urban gardening – CMU Media Archive

March 2, 2011 – Volunteers from Friends of Gardens Manitoba, Canadian Mennonite University, the Winnipeg Community Garden Network, and Seeds of Diversity Canada joined together to present the 12th annual local version of anational phenomenon.

“Seedy Saturday is a gathering of gardeners, held every year in late winter, to celebrate the local gardening community and the start of a new growing season,” says CMU’s Kenton Lobe, Instructor in International Development Studies. “Seedy Saturday brings together gardeners of all ages, farmers, seed growers and seed savers, native plant enthusiasts, conservation groups and horticultural societies, for a day of great connections and new ideas.”

Vendors, displays, and a varied program of speakers offer abundant inspiration. “The heart of Seedy Saturday is the seed swap where people share their cherished seeds and the stories that go with them,” says Lobe. “There are lots of seeds for sale, too.”

Canadian Mennonite University
Saturday, March 3, 2012

Program Speakers:

Special Guest Speaker Lisa Mumm on OSGATA vs. Monsanto
Organic seed growers are seeking protection through the courts against Monsanto’s patent infringement lawsuits. The introduction of genetically modified (GMO) seed has drastically changed the way farmers save seed and grow our food. Lisa Mumm, a Saskatchewan farmer and seed grower, will give us an update on the issue and the recent court proceedings she attended in New York City.

Patrick Elazar “The Benefits of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening”
Designing a garden with wide raised beds offers many advantages to both plants and gardeners. With a little history, a lot of pictures, and a wealth of personal experience, urban agriculture enthusiast Patrick Elazar will inspire you to try this method in your garden to increase your yields, improve your soil, and extend your harvest.

Patrick Elazar has degrees in Agriculture & Middle-east studies. He has farmed, market-gardened & been a district agrologist before taking his current position as a marketing rep for the Canadian Wheat Board. Passionate about food and gardening, Patrick was affiliated for many years with the Lindsay Street community garden and is currently a member of Slowfood Manitoba.

Shirley Froehlich “Native Plants and the Web of Life”
Look beyond the beauty of your garden to its critical role in preserving local biodiversity, and choose plants to create a sustainable dynamic community in your backyard ecosystem. Growing native plants greatly expands the variety of life your garden can sustain, and they bring unique beauty to your landscape.

Shirley Froehlich owns Prairie Originals in East Selkirk, working with Manitoba gardeners to create beautiful, environmentally friendly gardens with prairie wildflowers and native plants.

Anna Weier “Growing Alternative Food Systems”
Manitoba has an abundance of visionary people and exciting ideas. Anna Weier of MAFRA will share the stories of recent projects they have supported in urban, rural and northern Manitoba aimed at increasing the local production of healthy food. These include establishing school gardens in Brochet and St Theresa Point, a Dauphin project connecting seniors and youth through canning and preserving workshops; the North Point Douglas community oven, and Fruit Share’s new guide to backyard fruit in Manitoba.

Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance is composed of universities and community organizations across Manitoba. They provide funding to people developing alternative food systems that provide local, fresh, healthy, culturally appropriate, fairly produced and affordable food.

Video “Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?” is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from director Taggart Siegel. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggle of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.

More information at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/139694382805910/
Contact: winnipegcgnetwork@gmail.com 204-231-4321

IDS grad planting urban gardens

If there’s one thing Bethany Paetkau learned at CMU, it’s that people are at heart of the solution to every major issue affecting the world. With that in mind, she’s taking on the issue of food security.

Paetkau, who graduated from CMU with a four-year BA in International Development Studies in April 2011, became employed after graduation with A Rocha, a Christian environmental organization that runs ecological conservation projects around the world. Paetkau spent her summer teaching low-income Winnipeggers how to plant urban gardens and how to cook and preserve the fresh produce.

It may seem like a low-key response to a global food crisis (food prices around the world increased by 25 per cent in 2010), but it fits with Paetkau’s grassroots, people-focused philosophy of development.

“We’re asking the question: How do we live sustainably? And one piece of that is to garden,” she says.

Working together with inner city residents and St. Margaret’s Anglican Church, Paetkau and her co-workers grew kale, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, green beans, dill, chives, strawberries, and other nutritious vegetables in public garden plots and next to the homes of people who volunteered their yards.

Small-scale, sustainable agriculture has been one of Paetkau’s interests ever since she took a class on creation care at CMU. Paetkau likes the fact that projects such as the urban garden empower people by giving them access to better, healthier food.