Organic workshops throughout the valley

Editor, The Times:

All this ‘foody ‘stuff is certainly starting to get quite interesting! What a wonderful time we had at the Strawberry Feastival (sure hope the children have recovered!).

I totally enjoyed biting into that big bowl of strawberries and am enjoying knowing that a person can survive after eating 24 berries – stems and all. It may come as no surprise to you that I am putting my daily take into the freezer – sort of “had my fill” if you know what I mean!

Thanks to all the organizers, judges and participants!

Next I attended the organic gardening “leave it to the Birds and Bees” workshop at the Barrier community garden – incredible knowledge from the workshop leaders was shared with children to seniors in attendance...

We had a “hands on” picking of slimy Colorado potato beetles (that got donated to a family of fish) and were fortunate to identify a tiny wild predator wasp that actually drills a hole into the beetle and lays its eggs – the larva develop – eating the beetle from the inside out and then – when the beetle is dead – the wasps are developed and the whole thing starts again. Nature – it seems works quite well, when given a chance. We also met a woman who is an expert in bee-keeping and she suggested that if you ever thought to take up this pass-time – now would be the time as small beekeepers are key to keeping the bee population in existence… and another lady told us all about birds, she talked about the development of a Bird Atlas – where people like you and I can contribute information about the birds in our area, any maybe we can determine what harms or helps bird populations (also vital in the production of food as they are natural predictors of the insect world).

The next workshop is July 19 — “Colour Throughout the Seasons” with presenter Bodil Leamy; followed on Aug. 10 by an opportunity to have “coffee in the garden” and network with the North Thompson Valley garden club members; Aug. 16 — learning about herbs and herbal preparation of teas and salves, etc will be presented by Virginia Smith. These information sessions go from 2 p.m. — 4 p.m. at the garden located behind the public library in downtown Barriere.

Here in Clearwater we have wonderful ongoing gardening and herbal preparation workshops offered through Sharon Neufeld at the Forest House Wellness Center. I would encourage you to pick up a brochure and take part in the information Sharon has to share!

Last weeks question of the week was about the July 1st celebrations and the lack of “something going on in Clearwater” – well I attended the Blue River celebration – wonderful to catch up with all our friends who attended!

This brings us up to August 2 and B.C. Day in Clearwater – want to get involved? We are inviting potential vendors to pick up an entry form at the Farmers Market or to contact Cindy Wilgosh at 674-2939 or Carol Robertson at 674-3053 before July 15.

If you would like people to know about your home-based business, if you would like to make money for your group by putting on a function, or if you would like to be a volunteer at the activities that are already planned – please let us know who you are and what you would like to contribute.

Even when there is an event being planned there are never enough volunteers or groups — as the more the merrier is always a rule!

Must go for this time – be happy!

Cheryl Thomas

Clearwater, B.C.