Bean biodiversity project

We received this great "bean biodiversity" kit in the mail from USC-Canada, a non-profit organization promoting food security and seed saving (not only in Canada, but around the world).  They have some amazing projects going on, lots of useful information, and resources for educators (useful for home educators too) including this bean growing kit with 15 kinds of beans (some of which were near extinction and have been revived by seed savers in Canada).  Very cool project to take on with our 8 year old daughter!  The kit comes with info about each seed, and ways to share the stories of these diverse seeds, so we can all learn why it's so important for us to help grow, save and share the seeds. 

Here at home we are planning to plant a few varieties to save this year - I read that beans need an average of 10-20 feet distance between varieties so that they don't risk cross-pollinating.  Some growers do grow beans successfully without cross-pollination, but it depends on number and variety of pollinators in the area.  We don't have the space to grow all these varieties, but will grow some this year and some next.  And did I mention how beautiful these beans are - we especially love the Orca Beans, Sadie's Horse Beans, Tiger's Eye, Annie Jackson Bean, and the Candy Beans.  Take a look below!

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Going to Seed

We had our annual Seed Saving Workshop here on the weekend.  Our guest facilitator Taarini Chopra from Seeds of Diversity was here to lead the group through all the details to know about saving seeds from the home garden - first of all why to save seeds! Then basic plant botany; distances between varieties to avoid cross-pollination; when to harvest; how to harvest; how to dry (and which seeds dry on the plant); specifically saving lettuce, beans, peas and tomatoes; and lots of interesting hands-on activities like shelling dried beans, and opening soaked fava beans to find the little sprout inside ready to burst out.

There is lots of seed saving information on Seeds of Diversity's website here and below are photos of some of the plants in our garden that have gone to seed - such beautiful and diverse seeds they are (we are very good at letting things go to seed around here - partly unintentional as this time of year is just so busy, and partly intentional as we want to save seeds and let seeds stand for winter food for wildlife.)

Fall Schedule for Little City Farm Workshops

Join us for one or more events this fall!  Pre-registration required for classes.

 
Sept 12 from 1-3 pm - Seed Saving, with Taarini Chopra
Sept 17 from 1-3 pm - Wild Edibles/Wild Smoothies (kids class)
Sept 19 from 1-3 pm - Fall Wild Edibles Foraging Class, with Jackie McMillan
Sept 26 from 1-4 pm - Intro to Soap Making, with Karin Kliewer

Oct 1 from 1-3 pm - Make a Medicine Pouch (kids class)
Oct 8 from 1-3 pm - Birch Bark Containers (kids class)
Oct 10 from 11 am-1 pm - POP UP PIE & PIZZA SHOP at Little City Farm!
Oct 15 from 1-3 pm - Burn a Wooden Bowl (kids class)
Oct 17 from 1-3 pm - Waldorf Doll Making Class, with Amaryah deGroot
Oct 22 from 1-3 pm - Make a Dream Catcher (kids class)
Oct 29 from 1-3 pm - Friction Fire (kids class)
Oct 31 from 1-4 pm - Intro to Soap Making, with Karin Kliewer

Nov 7 from 1-4 pm - Intro to Soap Making, with Karin Kliewer
Nov 21 from 1-4 pm - Goat Milk Soap Making, with Karin Kliewer

Dec 5 - A Little Bird Told Me Handmade Holiday Sale at LCF!
Dec 12 from 1-3 pm - Herbal Bath Bombs & Scrubs, with Karin Kliewer

More workshops coming in January 2016!  Please check our website for details.

Weeds + Seeds Classes coming in September!

We love Weeds + Seeds!  If you have looked around our yard (and maybe yours too) at this time of year, you will have noticed lots of weeds...and lots of seeds... Yes, we do have a young baby here so the garden has not had the weeding attention it usually gets, and some of these weeds are certainly not growing here by our intention.  However, many of the so-called weeds in our garden are wonderful plants that we welcome, for food and medicine, for wildlife, for pollinators, for ground cover, for nutrients they bring to the soil, for health in our compost pile, and so on.  And many of our plants are let go to seed, so we can save these seeds for planting next season's garden, and to let stand all winter as forage for birds.

How to learn more?  Here at Little City Farm we love weeds + seeds so much that we offer classes on this topic every fall!  If you want to learn more about the benefits of cultivating, using and eating "weeds" - join us on Sept 19 for our Fall Wild Edibles Foraging workshop.  If you want to learn more about how and why to save your own seeds, join us for the annual Seed Saving workshop here on Sept 12.  Join the I Am A Seed Saver campaign organized by USC Canada - learn more here!  More details on these exciting Weeds + Seeds classes at Little City Farm.  Please register in advance for these classes.

Weeds + Seeds Workshops

Get to know your weeds and seeds! We have two exciting plant related workshops coming up in September.  Check your calendars and let us know if you want to join us.  Registration available here.  Kids welcome to both these sessions.

Seed Saving on Sept 12 from 1-3 pm
During this workshop Taarini Chopra from Seeds of Diversity will walk us through all the steps of seed saving: from planning your planting and isolating varieties, to collecting seeds from plants in your garden, to cleaning and rogueing seeds, and storing your seeds to plant the next year. The workshop will be hands-on, and we will collect and clean seeds from a variety of garden vegetables, as well as tour the Little City Farm property to observe the diversity of vegetable, flower and herb seeds ready for harvest in the gardens.

