Grafting and Pruning
Saturday, April 9th
9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: Harry Burton and Michael Ableman
cost: $95 plus HST (includes lunch)
Grafting and pruning are often viewed with a sense of mystery. How do you place a small stem from one fruiting plant onto the rootstock of another and encourage them to fuse and produce a totally different fruit? How do you know, amidst a tangle of branches, which ones to cut and which to leave? This course will move beyond the mystery and provide clear instruction in specific grafting and pruning techniques and how they can be applied to a range of fruiting trees. The day will be divided between instruction and hands-on practice, providing each participant with the opportunity to try some of the techniques that have been taught.
For 12 years, Harry Burton has run Apple Luscious Organic Orchard on Salt Spring Island. This unique orchard grows over 200 of the best tasting and rare varieties of heritage, connoisseur, and red-flesh apples. Boasting the largest collection of red-flesh apples in Canada, Burton’s approach to orcharding is founded on permaculture theory, species diversity and soil health. A well-known fixture on Salt Spring Island with over 25 years of teaching experience, Harry is also the founder the Salt Spring Island Apple Festival.
Michael Ableman began his farming career 37 years ago managing Sunburst Farms’ 60 acre apple, pear, and peach orchard, one of North America’s earliest commercially run organic orchards. Ableman went on to develop a propagation nursery that provided over 200,000 avocado and citrus trees per year for the commercial plantings at the Tajiguas Ranch in southern California. Ableman developed and managed Fairview Gardens for 25 years, which produced 100 different fruit and vegetable products including, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, citrus, avocados, figs, persimmons, pomegranate, and cherimoya. Michael has extensive experience in grafting and pruning on a commercial and farm scale.
Building A Wood Fired Oven
Sunday, May 1st – Monday, May 2nd, 2011
9:00am – 4:30pm each day
instructor: Cliff Leir
cost: $245 + HST (includes lunches and dinners)
Cooking with fire in brick and stone evokes images that lie deep in our collective consciousness. There is the romance but there is also the delicious reality; of pizzas and meats and breads that are enhanced by this method of cooking. Once the equipment of professional chefs and bakers, these ovens are now becoming prized fixtures in home kitchens and backyards. In this workshop, artisan baker and oven builder Cliff Leir will guide us as we build a wood-fired brick oven. This hands-on experience will cover how to prepare the site, choose materials, and construct and use a wood fired oven.
Cliff Leir has been baking bread in a wood-fired brick oven for 14 years. A self-taught baker, Cliff has become a fixture in Victoria’s gourmet scene. In 2000, Cliff co-founded Wildfire Bakery, and then in 2009 opened Fol Epi, where he produces organic levain breads and pastries for a devoted following of customers. In both locations, Cliff built the bakeries’ wood-fired brick ovens. In addition he has designed and built several other ovens for commercial and home use.
Register Now for Building a Wood Fired Oven
Culinary Bootcamps
Special Last Minute Price!
3 Days of Field to Table Cooking
$690, including all meals and accommodation!
Victoria Day Weekend: May 20th, 21st and 22nd
Full 5 Day program: 12:00pm Tuesday, May 17th – 12:00pm Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
cost: $1995 + HST (meals and lodging for 5 days included)
instructor: Chef Mara Jernigan
New! 3 Day Option: 9:00am Friday, May 20th – 12:00pm Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Includes Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 3 nights accommodation.
