SOUTH STORMONT, Ontario – Everyone has been invited to visit the homestead of Bill and Karen Carriere on Sunday, Oct. 14, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in South Stormont.
They and other members of Transition Cornwall+ Food Action Group have planned a host of activities in this beautiful setting around food growing, harvesting and preserving that the whole family can take part in. Bill and Karen are offering guided and unguided tours of their fruit and nut groves, winter greenhouse, young food forest and native foods such as sugar maple, and sumac. Take time to wander through the various vegetable, shade and cutting gardens, the blueberry hut (est. 2010), mixed orchard (est. 2008), Paw Paw Garden (est. 2008), Pecan Grove (est. 2009), Basket Willows (est. 2012), Pine Nut Grove (est. 2013) and more.
The Transition Cornwall+ group, Tree Action Arbre, will help you enjoy a ‘mirror’ walk of the woodlands, while the TC+ Waste Reduction Group will guide you through effective and easy ways of preventing harmful waste from damaging the environment.
Join in harvesting root vegetables and learn how to pack carrots and beets for the root cellar. People will be shown how to save seeds of arugula, dry beans, mizuna, cilantro and dill, and there will be giveaways for next year’s gardens. There will also be demo stations on food preservation such as fermentation, canning, dehydrating (including solar dehydration).
This is a day for the family so children can get creative making sculptural faces out of wet clay and natural materials, and make and take home straw figures. Hear and see and try out musical instruments that are made from the most unusual of found objects. And any regional artists who want to come to create inspired by the location and event are very welcome.
The whole day is in celebration of World Food Day, an annual event celebrated worldwide by people concerned with food security. This year’s theme is ‘working for #zero hunger’. We hope people will learn a lot about the possibilities, value and joy of growing, preserving and eating local sustainable food, but also discover more of what is happening globally. There will be a slide loop and display of farming initiatives worldwide. The highlight of the day will be an illustrated talk by Elodie Mantha of USC Canada on ‘Sustainable Farming Around the World. Two billion farmers feed the world today, yet no two farms are alike. Discover the work of family farmers growing food ecologically in 12 countries around the world, and find out how you can help them change the world, one seed at a time. There will be delicious cakes for everyone to enjoy, using a variety of local ingredients. Visitors are invited to make a donation to USC Canada to help local farmers worldwide.
How do you find the Carriere homestead? The address is 14932 Otto Road, South Stormont and you can ring 613 534 2202 or 613-984-2645 if you need directions. Please park on the side of the road, caring for the property of other residents. Please dress for the weather, and bring your own seat for the indoor talk. Rain or shine.
TC+ Food Action Group wish to thank our partners for this event:
Community Garden Network, Social Development Council of Cornwall and Area, USC Canada, Boys and Girls Club of Cornwall/SDG, Earth Works Permaculture Community, TC+ Action Groups: Tree Action Arbre, Waste Reduction and members of the TC+ Steering Committee.
For a complete programme, map directions and other information check www.transitioncornwall.com <http://www.transitioncornwall.com/>
Contact: Bill Carriere, 613-984-2645 or carrieres@xplornet.com
