In this newsletter:
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Highlights from late October
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Upcoming workshops, volunteer opportunities and dates
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Recipe from September Feast Bowl meal: spiced applesauce
With volunteers busy in the garden clearing the beds and planting cover crop for the winter, all of the programs with the garden have been busy with their own end-of-season cycles. With the shortening days we take heart at the warmth of community coming together to share knowledge and prepare for the coming season. Thank you to everyone who has shared this with us!
In late October, the last of this seasons' workshops with the
Medicine Collective brought community members, Elders, and students together to blend tobacco pipe mix and learn teachings from Elder Lee Brown. The Medicine Collective also took two groups on engaging medicine walks in the garden to learn about and harvest different plants: a group through the Carnegie Community Centre and UBC students in PHAR 457, Pharmaceutical Care in Aboriginal Health. Participants in
Sharing Our Wisdom (a holistic Aboriginal health initiative) made beautiful teas from the garden in a workshop facilitated by the Medicine Collective.
Over 30 UBC students in LFS 350: Land, Food, and Community II helped with end-of-season weeding and the building of new pathways while multiple students in LFS 100 joined us for garden volunteer sessions as part of their Service Learning experience with the community.
The
dialogue on First Nations' perspectives on history, food, and health was well-attended and greatly moved all those who took part. The Feast Bowl was honoured to provide food for participants after such a potent discussion about the role of food in Indigenous communities and their histories.
Finally, in the past weeks a large group of partners, staff, volunteers, community members, and caregivers joined the
CRUW youth at the UBC Longhouse to celebrate their completion of the 8-month program and witness their blanketing as they graduated.
Late October in the garden
Clockwise from top left: tobacco pipe mix workshop participants; a big celery harvest; LFS students Sarah and Emily help out in the garden; the Git Hayetsk dancers at the CRUW graduation (photo by Freida Gladue); many generations helping at the Healing Circle tea-making; medicine walk with the Carnegie Community Centre.
Upcoming workshops and volunteer opportunities
- Tuesday October 28th, 1:30-4:30PM: Garden volunteer session
- Wednesday October 29th: Feast Bowl community meal at the UBC Longhouse
- Wednesday November 5th, 1:30-4:30PM: Garden volunteer session
- Thursday November 13th, 1:30-4:30PM: Garden volunteer session
- Tuesday November 18th, 1:30-4:30PM: Garden volunteer session
- Wednesday November 19th: Feast Bowl community meal at the UBC Longhouse
- Wednesday December 18th: Feast Bowl community meal at the UBC Longhouse
How to volunteer for garden work days: we work in the garden rain or shine, so come dressed for the weather. We have extra rain boots, gardening tools, and gloves to share. Bring a snack and water bottle - bring friends and family (of any age) too! No experience necessary. You will find us in the Indigenous Health Garden at the UBC Farm. The most up-to-date directions to the UBC Farm can be found here. Once at the Farm, you can follow the "Aboriginal Health Gardens" signs to find our garden here.
How to volunteer for the Feast Bowl: join us at the UBC First Nations Longhouse (1985 West Mall) at 10:00AM to help us harvest, 11:00AM in the kitchen to help us cook, or 12:30PM in Sty-Wet-Tan hall to eat lunch with us. Extra help from any age or skill level is always appreciated, especially in the kitchen. If you can only join us for lunch, we encourage you to come anyway and we look forward to sharing a delicious meal with you!
Note: if you plan to bring a large group, please let us know ahead of time at hannah.lewis@ubc.ca.
Recipe from the September Feast Bowl meal: Spiced Applesauce
For the September meal, we cooked this applesauce with delicious heritage varieties of apple from the UBC Farm orchard.
With the cooler temperatures come the sweeter apples, so we couldn't resist making this dessert at September's Feast Bowl! Apples with a lot of flavour are great to use in this simple dish. No added sweeteners are needed when the fruit brings all the sweetness already. Try this with a variety of different apples or even the bruised and fallen ones in yours or a neighbour's backyard; simply cut out the bruised or blemished sections and toss the rest in! This recipe can be easily multiplied.
Ingredients
4 lbs apples
1 cup water
1 stick cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Optional: 4 strips of lemon peel, other spices such as whole or ground cloves, cardamom pods, or star anise
Directions
- Remove any bruises or blemishes and roughly chop apples. If non-organic, peel before chopping.
- Place all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce should be done when apple pieces are very soft.
- Remove any whole spices or lemon peel. Serve chunky or puree in a blender to serve smooth.
Will keep well in the fridge or freezer. Can be adapted well for pears too. Enjoy!
Adapted from this recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/baby/2010/04/15/first-applesauce/