Arrive Thursday night or Friday morning
cost: $690 + HST (meals and lodging for 3 days included)
Note: This program runs again in September
Created in 2007 and listed as one of the world’s 45 Top Culinary Getaways in Gourmet magazine, Chef Mara Jernigan’s Culinary Boot Camp is a five-day intensive, hands-on, field to table cooking program. You will learn knife skills, soups and stock making, hand made pasta, basic butchery techniques, sauces, baking, plate presentation, preserving techniques and much more. Mara is more excited than ever to create menus inspired by the bounty of the beautiful fields and gardens at Foxglove Farm, where fruit and vegetable varieties have been selected and grown for ultimate flavour, lovingly cared for and nourished by healthy soil. Knives, aprons and over 25 printed recipes are all provided. During the five days, participants will have the opportunity to help with the harvest, take field trips to visit local wineries, cheese makers, and the famous Salt Spring Farmers Market. We will also learn to forage for wild foods, prepare local seafood, and bake in the new wood burning brick oven at the farm. While the course is intensive, it is suitable for all skill levels from beginner to seasoned cook. Meals are usually served family style, and although we will prepare some meat, poultry, and fish, there will be options for vegetarians. Breakfast will be prepared for you, but you will be involved in the preparation of all other meals, including a grand buffet dinner for producers on our final evening together. You’ll have time each afternoon to relax on the farm or explore on your own. The bootcamp starts at noon on Tuesday and finishes before noon on Sunday to allow travel time to and from Salt Spring Island.
For fifteen years, Mara Jernigan has been an active part of promoting a local food system in the Cowichan Valley where she ran a small mixed farm. In 2001 she opened Western Canada’s first Field to Table cooking school. She later moved to Fairburn Farm, where she also ran a guesthouse, offering dinners and Sunday lunches. During her six-season tenure, Mara’s culinary programs at Fairburn Farm received widespread praise in publications such as Saveur, Travel & Leisure, Sunset and the Globe and Mail. Mara has over 15 years experience as a culinary teacher and has a B.C. Provincial Instructor’s Diploma. She founded Vancouver Island’s premiere food event, Feast of Fields in 1998, a community-building harvest tradition and fundraiser for FarmFolk/CityFolk. She is currently serving as the President of Slow Food Canada.
Register Now for Culinary Bootcamp – May 2011
Speaking from Terroir: Inspired Voices of Food, Wine and Imagination
Saturday, June 4th, 2011, 3:00pm – 7:00pm
instructor: Brian Storen and Alison Ryan
cost: $145 plus HST (includes multi course meal and wines)
Join two of Victoria’s most passionate wine and food aficionados for a half-day journey into the interplay of wine, food and the elemental magic that occurs when they are put together well. Sommelier Brian Storn and Chef Ali Ryan will present an interplay of cooking, wine pairing, and gastronomic appreciation as the various courses of this multi course meal are prepared and served.
Brian Storen, Canada’s Sommelier of the Year 2005 (enRoute Magazine), has been accompanying B.C. wines with the sound of seasonal, local, fresh, organic food for 25 years. Brian has managed the cellars and wine lists of restaurants from Sooke Harbour House to Wickaninnish Inn, Brentwood Bay Lodge to Spinnakers Gastro Brew Pub and SIPS Artisan Bistro.
Alison Ryan, the consummately talented Chef at Spinnakers Gastro Brew Pub & Guest House, is one of B.C.’s pivotal advocates and spokespersons for indigenous products from sustainable local food farms. A degree in microbiology anchors her unique sensitivity to the food she composes with both her mind and hands. Ali epitomizes the culinary brilliance of seasonal, local, fresh, organic.
Register Now for Speaking from Terroir
Solutions from the Underground: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
Saturday evening, June 11th, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Sunday, June 12th, 2011, 8:30am – 4:30pm
instructor: Paul Stamets
cost: $175 + HST (includes lunch)
Fungi, particularly mushrooms, offer some powerful, practical solutions to many of the forces of environmental degradation facing the biosphere. The central premise is that habitats have immune systems, just like people, and our close evolutionary relationship to fungi can be the basis for novel pairings that lead to greater sustainability and better health. Paul Stamets will discuss the evolution of mushrooms in ecosystems and how fungi can help heal the environment and its inhabitants. Paul’s work with mycelium shows how these largely untapped organisms can replace chemical insecticides; break down toxic wastes, including petroleum-based products such as diesel, dioxins, and numerous other toxins into non-toxic forms. Farmers, gardeners, green architects and ecological designers all can use these emerging mycotechnologies.
