Valley Food News
By Anisah Madden
Hanneke’s Place Community Garden The Grand Forks community garden raised beds are one step closer to being planted after a successful work party at the site last Saturday morning. Sixteen volunteers of all ages and interests pitched in with their forks and shovels to fill the 20 raised beds using the “lasagna gardening” method of layering different types of organic matter to create a rich growing medium. The work party was organized by community garden Co-ordinator Lorraine Dick who emphasized the tremendous support from local businesses and individuals that have donated building materials for fencing and garden beds, topsoil, manure, hay and peat moss for the garden boxes, as well as their volunteered time and energy to getting this project off the ground. “A special thank you goes to Sandy from Panago who donated tasty pizza for lunch,” said Dick. “While the project is well underway, more work is needed to finish filling the beds with all the donated materials before winter sets in.” Hanneke’s Place has seven beds left to prepare for next spring so a second work party is planned for Saturday, Oct. 2 at 8:00 a.m. Please bring a shovel along with your garden gloves. Gerry from Center Road Farm also donated over 500 bags of mulch to Hanneke’s Place. Filling the raised beds won’t require all this mulch, so for a donation to the community garden you too can take some bags for your own garden. The garden is still in need of ongoing donations of leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen waste, so please contact Lorraine at 442-0962 to arrange drop off. Kettle Valley Food Co-operative The Kettle Valley Food Co-op (KVFC) held its first annual general meeting at the Grand Forks Wildlife Hall on Saturday, Sept. 11. Over 23 co-op members attended to elect a new board of directors (making a total of 9 directors) and hear various reports on the activities to date. Progress has been steady and positive since the inception of the KVFC, boosted by funding given by the federal Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI) for membership development, training, and the creation of an informational website. The KVFC is now going forward with a further application to CDI for funds to assist with marketing and education, and continued development of the business plan. Since the launch of it’s online ordering system in spring of this year, the KVFC has helped distribute over $3500 of local produce from farmers and other small businesses in the region. Newly available on the product list are two companies from Nelson; organic tofu from Silverking and delicious breads and baked goods from Kootenay Bakery Cafe Co-operative, which are available to members every three weeks. Directors elected at the meeting are (officers have not yet been elected) Christine Carlson, Donna Scott, Karl Lilgert, David Janzen, Kate Haddow, Andreas Dean, Anisah Madden, Ralph Bluthenthal, and Tracey Davies High on the list of priorities for the new board is continuing work on creation of the mobile abattoir, cut and wrap facility and storefront for the co-op. Other objectives include developing ways of providing access to local food through the winter months such as a bulk ordering program, and forming a strategy with producers to increase year round production capacity in the region. For more information or to become a member and get involved visit www.kettlevalleyfoodcoop.org.
Valley Food News is the Sentinel’s regular update on the agriculture community news in the Boundary.
