SLUGS

Urban Permaculture: Small Space and Portable Solutions, Saturday March 3rd, 4:30-6 pm

SLUGS — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:37:23 +0000

Fascinated by permaculture, but wondering how you can possibly implement all those great ideas in an apartment that changes every 8 months? Drooling over other people’s giant backyard food gardens, and wishing you could grow more food on your balcony or windowsill? Wondering what this permaculture thing is anyway? Then this workshop is for you! For so many of us young people who are passionate about living sustainably in the city and growing our own food, it can sometimes feel impossible to implement it all in our transient lives and small, temporary living spaces. This workshop will tackle this conundrum as we work together to discover ways to implement permacultural principles and grow food in the small, and ever changing spaces of our lives. We will be doing some hands on work with container gardening and sprouting to get you started, and all participants will leave with a planted container that will grow food as well as a jar of seeds that will grow yummy sprouts.

Cost: $5

Location: the straw bale building at the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St

Please email slugs.coordinator@gmail.com to register.

Planning to Preserve

SLUGS — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:46:38 +0000

Thanks to everyone who attended our garden planning workshop this past Monday. It was great to share ideas, bounce questions off each other, and even bust out the coloured pencils and markers to start envisioning our gardens.

Everyone seems to have a different approach when planning their gardens: some of us work from necessity (perhaps we have a small and shady space and need to figure out what will thrive in those conditions), some work from the amount of time we have to devote to gardening at each point in the year, and some of us just like to think about what we want to eat and work from there.

For those of us who love to eat and are interested in canning and preserving as well, I found a great resource from a woman named Foy who planned her garden around what she wanted to preserve for the winter. She put together a fantastic guide, including creative suggestions for what to put up and how as well as how to get all the supplies you need and stay organised through the whole growing season. Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 on her excellent blog.

Haultain Common Work/Planning Party, Saturday February 25, 2:30-4:00 pm

SLUGS — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:33:54 +0000

I’m excited to announce that SLUGS will be partnering with the Haultain Common for our 2012 season! We will at the Common once or twice each month, mixing work parties with mini workshops and generally having awesome times learning the basics of boulevard gardening and urban permaculture food forests. SLUGS participants will be involved with planning and planting the garden, as well as harvesting the tasty results (an extra bonus for those of us who don’t have our own home gardens).

Saturday February 25th will be our first work party of the season, and we will be focusing on transplanting some plants that need moving as well as looking over the “bones” of the garden and deciding where we would like to take it for the upcoming growing season. I look forward to seeing you there!

Location: 1420 Haultain St

Cost: free!

Just a quick reminder that SLUGS is a program for 13-30 year olds. If you are in this age range, we would be stoked to see you at our events!

SLUGS 2012!

SLUGS — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:27:04 +0000

The 2012 season of SLUGS is now underway! February will see us organizing a garden planning extravaganza and a work party and planning session at the Haultain Common (see details below). In March we’ll be learning about composting, urban permaculture, and starting seeds, and there will be lots more awesome workshops as the season progresses, so keep an eye on our Upcoming Events page!

Potluck dinner and canning exchange: Fri Dec 2, 6-8 pm

SLUGS — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:17:45 +0000

As it gets colder and our gardening work starts to taper off for the winter, SLUGS is winding down for the season as well. However, we wanted to have one last event to celebrate all the rad folks who have taught and learned with us this year. Come on out to the Compost Ed Centre for a potluck dinner (as much local food as possible) and a chance to talk about all the projects we’ve taken on this year and our plans for the growing season next year.

As well, this is a good chance for a canning exchange. Got tons of extra pickles? Not sure you can eat all 30 pints of jam you put up for the winter? Bring them along and trade with other folks so we can all enjoy the tasty bounty of each others’ canning efforts.

Where: The straw bale building at the Compost Ed Centre, 1216 North Park St, Victoria, BC

Haultain Common Winter Work Party, Sat Nov 12, 2:00-3:30 pm

SLUGS — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:53:09 +0000

The intrepid boulevard gardeners of the Haultain Common need a little helping hand! The Common has been nourishing the neighbourhood and inspiring urban gardeners throughout the city, and now it’s our chance to give them back a bit of our labour.