Paul Stamets has written six mushroom-related books, most recently Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. Paul is an advisor to the Program of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School, Tucson; on the Editorial Board of The International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. He has supplied mushrooms for a breast cancer clinical study and worked with BioShield BioDefense Program since 2005 to develop new defenses against bioterrorism. In 2008, Paul received the National Geographic Adventure’s Magazine’s Green-O-vator and the Argosy Foundation’s E-chievement Awards. In November of 2008, Utne Reader recognized Paul as one of the 50 Visionaries of the Year. In February of 2010, Paul received the President’s Award from the Society of Ecological Restoration.
Register Now for Solutions from the Underground
Wind, Water, and Sun: Alternative solutions for heating, cooling, and powering your home.
Friday evening, June 17th, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Saturday, June 18th, 2011, 8:30am – 4:30pm
instructor: Steve Abbott
cost: $120 + HST (lunch included)
This workshop covers home energy needs on both a theoretical and practical hands-on basis. The course begins with an evening overview adressing typical household energy needs and conservation strategies, including a review of renewable energy technologies for meeting those needs. This will be followed by an in-depth exposure to passive solar principles for heating and cooling and active solar collection for domestic hot water, two of the highest areas of consumption in a typical home. Our final session will include a show and tell of passive solar improvements to an existing home, a solar cooker and other appropriate technology devices. We will finish the course with a hands-on session manufacturing an efficient solar thermal collector and incorporating it into a domestic hot water system.
Steve Abbott became involved in solar energy projects as a child in India. He holds two mechanical engineering degrees from the University of Waterloo, with the emphasis of his masters degree being in fluid mechanics, energy conversion, and solar energy. His career has taken two tracks, with a heavy involvement in water and sanitation work in international development and disaster relief, and a concurrent involvement in solar technologies, both at home and abroad. In Nepal he became involved in improving the quality of solar hot water systems built as a roadside industry, and in Ontario he designed and built several solar home additions and a home for his parents, in addition to installing solar domestic water heaters and pumps. He was a member of the board of directors of the Solar Energy Society of Canada in the early ’90s. Steve has lived on Salt Spring Island for the past six years, when not called away to his work with Oxfam on overseas disasters.
Register Now for Wind, Water and Sun
Beekeeping 365
Sunday, June 19th, 2011, 8:30am – 4:00pm
instructor: Brian Scullion
cost: $95 + HST (lunch included)
Keeping bees provides us with honey and pollen, pollination, and an intimate relationship with the fascinating world of bees. This one-day workshop will present a year’s cycle, including all of the steps from building boxes and selecting queens to extracting honey. The workshop will provide an emphasis on bee health, including nutrition, diseases, pests, and various ways to manage your bees in harmony with the landscape and your neighbours.
Brian Scullion has a keen passion for bees – he loves talking about them, actively teaches children, seniors, and community members about the wonders of honeybees, and has kept bees in Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood for over ten years. Brian runs the James Bay Honey Company and supplies honey to his community through the farmers market and grocery stores. Brian is the South Island representative to the British Columbia Honey Producers and the Co-President of the Capital Region Beekeepers.
Register Now for Beekeeping 365
The Art of Seeing; photographing farm, garden and forest
Saturday evening, June 25th, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Sunday, June 26th, 2011, 8:30am – 4:00pm
instructor: Brian Harris and Michael Ableman
cost: $145 + HST (lunch included)
Observation is one of the most important skills for any artist, whether painter, photographer, musician, farmer, gardener, or forester. Learning to see and interpret what we see in creative ways brings depth and meaning to our daily lives and work. In this workshop we will use the dynamic landscape of Foxglove Farm, it’s historical buildings, farm fields, orchards, and the wildness of its forests, creeks and lake to explore with the camera. We will encourage students to transcend the stereotypical and explore a deeper way of seeing and sense of place. While the workshop will initially allow for wide ranging exploration, each participant will be asked to articulate and focus on a particular theme, develop that theme, and present their work for critique to faculty and students during the last afternoon and evening. Both teachers will provide an evening presentation of their work with discussions on their own particular creative process. While technique will be touched on where necessary, this is not a technical workshop. Participants should already be technically comfortable, and bring their own digital equipment. Laptops for downloading and processing of images are suggested but not required, we will provide large screen viewing for image critique.
