Thank You::Thank You::Thank You

A generous round of thank yous must be extended to all of the amazing volunteers who have put in so much time so far - none of this would be here without you..

Huge thanks also go out to Painless Underground Sprinklers who put in an entire irrigation system free of charge on Wednesday May 18th. Amazing work, what a relief for us!! 

    

Also, thank you to the United Way and the Royal Bank who coordinated a Day of Caring on May 19th (all of the soil was wheelbarrowed into the raised beds and the raised beds were painted!!). 

                                                          
The crew from Garden Gate also came out to help us - together, we were an enormous crew of highly efficient dirt diggers and wheelbarrow pushers. So efficient, that we ran out of work!!

Ms. Morgan's grade 7 class from Stuart Wood Elementary also popped in to help for awhile. Thank you!! Artizan Horticulture kindly donated wheelbarrows and shovels on the Day of Caring - this was a huge help, thank you!   

 http://artizanhorticulture.blogspot.com/

Another thank you to Emily Hope for creating our beautiful poster

Keep an eye open for it around town!! 

Lastly, two enormous thank yous must go out to Shelaigh Garson and James Boak. Their behind-the-scenes coordination of supplies, labour, soil, and lumber combined with their hands on labour, incredible knowledge, and skill sets have made this project possible. 

There will be so many more thank yous to come, stay tuned..... 

A Few Links to Recent Media Coverage

Kamloops This Week Editorial:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/opinion/121592439.html

Kamloops Daily News Article:
http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110520/KAMLOOPS0101/110519730/come-and-get-it-but-not-quite-yet

photo credit: Murray Mitchell

Kamloops Daily News Coverage of Darrin Nordahl's visit: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110505/KAMLOOPS0101/110509845/speaker-advocates-free-food-in-public-places

Kamloops This Week coverage of Nordahl's public talk:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/lifestyles/121594334.html

Kamloops Daily News Editorial on Buying/Eating local - we're on the right track!

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110520/KAMLOOPS0302/110519722/eat-well-by-buying-local

Public Produce

                                    

an enormous 

thank you to 

emily hope 

for creating 

this wonderful poster!!

Thursday May 19th - Work Day & Meeting!!

The United Way has generously arranged a Day of Caring at the Public Produce site on Thursday May 19 from 9am-3pm. 

There will be approximately 15 people there throughout the day but we definitely need more help! 

Thanks to the hard work of a few amazing volunteers, the beds have been built and we are now ready to shovel the soil into the beds! 

If you can come out at any point during the day, we would love to see you there! If you are able, please bring a shovel (and even a wheelbarrow if you have one!). Alternatively, if you have to work but have shovels or wheelbarrows that we could borrow for the day...please be in touch, we could use extra supplies!! 

(these boxes need dirt inside of them!!)

After the work is done, there will be a meeting at 4pm for volunteers who would like to contribute to the direction of the project in the next few months. We want to gain some feedback and brainstorm ideas. This is a project for everyone to contribute to and all suggestions will be happily welcomed. We've had several artists approach us for unique mural, photography, and kids art project ideas...


This is a community space and communities need art, culture, and food!! 

Food Democracy.

On January 17, internationally recognized plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber, wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack warning of the discovery of a new pathogen and a possible link between Roundup Ready® (GMO) corn and soybeans and severe reproductive problems in livestock as well as widespread crop failure.

Less than 3 weeks later, the Obama administration approved 2 new Roundup Ready® GMO crops, set to be planted this spring... 

http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/

Gateless Gardens - Vancouver

A community garden 

in between Davie street and Burrard street 

in the heart of downtown Vancouver 

displays the beauty and contrast 

of urban agriculture flourishing 

in a downtown urban centre. 

(note the absence of gates, locks, and fences)

                                  
                    
                                                
               

take a look around.

this is a beautiful corner of town...

even if abandoned.

even if a bit forgotten.

with a little bit of creativity,

a lot of love,

and a few tons of rich soil,

a forlorn city space will become a lovely little place - 

to garden in, to come together, to get to work, to paint on, to learn from, 

to water, to weed, to eat, to care for....

  (the list will be continued)

Darrin Nordahl's Visit - May 4 and 5

Darrin's visit to Kamloops was busy, to say the very least. A radio show, walking tours, community garden bonanzas, a media blitz, seminars, lunch dates, school district meetings, a public talk, a stakeholders' meeting, more media, dinners - all in two days, followed by a 6 a.m. flight on Friday morning. 

               

             

                        

             

             

We cannot thank Darrin enough for his abundance of energy and enthusiasm and his knowledge and passion for his cause. He got our community excited about growing food and making our city a more food secure place - maybe even the most food secure city in Canada (eventually)? Thanks for everything Darrin. 

First Day On Site.

Thanks so much to everyone for a great first day. We built 10 beds and even managed to miss the mother's day rainstorm. 

After only one day of work, the forlorn looking construction is beginning to look loved. Planting will commence in 2-3 weeks. 

Between now and then: the construction of a few more raised beds, irrigation, soil delivery, and lots of digging....

Email publicproduceproject@gmail.com if you'd like to be involved. 

Come out and raise some beds!!

Tomorrow - Sunday May 8 - we will be constructing raised beds on site!! Please bring garden/work gloves, good shoes, and your mom (it is mother's day, after all)!! Really, she'll have a good time!


We will be there from 11am - 3pm, so come join us for an hour or two, or the entire time!! 


You'll learn how to construct a basic raised bed - the first step in growing your own food in your own garden!!


See you there. 

This is a Beautiful Community Project!

http://vimeo.com/13745161?ab

::INSPIRATION::

Kamloops Daily News

DARRIN NORDAHL: WEDNESDAY MAY 4th, 7pm.

Clocktower Theatre, Thompson Rivers University

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110502/KAMLOOPS0101/110509969/author-aims-to-plant-idea-for-urban-garden-concept