Drop by the afternoon of Saturday Nov 12 to help get the Common put to bed for winter through an epic mulch party. A great chance to learn about sheet mulching, permaculture food forests, and boulevard gardening while giving back to this amazing community resource.

Location: the Haultain Common, the corner of Haultain & Asquith, Victoria, BC

Just a quick reminder that SLUGS is a program for 13-30 year olds. If you are in this age range, we would be stoked to see you at our events!

Fermentation 101: Befriending Live-Culture Foods, Wed Oct 26, 6-8 pm

SLUGS — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:04:27 +0000

Fermentation is an age old method of preserving food while maximizing its health benefits and tastiness. If you’d like to start learning about live culture foods, share skills and experience with other fermentation enthusiasts, or just hang out and try some delicious fermented snacks, this workshop is for you!

We will be learning about the art and science of fermentation by tasting a few different fermented foods and sharing lots of theories, techniques, recipes and resources. Plus, we’ll roll up our sleeves and mix up a big batch of sauerkraut or kimchi so that everyone can take home a jar and get some delicious inspiration for future projects.

Email slugs.coordinator@gmail.com to register, and please let me know when you register if you have any food allergies or dietary limitations.

Suggested donation: $10

Location: The straw bale building at the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St, Victoria, BC

SLUGS Field trip October 15th: O.U.R. Ecovillage!

SLUGS — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:49:20 +0000

SLUGS is planning a field trip to O.U.R. Ecovillage on Saturday October 15th, and we would love to bring you along!

For those not familiar with O.U.R. Ecovillage, they are a permaculture based intentional community and sustainable education demonstration site in Shawnigan Lake. They have a working farm, including orchard and livestock, as well as teaching spaces, studios, and a natural building business. If you are interested in permaculture, natural building, farming, or intentional communities, you will not want to miss this trip!

The itinerary:
-Meet at the Compost Ed Centre (1216 North Park St, Victoria) at 8:30 am
-Guided tour of O.U.R. Ecovillage (1565 Baldy Mountain Road, Shawnigan Lake) from 10 am – 12 pm
-Lunch at the ecovillage from 12pm – 1pm
-Head home, planning to be back by 3 at the latest

Cost is $10-$30, sliding scale.

Our car-share van is already full, but I would be happy to help sort out ride shares or potentially renting another vehicle.

If you are interested in this exciting excursion, please let me know (slugs.coordinator@gmail.com)! I also need to know whether you have any dietary restrictions, and whether you need a ride and/or could offer rides to other folks.

Food Preservation 101, Tuesday Sept 13, 6-8 pm

SLUGS — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:34:27 +0000

As we come into fall and realize that the bounty of our gardens won’t last forever, it’s time to start thinking about putting away food for the winter.In this workshop, we will move beyond canning (although you should definitely check out one of our rad canning workshops at some point) to explore dehydrating, freezing and other methods of food preservation.Get ready to roll up your sleeves and learn how to turn your summer extras into winter goodies. Learn how to freeze fruit and veggies and dehydrate everything! Walk away with dehydrated treats of your own and ideas for building your own food dehydrator.

Cost: $5

Location: the straw bale building at the Compost Ed Centre, 1216 North Park St, Victoria, BC

Please email slugs.coordinator@gmail.com to let me know if you are planning to attend

Urban Alchemy: Barren Boulevards to Food Forests, Thurs Sept 8, 6-8 pm

SLUGS — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:45:09 +0000

Rainey Hopewell and Margot Johnson, the birth mothers of the Haultain Common will give an inspiring tour of their boulevard and backyard gardens. They will speak about all aspects of the process of transforming dead urban space to thriving community food sources, from dealing with city regulations to nursing barren soil back to life. They will also talk about the food forest model of permaculture, and how to build a food forest of your own by making use of natural systems and vertical space to make the most out of your garden.

Boulevard gardening is a fantastic project for urban dwellers who want to build community, nourish their whole neighbourhood, and make the most food in the least space. Don’t miss the chance to learn how it’s done!

Location: the Haultain Common, the corner of Haultain & Asquith, Victoria, BC

Suggested donation: $5

Please email slugs.coordinator@gmail.com to let me know if you plan to attend.