Since 1989 Brian Harris has used his photography and project design skills to raise funds and public profile for not-for-profit organizations. His two main clients have been Seva Canada, an NGO that restores sight to the blind in Asia and Africa and FarmFolk/CityFolk, a Vancouver based charity that promotes and supports small-scale, sustainable farming in BC. His most recent projects have been a yearly FFCF calendar, the four-month Home Grown Exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver and two children’s books about sustainable food, farming and urban agriculture published by Kids Can Press. “UP WE GROW! A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm” was selected by the American Library Association as one of 2010’s Top Ten Environmental Books for Youth. “Tibetan Voices: A Traditional Memoir” (Pomegranate Art Books,1996) won a first prize at the 1997 Banff International Mountain Book and Film Festival.
Michael Ableman has been making photographs for over 40 years. His work has appeared in publications throughout the world and in solo exhibitions at the Oakland Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Field Museum in Chicago. Ableman has written and photographed three internationally acclaimed books on food and agriculture.
Register Now for The Art of Seeing
Seeds for Change: Organic Seed Production & Crop Variety Improvement
Monday evening, July 4th, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011, 8:30am – 4:30pm
instructor: John Navazio
cost: $145 + HST (lunch included)
This workshop is designed to provide organic farmers and serious gardeners with the skills that you’ll need to grow a bountiful crop of high quality vegetable seed. This day long intensive will focus on improving and adapting your favorite vegetable varieties to your climate, your farming practices, and your specific needs. In addition to the basics of growing seed organically, we will cover how to determine if you are starting with good seed stock and how to improve and revitalize any favorite variety that “just ain’t what it used to be!”
We will cover various methods for preserving genetic purity of any seed you save as well as learning several simple methods to increase and maintain the genetic diversity and elasticity of each veggie you grow so they will be able to adapt to the climatic rollercoaster that is becoming the new normal. We will get to see some great variation in some of the vegetables growing at Foxglove Farm and discuss how you can identify and select the best plants for an improved seed crop. We also learn the basic differences between self-pollinated and cross-pollinated crops and tune in to the important role that insects play and how to improve the ecological health of your farm and garden through encouraging pollinators to be part of your agro-ecosystem. We will also cover how to tell when your seeds are mature and how to harvest, clean and store your seed.
This workshop is for organic farmers and serious gardeners interested in gaining and refining their seed saving skills and increasing the joy, benefits, and independence that come with growing a high quality seed crop!
John Navazio is the Senior Plant Breeder for the Organic Seed Alliance in Port Townsend, Washington. John is a plant geneticist whose research and teaching is directed at the integration of innovative organic farming methods by breeding crops for decreased inputs and resistance to environmental challenges. John holds a PhD in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics.
Register Now for Seeds for Change
Fermentation
Sunday, July 10th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: Ian Lai
cost: $95 + HST (lunch included)
A customary practice around the world, fermentation is both a preservation technique and a method to create delicious foods that are high in health benefits. From kombucha to kimchi, miso to sauerkraut, this course will give you the confidence to produce these specialties with ease in your own home. With a hands-on approach Chef Ian Lai will guide you through the basics of fermenting both food and drink. Each participant will return home with the skills to ferment and preserve summer’s bounty and make elixirs that are nutritious and refreshing. Fermented food products covered in this class include kimchee, sauerkraut, gundruk, miso, and tempeh. Fermented beverages include konbucha, yogurt, kefir, amazake, and hard cider.
