We did come and enjoy the music, food, people and the festival this weekend. It was awesome! The music was great, food was incredible and we left with a fistful of information and a gratifying feeling about being part of something good.
It was after a brief introduction and an evocative performance of “Trouble In The Fields” by Caroline Venters that Carolyn Herriot took to the main stage for her presentation of “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year Round Guide to Growing Organic Food.” Carolyn spoke to the sun-drenched but otherwise engaged crowd for 30 minutes about individual responsibility, going back to the garden, and how it is we alone who are responsible for what we are putting into our mouths, not only for the sake of ourselves but for those of the next generation who will inherit the world we are living in now.
Posts Tagged ‘Organic’
“The Zero-Mile Diet” Book Launch
We Can Do It!
I was so inspired by all you festival-goers who stopped by The Change tent today. After dropping off your GREEN PASSPORTS many of you filled us in on what you are doing, or are going to do, to make a difference in your life and our city. Annalea, Brad and I are amazed by how many of you bike or walk to work, use cloth shopping bags and recycle everything you can get your hands on. Thank you to all of you who let us take your photo and share with the rest of the city what you are doing to engage the change!
Engage the Change!
Today is a day to make some changes! One of the first tables you’ll see set up at the festival is The Change Tent, and it is definitely one you want to visit. Annalea and Brad are there from The Change to tell you all about local companies that are “Greener, Fairer and Truer.
At The Change Tent pick up an Organic Islands GREEN PASSPORT. This baby is basically a scavenger hunt through the festival exhibitors. Stop by the 12 tables listed, find out about that company, get your passport stamped and have a fun day in the sun learning about everything Victoria has to offer the green movement!
The Organic Island Festival is in Full Swing!
What a beautiful morning! The morning dew glistens in the shrubs, the sky is clear and the sun is hot, and in the midst of the lush beautiful foliage here at Glendale Gardens, activity has exploded! The Organic Islands Festival is in full swing running today and tomorrow. Tents have mushroomed all over with a mass of activities and information to explore. The song of the birds swooping over Viaduct Lake will soon mingle with the sweet sounds of great folk musicians set to play for the day and will set the back drop for the sustainable transportation forum, about to take place in just over two hours.
Don’t miss your chance to explore over 100 great exhibitors and the diverse flora here at Glendale Gardens…. The organic ice cream and the green drinks await.
Newlywed WWOOFERS at Festival
Newlyweds abandon the city to work the land and explore and explore the American Landscape are making their one and only trip to Canada and will be at the Organic Islands Festival on July 10 and 11 speaking to attendees about their journey not just the geographical one that’s taken them across America but the one that’s transforming their lives as they work on organic farms.
Come on down and hear what they have to say at the festival’s DIY Open Space booth #70 in the Village. In the meantime… Click on link below to read more.
Start the “Movement”
“Once our personal connection to what is wrong becomes clear, we have to choose. We can go on as before, recognizing our dishonesty and living with it the best we can, or we can begin the effort to change the way we think and live.” – Wendell Berry
With “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food”, Carolyn Herriot’s greatest hope is to kickstart a movement: the “grow your own food” movement.
Some Golden Rules
While container and lasagna gardening can make the idea of growing your own vegetables a lot more doable, the amount of knowledge that comes along with even beginning can be overwhelming too! In “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food”, Carolyn Herriot provides us with 10 of her golden rules for growing great produce. Today, I am going to share a few of those with you.
A Starting Point
Much of the impetus for Carolyn Herriot’s book, “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food” was derived from the fact that only 5% of the food that is consumed on Vancouver Island is grown locally. While growing our own plants can protect us against the onslaught of chemically treated food and save money in difficult economic times, it can also help us attain a greater degree of self-sufficiency. Herriot wrote the book in the spirit of doing
Our Soil, Ourselves
Before the first leaf of basil is pulled and even before it begins to germinate, the soil is where the process begins. Soil nurtures growth and is responsible for maintaining a healthy plant. Local author and organic gardener Carolyn Herriot’s explanation of soil in “The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food” can [...]
A Green Victory – Madrona Farm
If you haven’t heard yet, after a two-year campaign with nearly 3000 donors, the Land Conservancy of British Columbia has raised 1.7 million dollars to save Madrona Farm. The Farm comprises 27-acres wedged between Blenkinsop Rd. and Mount Douglas and is a paradigm for sustainable agriculture. The farm was threatened when the owners decided to sell the property, leaving the farmers, David and Nathalie, in a sort of limbo. If the new owners didn’t want to maintain the property as an organic fruits and vegetable farm, then there would have been little holding them back. As of May 14, the area exists in a land trust that will preserve the ecological and agricultural value of the area indefinitely.
After doing a bit of reading, I realized that I was alarmingly ignorant of just how much was at stake. Not only…
