By Ellen Duncan

It’s 5:30 on a chilly December evening. 

The founding members of Who Sit’s Around the Kitchen Table? Food Sovereignty Coalition gathers at the Qwemtsin Health community kitchen. 

There is an excited buzz in the air. 

The cozy kitchen atmosphere is a welcome reprieve from a crisp winter’s eve.

As the meeting gets underway, a pot of stone soup is set to simmer, each member having added an ingredient. 

The group is in for a treat; someone added canned deer meat to the pot. 

On this day, plans for a community-driven farmers’ market are hatched and a recipe for success is written.  

The vision is to create a venue for community members to share their harvest, large or small, and to inspire action for the preservation of traditional plants. 

The recipe is based on a strong history of tradition, depth of local knowledge and a far-reaching network of support. 

Add to the list of ingredients a great deal of heart, a community rallying in support and the gift of heritage seeds. 

In coming months, members will attend a marathon of seed-saving and gardening workshops. 

Fast forward to a bright and early Sunday morning in July.

The sun casts a red-orange hue over the Kamloops Powwow grounds. 

The early light is reflected on the Thompson River, painting the waters with the same brush.

By 11:30 a.m., the barometer reads 34 degrees — a far cry from that evening in December when plans for this day began to take shape. 

You would find it hard to come up with a better site for a new farmers’ market and trading post.

The venue boasts ample shade and beautiful grounds that border the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage park. 

Visitors can explore the network of trails winding through the archaeological remains of a 2,000-year-old Shuswap winter village site.  

Walk into reconstructed winter pit houses and a summer village, complete with a Tule mat lodge, hunting lean-to, fish-drying rack, fish trap, smoke house and traditional plant species. 

Raucous laughter carries from the arbor to welcome visitors filing in from the parking lot. 

A veteran of the farmers’ market racket can be heard coaching rookie vendors in the art of clever display techniques.

The cheerful atmosphere is infectious.

The turnout is modest — but magic happens when a handful of community members are brave enough to build momentum. 

What treasures will you find at the Tk’Emlups Farmers market? 

You might get lucky and bring home a bunch of Chioggia beets. 

The Chioggia is often called the candy-cane or pinwheel beet. 

Slice this heirloom variety to reveal alternating rings of red and white. 

I found myself inspired by the discovery — a beautiful meal came together in no time with new potatoes, colourful Swiss chard, and candy-cane beets as the centrepiece. 

To stimulate farmers’ market discussion among friends and co-workers, I have been showing off my bag of sliced pinwheel beets, while sporting a lovely new beaded necklace (also purchased at the market).

I love wholesome foods — it’s not a stretch to find me loitering by the water cooler offering up samples of some strange and wonderful heritage vegetable.

Just ask my co-workers at Qwemtsin Health Society about their first introduction to cosmic purple carrots.

Purple on the outside and bright orange on the inside, the variety is sweet and a hit with children. 

Perhaps next year you will find yourself adding heritage seeds to your garden, supporting a movement to preserve a rich history of agriculture.

Keep your eyes and ears open for the next market at the powwow grounds. 

Be part of the beginning of something special.