An accomplished chef, urban farmer, and instructor, Ian Lai is passionate about food and the environment. Ian is the founder of the Terranova Schoolyard Society, a non-profit urban agriculture project engaging elementary school children in Richmond, BC. He is also the Principal of Urban Agriculture Consulting Inc, which contracts to the City of Richmond for Environmental Services and manages the Richmond Community Garden Inventory. In the kitchen, Ian has been honing his skills since 1979 with positions at the Four Seasons Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, Cara Flight Kitchen and as the Resident Chef for the US Consulate General.
Register Now for Fermentation
Farm, Arts & Culinary Camp for Kids (for ages 7-12)
Monday, July 18th – Friday July 22nd, 2011
9:00am – 3:00pm daily
instructor: Tracy Harrison, Chef Ken Brudner and Foxglove Farm Staff
cost: $245 + $20 materials fee + HST; (lunches included)
Our five-day “farm camp” offers environmental literacy experiences through the exploration of a variety of habitats; by growing, harvesting, preparing and eating organic fruits and vegetables, feeding and caring for farm animals, and through nature based art, using child-centered, fun activities. Each day children will take part in farm chores such as collecting eggs, harvesting strawberries, digging potatoes, making compost, baking, cooking and eating from the farm. They will then use art and journaling to express and enhance their experience.
Camp Director Tracy Harrison has been a Registered Art Therapist and children’s instructor for over 19 years. She has designed and delivered art-based programs for children in Thailand, Mexico and Indonesia, with native communities in Labrador and Northern Ontario, in numerous public schools, and at festivals and summer camps locally and nationally. She facilitates an open art studio out of Phoenix Secondary School and is a regular participant in Salt Spring Island’s “Artist in the Classroom” program. Tracy offers children’s clay and multimedia classes and camps out of her Creative Fire Art Studio. Tracy will be working with Foxglove Farm staff and Chef Ken Brudner to facilitate an exciting, creative, fun, and educational farm-based experience for campers.
Ken Brudner has been a chef for 28 years. He has been fortunate to have spent his time in the industry with numerous cuisines refining his instincts for flavour and developing his own repertoire that highlights local farm food. Ken has spent many years instructing and educating people in the art of cooking and the pleasures of good food.
Register Now for Farm, Arts & Culinary Camp for Kids
Foxglove Festival
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
12:00pm – 6:00pm
cost: $5 donation requested; children under 12 free
Come join us for our annual festival with live music, guided tours, kids activities, prepared farm food, homemade ice cream, and farm-stand.
Schedule
12:00 Gates Open
12:30-1:30 Jose Sanchez 5 Piece Cuban Band
1:00-1:30 Mini-workshops: Cooking with Mara Jernigan and Growing Food with Josh Volk
1:30-2:30 Farm Tour: Orchards, Vegetable and Grain Fields with Michael Ableman
2::30-3:30 Jose Sanchez 5 Piece Cuban Band
3:00-3:30 Mini-workshops
3:30-4:30 Farm Tour
All Day Events
Produce Stand
Prepared Farm Foods and Drinks
Books and Information
Self Guided Tour
Live Music and Artists
Kids Activities
Menu:
With food prepared by Paul Stewart from the Harbour House Hotel
Pizzas – Cooked in our new wood-fired brick oven
Local Sausages and Rolls
Farm-Fresh Garden Salad and Beet Salad
Homemade Raspberry Gelato
Raspberry Lemonade
Register Now for the Foxglove Festival
Growing for Family (New Dates!)
Tuesday July 26th, 2011 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Wednesday July 27th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:30pm
instructor: Michael Ableman and Josh Volk
cost: $145 + HST (lunch included)
Whether you have a large yard or even just a balcony, growing some of your own food is easy, increases the pleasure of the table, and provides a sense of self-reliance. This evening and one-day workshop is for people who would like to learn simple systems of growing food in small spaces, for themselves and for their families. We will cover composting and soil fertility, bed preparation, seeding and transplanting, weeds and cultivation, and the harvest and storage of various food crops. If you are already growing some food, the workshop will offer techniques to improve your skills and to produce food more consistently and reliably. This workshop is for all skill levels; no prior experience is necessary.
