Greetings Creekers!
My column was missing for the last couple of weeks because I was off camping in the interior of our beautiful province. We were on dry grassy hills surrounding turquoise lakes and dotted with towering ponderosa pines and shimmering aspen trees. It’s a landscape that at times, I yearn for. However the best part is returning to the ocean and our deep, dark and damp rainforests carpeted with salal, moss and fungi. I know I have come home.
So, speaking of home, what’s going on here?
One of the most interesting and important organisations on the coast is One Straw, who operate out of the Tiny Farm, behind the Gumboot Restaurant. The 3/4 acre plot is home to a community garden, tool library, food box program, workshops and soon a community kitchen. As beautiful as this is, it’s really a pilot project for something much bigger. With the loss of agriculture and community spaces across our country, One Straw has been listening and having conversations with other communities about community ownership of community assets with the goal of building what is currently being referred to as a “Farm Commons.” They are learning and finding inspiration.
There is a community forum on this subject planned for the end of October. This will be an opportunity to learn from other models including land trusts, conservancies, cooperatives etc. I am letting you know to get you thinking about this and I will let you know the date later. In the meantime, the Canadian Alliance of Land Trusts is a suggested new resource to check out. Also in October, the new community kitchen will be play host to the 2024 Salmon Project. More on this later too.
Cody and Megan are a remarkable Roberts Creek son and mother team you may have heard of due to their walk-a-thons for various coastal environmental groups. This year, they are doing it again, in support of food security, when they will do a 24-hour walk-a-thon and fall fair at the Seaside Center on Oct. 19. All proceeds will go to One Straw and activities will include the Sunshine Coast Bake Off, a silent auction and pumpkin carving. The bake off will offer more than $1,000 worth of prizes for first place so start trying recipes now! To enter contests or sign up for the marathon go to Cody & Megan’s Fall Fair for Food Security –– onestraw.ca. If you have something to donate to the auction or have ideas and help to offer, email [email protected]. This event is taking place on the same weekend as the Art Crawl so you could plan to mix things up a bit and drop by on your way through Sechelt.
Time to put in another plug for the Roberts Creek Legion. Throughout the week they provide a space for various community musicians to get together with ukulele sing-a-longs, a jam night and Thursday night jazz. On Friday and Saturday nights there are DJs or bands, including touring bands and good local groups. It’s friendly and inexpensive. Even if you never or rarely go there, it’s something to be grateful for and protect and you can become a member even if it’s just to show your support. Along with the Hall, the mandala, the Tiny Farm and the small businesses, it helps define us as a community. The Legion executive work hard to keep it going and you can come out in support of them on Friday night, (that’s tonight, look lively!) when the Jeevious Family and guests will be putting on a Jamboree Fundraiser.
The Jeevious Family are a long-time, local family band that now include their very talented son, Jack. This will be a fun evening and Hey! Guess What? It starts at 8 p.m., NOT 9:30 or 10, so even those of us with a 10:30 bedtime can go. Admission by donation. On Saturday, (with a later start time) it’s the Honey Bees Birthday Jam with Robluvdub and Ocea. Tickets $15 to $20.
Mushroom season is upon us and I hope you can get out into the forest to look at them. Yesterday I went mushrooming. My daughter planned to take me to her secret chanterelle spot but then she lost it and we spent hours sliding down steep bike tracks and huffing and puffing straight back up them before, voila, there it was. It was well worth the effort even though we both came home in hobbling agony. No! I cannot tell you where it is. I could never find it and anyway I’d have to make you disappear after. What I will tell you though, is my new pickled chanterelle recipe, but you will have to wait until next week because I am well over my word count allowance.
There is so much going on out there that I know nothing about. Please tell me. [email protected]