Fall Wild Edibles on Sept 19 from 1-3 pm
Back by popular demand - Jackie McMillan, local wild foods educator, led us through a delicious spring wild edibles class and will now cover the different roots, barks, leaves and flowers that are abundant in the fall season.  We'll do some tasting and explore what's growing wild at Little City Farm, and also discuss proper plant identification and ethical wild-harvesting strategies.

Heirloom Purple Peas!

We love these purple peas! We've grown them here for a few years now, and what a great harvest this year.  We've also left enough on the vines to save seed for next year's planting. They are an old Dutch "soup pea" called Blue Podded Pea (Blauwschokkers) that has been grown for hundreds of years in Europe, an heirloom variety that is considered a shelling pea and needs to be cooked or steamed to really bring out the sweetest flavour.  They can also be eaten as snow peas if harvested at a very early stage. I think they are just so beautiful to grow in the garden, the deep pink blossoms are lovely on the vines, the purple pods are striking, and the green peas inside are delicious.  Our whole family got involved around the table to help shell the peas, and then a large amount were enjoyed for dinner with the extras frozen for other meals in the winter to come.

3 new workshops on the Little City Farm schedule - and more coming

3 new exciting workshops coming to Little City Farm this summer, registration and details now posted!  Check out the details below and register online through our website here.!
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PLANT COMMUNICATION: OPENING OUR HEARTS TO NATURE

 
Date: Sat, Aug 22
Time: from 10 am-12 noon
Facilitator: Heather Cain, local herbalist

Description: Plants have been evolving with and supporting humans ever since we took our first steps on earth. Scientists are now discovering what indigenous people have known for thousands of years - plants are sentient, intelligent beings that communicate and make decisions; and humans are hard-wired to bond with nature. We have the capacity to relate directly with the trees and plants around us; in this workshop we will learn how. Communicating with plants is a step to living in better harmony with ourselves, each other, and nature. It is a path of healing that helps us attune to our true essential nature and inner wisdom, and to what our hearts deeply desire.
In this workshop we will:

• explore opening our hearts to receive from the plants
• touch on scientific and indigenous perspectives of plant intelligence
• learn simple techniques to boost intuitive awareness and plant/nature connection
• create sacred space to anchor our learning journey

Take home a plant elixir. Bring a notebook if you like. Please dress for the weather - this is an outdoor workshop (rain or shine) so bring sunhat, sunscreen, water bottle as needed.

Cost: $35 (includes all materials, instruction, handout notes, and take home samples)

 Register on our website here.
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BREWING BEER FROM START TO FINISH

Date: Sat, Aug 29
Time: from 1-5 pm (note this will be a 3.5-4 hour class)
Facilitator: Jon Spee, local brewer and educator

Description: This all-afternoon workshop will prepare you for making your own home-brewed beer, from beginning to end.  Jon will walk participants through all the stages of making beer, with hands-on components at every step.  From a short history of homebrewing, to steeping grains, mashing, straining grains, boiling wort, adding malt and hops, cooling wort, and transferring to primary fermentor, to preparing and bottling another batch of homebrew to take home.  Learn the use of hops for bittering, flavour and aroma, and the role of yeast in creating unique flavours.  Finally using a hydrometer and monitoring your beer at home.  Each participant will take home aprox. 1.5 litres of homebrewed beer that we have bottled during the workshop.

Please note - this is a limited space workshop so register early to reserve your spot!

Cost: $65 per person (includes all materials, instruction, handout notes, and take home samples)

Register on our website here.
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SEED SAVING WORKSHOP

Date: Sat, Sept 12
Time: from 1-3 pm
Facilitator: Taarini Chopra, from Seeds of Diversity (www.seeds.ca)

Description: During this workshop we will learn all the steps of seed saving: from planning your planting and isolating varieties, to collecting seeds from plants in your garden, to cleaning and rogueing seeds, and storing your seeds to plant the next year. The workshop will be hands-on, and we will collect and clean seeds from a variety of garden vegetables, as well as tour the Little City Farm property to observe the diversity of vegetable, flower and herb seeds ready for harvest in the gardens.

Optional: Bring an extra $15 to the workshop day, to take home a copy of Seeds of Diversity's book, "How to Save Your Own Seeds" home with you!

Cost: $25 (includes all materials, instruction, hand-out notes) 

Register on our website here.

Seed collecting - rosehips

We've been gathering our garden seeds - each year we try to harvest some of our favourite varieties to plant again next year, but also seeds that can be used in teas and cooking over the winter (e.g. rosehips, dill, fennel, coriander).  I find the rosehips especially beautiful, and bountiful this year.  They are rich in vitamin C and can be made into tinctures, tonics, syrups and teas, or cooked into healthful jam (yum!).  Rosehips can be gathered fresh (as long as they are fully formed) and dried in baskets or on screens in a well-ventilated area. 

Special note to update my harvesting information - rosehips are sweetest if they are harvested right after the first frost, so can be harvested off the bushes at that point.  If they are shriveled or brown they are past their prime so only harvest the bright red brilliant looking hips.