Michael Ableman has been farming for over 35 years. His books, lectures and workshops have inspired people throughout North America. He created Fairview Gardens, at its peak one of North America’s most successful models of local and urban agriculture, where he farmed for 25 years. Michael currently farms at Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island and is the co-director of SOLEfood, Vancouver’s most successful urban agriculture social enterprise.
Josh Volk has been immersed in the study and practice of vegetable farming in the Northeast, desert Southwest, California and the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years. He helped to develop and manage the very successful Sauvie Island Organics CSA, an intensive 20-acre vegetable farm outside of Portland, Oregon where he trained over 20 apprentices. Along with farming, Josh has been working as a consultant, writer, and teacher assisting numerous small-scale farmers and gardeners.
Register Now for Growing for Family
Farmstead Cheesemaking
Sunday, August 7th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: David Asher Rotsztain
cost: $95 + $25 materials fee + HST (lunch included)
The perfect accompaniment to any dinner party and always a favourite purchase at the farmers market, Farmstead Cheese is easy to make and delicious to eat. Alongside cheesemaker David Asher we will explore the various stages of cheesemaking from culturing to l’affinage (ageing). David will demonstrate and explain the techniques for making chevre, mouldy cheeses, mozzarella, feta, paneer, yogourt and kefir and we wll have the opportunity to sample these cheeses as they are prepared. The workshop will emphasize ‘natural cheesemaking’, with a focus on simple, hands-on techniques that can be easily reproduced at home. David will also discuss the history, science and practice of cheesemaking, the politics of raw milk, rennet free cheeses and dairy ferments.
David Asher Rotsztain is an organic farmer and farmstead cheesemaker living on Mayne Island, BC. Though mainly self-taught, he has found inspiration from many teachers including a Brown Swiss cow named Sundae on Cortes Island. David teaches a ‘natural cheesemaking’ that uses on do-it-yourself techniques, natural ingredients and live, home-made cultures. For over five years David has been leading cheesemaking workshops for many food security-minded organizations and cooking schools around the Salish Sea including the Galiano Food Program, the UBC Farm and Lifecycles in Victoria.
Register Now for Farmstead Cheesemaking
Sharing The Road – A weekend storytelling workshop
Saturday, August 13th, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Sunday, August 14th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: Naomi Steinberg
cost: $95 plus HST (lunch included)
Storytelling is ubiquitous, around the earth and throughout history. As Ursula K. LeGuin said, “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” Whether it is real-life experiences or wild imaginings that inspires the material, each of us has stories to tell. This is an opportunity to investigate the various methods and intentions of storytelling in a group atmosphere, while cultivating one’s own personal storytelling style. Learn how to use stories to share different perspectives, delve into the many ways to enter a story and develop a manageable sequence of events.
For Naomi Steinberg, connecting with four year olds is as marvellous and unique an experience as connecting with 84 year olds – both are possible through storytelling. In classrooms, rainforests, festivals and conferences, Naomi has over 13 years experience facilitating creative workshops with diverse communities. Naomi has presented her work internationally is currently the Executive Director of the Vancouver Society of Storytelling, where she works to foster an appreciation of the art in all of its aspects and applications for audiences of all types.
Register Now for Sharing The Road
Preserving the Harvest
Sunday, August 21st, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: David Mincey
cost: $95+$25 materials fee plus HST (lunch included)
There is nothing like cracking open a jar of tomato sauce, pickles or jam in the peak of winter and being instantly transported back to the flavours and smells of summer. An essential part of enjoying local foods year-round is preserving summer’s harvest. Explore with Chef David Mincey how to creatively and safely make your own preserves and how to dehydrate and freeze fresh foods. Learn the basic skills that will allow you to turn summer’s bounty into a variety of delicious condiments, pickles, jams, leathers, and frozen products which can grace your table year round.
