in April 2018 SOLscapes launched a 6 month long edible gardening series at the Squamish Valley Teen Centre in collaboration with the Squamish Nation. This was an incredibly fulfilling initiative; growing the next generation of urban farmers and food lovers is such an inspiring and empowering exchange. We captured so many great shots of these superstar worker bees in action. Topics covered included: tool selection and maintenance, basic soil testing and analysis, developing our 'what to grow' wishlist, indoor seed starting, seed selection, digging (playing) in the dirt, weeding, amending beds, pruning and transplanting berry bushes and sheet mulching.
After a few action packed sessions of garden prep, the wheels were in motion! It was incredibly rewarding observing the intuitive connection that this crew has to gardening. There are endless engaging learning opportunities anchored in watching the seeds they selected mature into the food that nourishes them; a reminder that connection to our food fosters deep respect for the planet. “Thank you for helping us grow this amazing garden!! Our first growth this summer is being donated to the Squamish Nation elders.” April Newman (Project Coordinator)
The motivation rooting from many hard working hands is demo'd in this productive and buzzing growing space. The season progressed onwards and we covered garden design, permaculture principles, companion planting as well as succession planting, thinning techniques and transplanting. What a Dream Team! As our Seed to Harvest garden workshop series came to a wrap, we gathered over 30lbs of goods and grub in our last session. We were grateful to be harvesting and harnessing the sacred medicine of white sage and tobacco that was grown from seed. Witnessing these powerful plants mature throughout our workshop series with Squamish Nation Youth was an honor. Giving thanks and gratitude for this community and our plant allies.
Does this inspire you to grow a garden!? We'd love to help get you started. A small snippet of why we do what we do: For the love of food, play, knowledge sharing, community resilience, creativity and for inspiration.
Gallery
