Castlegar seed exchange - growing kiwi in the Koots?
By Kyra Hoggan
Foodtree Permaculture Education and the Castlegar Public Library are teaming up to help you get the garden of your dreams this season with Castlegar Seed Swap this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Find new plant varieties you can grow for the first time! Maybe you’ve been seeking perfect plants to fill those empty spots in your rich garden canvas?,” said a press release issued for the event. “Come swap seeds and shop with some of our region’s most passionate gardeners! Enjoy trading your abundance of seed packets and home grown seeds. Trade and buy seeds with local gardeners or even seek a little garden advice and companionship!”
Foodtree collaborator Kate Wedemire, in an interview Wednesday, said Foodtree exists to help people learn about their own food sovereignty, and they even boast a four-acre demonstration farm in Crescent Valley (one could hear roosters crowing in the background during the telephone interview) where they focus on food Kootenay residents can grow in their own backyards .
“A lot of people don’t realize what you can grow out here – for example, did you know you can grow kiwis in the Kootenays?” she said.
She said they undertake a variety of workshops and educational opportunities teaching people about sustainable technologies – everything from solar panels to growing your own food – with three mandates informing each project. 1. It has to be accessible, so they’ve teamed up local organizations and service providers to ensure opportunities for all income levels. 2. It has to be impactful (ie., at its conclusion, there’s something to show for the effort, such a new gardens created for students. “We have to know a difference was made by the energy invested in the experience,” Wedemire said.) And 3. It has to enable people to succeed with the skill in their own lives and homes.
“We ran tree-tapping workshops (sugaring and making syrup) in February and March in Nelson,” she said. “We didn’t just send people home after the two weeks, we sent them home with books and tools and handouts.”
Thus people go home able to make their own sugar syrup tapping local trees that are indigenous to the region, and another victory is won for local food security.
This is but one of many such opportunities the Foodtree creates – another one being, of course, Saturday’s seed swap.
“We’re really excited to be partnering with the Castlegar Library on this,” she said. “I don’t know if people realize what a wonderful resource section they have there for local gardening and permaculture, too.”
You can find Foodtree on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FoodtreePermaculture?ref=ts&fref=ts or on the web at http://www.thefoodtree.org/
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