David Mincey has owned and operated Camille’s restaurant in Victoria BC with Paige Robinson for the past 20 years. He is the co-founder and past president of the Island Chefs’ Collaborative. David and Paige run Camille’s Canning Program, producing an extensive variety of fruit preserves, salsas, chutneys, jams and pickles.
Register Now for Preserving the Harvest
detail of photo by Michael Ableman
The Land Knows My Name
Saturday, August 27th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: MENEŦIYE
cost: $95 + HST (lunch included)
Note: To view the proper aboriginal language characters in this write up, you need to download the Aboriginal Serif font from languagegeek.com and install it on your computer.
My name is MENEŦIYE, I am from the WSÁNEĆ people on Southern Vancouver Island. Our territory is on Southern Vancouver Island but also throughout the Gulf Islands as well. I am a SENĆOŦEN language apprentice at the L̵ÁU,WELṈEW̱ Tribal School and work at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. I am a young person who has listened to the stories and teachings of my elders, I am looking forward to sharing with you what I can. During our day together I would like to tell you about the history of my people in the ṮELEṮÁĆES (gulf islands), the knowledge that we carry about the life within it, and some of the medicinal uses of the plant life within my territory. We will spend the day exploring the land surrounding Foxglove Farm looking at the different species of plants, and what they were used for by my people. I am going to talk about the 13 moon calendar that the W_SÁNEĆ People live by, the changes that are happening with the land and how we can work together to keep the cycle intact and at the same pace it has been at for so many years. At the end of the day we will set up a pit cook, feast, and share stories.
Register Now for The Land Knows My Name
Homemade Condiments
Sunday, September 11th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: David Mincey
cost: $95 + $25 materials fee plus HST
Take condiments from an afterthought to centre-stage at mealtime. When you learn how to use natural ingredients and simple recipes to make your own condiments, you won’t be interested in returning to the expensive, generic and often additive-laden store bought versions. In this workshop, Chef David Mincey will teach us how to prepare an assortment of condiments from scratch using farm-fresh produce. Starting with the standards by learning to make your own ketchup, mustard, and relish, and then branch out into vinegars and flavoured oils, curry and hotsauce. You’ll leave this day in the kitchen with a collection of recipes and plenty of inspiration.
David Mincey has owned and operated Camille’s restaurant in Victoria BC with Paige Robinson for the past 20 years. He is the co-founder and past president of the Island Chefs’ Collaborative. David and Paige run Camille’s Canning Program, producing an extensive variety of fruit preserves, salsas, chutneys, jams and pickles.
Register Now for Homemade Condiments
Culinary Bootcamps with Chef Mara Jernigan
12:00pm Tuesday, September 20th – 12:00pm Sunday, September 25th, 2011
instructor: Chef Mara Jernigan
cost: $1995 + HST (meals and lodging included)
Created in 2007 and listed as one of the world’s 45 Top Culinary Getaways in Gourmet magazine, Chef Mara Jernigan’s Culinary Boot Camp is a five-day intensive, hands-on, field to table cooking program. You will learn knife skills, soups and stock making, hand made pasta, basic butchery techniques, sauces, baking, plate presentation, preserving techniques and much more. Mara is more excited than ever to create menus inspired by the bounty of the beautiful fields and gardens at Foxglove Farm, where fruit and vegetable varieties have been selected and grown for ultimate flavour, lovingly cared for and nourished by healthy soil. Knives, aprons and over 25 printed recipes are all provided. During the five days, participants will have the opportunity to help with the harvest, take field trips to visit local wineries, cheese makers, and the famous Salt Spring Farmers Market. We will also learn to forage for wild foods, prepare local seafood, and bake in the new wood burning brick oven at the farm. While the course is intensive, it is suitable for all skill levels from beginner to seasoned cook. Meals are usually served family style, and although we will prepare some meat, poultry, and fish, there will be options for vegetarians. Breakfast will be prepared for you, but you will be involved in the preparation of all other meals, including a grand buffet dinner for producers on our final evening together. You’ll have time each afternoon to relax on the farm or explore on your own. The bootcamp starts at noon on Tuesday and finishes before noon on Sunday to allow travel time to and from Salt Spring Island.
