacific Permaculture Alumni

When: Saturday April 14th 2012 2:00pm
Where: The Hive, 128 West Hastings #210, Vancouver, BC
Who: If you are new to permaculture this is you opportunity to become part of this exciting field. Bring a friend. Family Friendly, all are invited.
Food: Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Admission: Free. Donations to Global Peace Hut graciously accepted.

“What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet”
– David Suzuki

For the last 4 years Pacific Permaculture has been at the forefront of Canada’s ecological agriculture movement. We have had the privilege of instructing over 540 students in all aspects of permaculture design, over 250 of which have been full PDC graduates.

Our teaching has taken us around the world delivering courses in Palestine, Australia and Uganda. However, we’ve always considered Western Canada home.

That’s why Pacific Permaculture is hosting our first ever Alumni Convergence, April 14th in Vancouver BC. This will be a multiple format event including: 30 min. keynote presentations of work from four of our most prominent students; two open space opportunities to talk permaculture and share ideas; and “conference style” posters highlighting permaculture work from the backyard to the broad acre.

 

Come be inspired by stories from the frontline of the food revolution.

Event Program:

 

Time Event Description
     
2:00 Opening Introductions Jesse Lemieux, Pacific Permaculture
2:10 Keynote

Tayler Krawczyk, Hatchet & Seed

Ness Creek Case Study, Cold Climate Food Forests
2:50 Open Space Organically Lead Topic Based Discussion Groups
3:30 Keynote

Dustin Bajer, Edmonton School District

Permaculture in Schools, Jasper Place Permaculture
4:10 Break light snack and refreshments
5:00 Keynote

Tanya Booth, Pacific Permaculture

From Palestine to the Pacific Coast: a mother’s journey through permaculture.
5:50 Open Space Organically Lead Topic Based Discussion Groups
6:20 Keynote

Kim Elton, President, Global Peace Hut

Permaculture and Conflict Resolution in Africa
7:00 Closing Jesse Lemieux, Pacific Permaculture

Photos from our hotbed-making class

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I’m finally posting photos from the Growing Food class we hosted at our farm on March 25th. The class was great! We learned about seedling care and transplanted some radish and kohlrabi seedlings into our garden beds and into containers for everyone to take home. We also built a hotbed on the property to help get our seedlings growing despite the cool nights and frosty mornings. 

Hotbed-making basic steps:

  • dig a 2-3 ft deep trench the size of your bottomless coldframe container.
  • fill it to ground level with manure (does not have to be completely composted because heat from it is helpful)
  • set the coldframe on top
  • add some topsoil on top of the manure (the height of your coldframe may dictate how much topsoil you add because you want to make sure your seedlings are close enough to the top that they’re getting light through the glass cover)
  • plant your seeds/ seedlings
  • monitor for moisture and add water as needed

It’s been a couple weeks since the course and the kohlrabi seedlings we planted in our hotbed are doing great. They look larger and healthier than the ones we planted directly in our unprotected garden beds. We’ve been comparing the temperature of the hotbed soil with the outdoor garden soil (using a soil thermometre) and there seems to be a fairly consistent 10 degree difference.

To find out more about the year-long Growing Food course in Maple Ridge, contact Gail at greenspaceconsulting@live.com. She teaches the course and will put you on the mailing list for updates about upcoming dates, locations (which vary from month to month) and topics. Hope to see you there!