Tag Archives: food systems

Harvest Festival & Food Swap: Sept. 27

HarvestFestival2014.1It’s here again: the 2nd Annual Harvest Festival and Food Swap! We’ll be bringing in the new season in style down at Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House on September 27th from 10am-2pm.

The CCFN is proud to work with the Neighbourhood House again this year to put on this event. It also just so happens that the 27th is one of our mobile market days at CCNH. Amongst the other family-friendly activities, you’ll be able to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables for the week.

Bring a friend (and a homemade/homegrown food item to swap) and come on down for a fun afternoon to welcome autumn!

 

Thinking about winter gardening

We haven’t even officially started summer here in Vancouver but it’s almost time to start thinking about winter gardening! We’re lucky in the Pacific Northwest to have a viable winter gardening season; it’s not far-fetched to be able to grow into October and November.

Here are some seeds to consider sowing in late June so that the crops will be ready for the winter:

From lisarayner.com

From lisarayner.com

Carrot Family (Apiaceae): carrots and fennel

Onion Family (Alliaceae): green onions

Mustard Family (Brassicaceae): Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, rutabaga, turnips

Sunflower Family (Compositae): endive, radicchio

Beet Family (Chenopodiaceae): beets, Swiss chard

Remember that root vegetables such as rutabagas, turnips, carrots, and beets do better starting from seed; they do not take well to transplanting.

Look for more tips like these at Seattle Tilth, who provides a monthly guide to gardening in our climate.

Our mobile market program is expanding!

KensingtonPoster06.14

Last year, we began a mobile market location at Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House. Since then, we’ve seen great success and even doubled the number of markets we have there to two per month!

Now, more exciting news: we have partnered with Kensington Community Centre to add a new site to our list of mobile produce market locations. Beginning in July, we’ll be selling fresh fruits and vegetables at Kensington (5175 Dumfries Street, near Knight and 37th) on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month from 2-4pm. We’re looking forward to seeing new faces out at the market and helping reach more people who face barriers to accessing healthy food.

We welcome our customers from the Culloden Court market to come to our bi-monthly markets at Kensington – luckily, it’s not too far away (only 10 blocks)!

Be sure to visit our website again a couple days before the first market on July 5th for an update on what produce we’ll have available.

What to plant when (and where) – April 5

SeedySat0405On March 1st, the Kensington-Cedar Cottage Seed Sharing Library lent out its first seeds. Now, we’re ready to hold our next Seedy Saturday event: What to plant when (and where)!

Join us April 5th from 11am-1pm at the Kensington branch of the Vancouver Public Library (1428 Cedar Cottage Mews) to learn about the following from our knowledgeable instructor:

  • when to sow seeds directly into the ground
  • when to transplant your starts
  • companion planting (which plants do well next to each other)
  • permaculture principles (overall garden design)
Please pre-register for this workshop to guarantee your spot: kccplant.eventbrite.ca. These free tickets are going to move quickly so get yours today!
Seeds will be available once again and it sounds like we may even have some starts available by donation. Be sure to bring something to take notes with, as our presenter has a ton of knowledge to share. See you there!

Seedy Saturday tomorrow!

seeeeeedsTomorrow is the opening of the Kensington-Cedar Cottage Seed Sharing Library! Come to the Vancouver Public Library – Kensington branch (1428 Cedar Cottage Mews near Knight and Kingsway) from 10am-12pm March 1st to pick up some seeds for this season, share ones you’ve saved, and meet other neighbours. Refreshments will be served and the event is free of charge. See you all there!

Seedy Thursday: November 21st

SeedWorkshopPosterThe Cedar Cottage Food Network and the Kensington branch of the Vancouver Public Library are working together to start a community Seed Sharing Library next spring and we need your help!

On November 21st from 6:30-8pm, join us at the Kensington branch (1428 Cedar Cottage Mews) for a seed-saving workshop and public dialogue about the operation of this miniature library. Because this Seed Sharing Library is for you, the community members, your input is important to us!

Learn why seed-saving is so vital to our local food systems and how this venture into sharing seeds can diversify our food production. This is also an opportunity to increase literacy in our community, as we all learn together how we can collectively make changes to our food systems.

The event is free and open to everyone but registration is required. Do so online or in person at the library.

See you there!