For fifteen years, Mara Jernigan has been an active part of promoting a local food system in the Cowichan Valley where she ran a small mixed farm. In 2001 she opened Western Canada’s first Field to Table cooking school. She later moved to Fairburn Farm, where she also ran a guesthouse, offering dinners and Sunday lunches. During her six-season tenure, Mara’s culinary programs at Fairburn Farm received widespread praise in publications such as Saveur, Travel & Leisure, Sunset and the Globe and Mail. Mara has over 15 years experience as a culinary teacher and has a B.C. Provincial Instructor’s Diploma. She founded Vancouver Island’s premiere food event, Feast of Fields in 1998, a community-building harvest tradition and fundraiser for FarmFolk/CityFolk. She is currently serving as the President of Slow Food Canada.
Register Now for Culinary Bootcamp – September 2011
Urban Agriculture: Growing for market, neighbourhood, and community
Tuesday, September 27th, 7:00pm - Friday, September 30th, 2011
instructor: Michael Ableman and Josh Volk
cost: $285 plus HST (lunches and dinners included)
Urban agriculture as a movement has come into its own, with a dramatic increase in individuals wanting to create agricultural enterprises on small plots in the city. While enthusiasm is high, the skill level required to make these enterprises financially viable is often lacking. This workshop, taught by two veteran farmers, will provide the nuts and bolts for starting an urban agricultural enterprise from site selection and soil remediation, to developing a business and crop plan, to propagation, direct seeding, transplanting, irrigation, cultivation, pests, diseases, harvesting and a range of creative marketing strategies. The workshop is for beginners and for those who have been farming and want to improve their skills. While the workshop has a focus on the urban scene, much of the instruction will also apply to peri-urban and rural farming enterprises.
Michael Ableman has been farming for over 35 years. His books, lectures and workshops have inspired people throughout North America. He founded the Center For Urban Agriculture in 1987 at Fairview Gardens, at its peak one of North America’s most successful models of local and urban agriculture, where he farmed for 25 years. Michael has written, lectured, and consulted extensively on Urban Agriculture. He currently farms at Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island.
Josh Volk has been immersed in the study and practice of vegetable farming in the Northeast, desert Southwest, California and the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years. He helped to develop and manage the very successful Sauvie Island Organics CSA, an intensive 20-acre vegetable farm in Portland, Oregon. Along with farming, Josh has been working as a consultant, writer, and teacher assisting numerous small-scale farmers and gardeners throughout North America.
Register Now for Urban Agriculture
Foraging For Fungi
Sunday, October 16th, 2011, 9:00am – 4:00pm
instructor: Bill Jones
cost: $95 + 25 materials fee plus HST (lunch included)
Come experience the fascinating and complicated world of wild fungi, food that must be sought on its own terms in the wild spaces of the BC coast. Join celebrated chef and wild mushroom expert Bill Jones on a journey through the forests of Foxglove Farm as he illuminates the art and science of mushroom foraging and identification. Back in the kitchen we’ll learn from Bill how to use these forest treasures to create delicious meals.
Bill Jones is a French-trained chef who apprenticed at Michelin-starred restaurants in Alsace with stops in London, Hong Kong and Vancouver. On Vancouver Island he has manned the stoves at Sooke Harbour House and continues to cook, create and teach in his own professional kitchen at Deerholme Farm in Glenora. Bill is the author of nine cookbooks, including The Savoury Mushroom. Two of his recent books have won World Cookbook awards, including his ode to local farmer’s markets Chef’s Salad. Jones is a renowned expert on Pacific Northwest foods, wild mushrooms, foraged plants and First Nations cooking.