Please mark your calendars: Saturday, March 1st is the date for this year's Seedy Saturday in Lillooet! 

This will be our 6th annual, and it's shaping up to be even more fantastic and inspiring than past years. There will be seeds for sale of all kinds; free (or by donation) seeds at the swap table; interesting booths including one for kids' seed crafts and an Ask The Expert one; a great new cafe; a raffle; a door prize and a presentation by local gardeners and farmers called What's Growing On in Lillooet and area.

WHAT AND WHEN?

Saturday March 1st !

• 9am - 2 pm: SEED SWAP AND SALE!  If you have any, bring your own saved seed if you can share some, as well as any saved seed still in need of cleaning, and use the on site seed winnower, our very own and locally made! 

• Seeds for sale include (organically grown, open pollinated) varieties from Stellar Seeds, Sunshine Seeds, Full Circle Seeds and Planting Seeds Project, as well as native plant seeds from local Split Rock Nursery.  

• 2:30 - 5 pm: "What's Growing On in Lillooet and area" : a series of informal presentations starring local growers of veggies, fruit, grapes, hops and herbs, as well as some raising animals, all ranging from backyard gardeners to commercial producers.  Through their shared stories and discussion to follow, we hope that you will receive an inspiring snapshot of the incredible diversity and abundance of what's growing in our region. This event will be a forum to connect with local food producers and an opportunity to learn more about where and what local food is being produced.

• NEW this year: delicious, healthy and locally created lunch and savory snacks for sale! coffee, tea and sweets too!

A portion of all sales goes towards supporting Lillooet Food Matters projects, such as the successful and expanding Gleaning Project, and our new and beautiful, mobile Seed Lending Library.

WHERE?

• NEW location!  St. Mary's and St. Andrew's church, corner of Main and 6th Ave., Lillooet, BC. 
  

HOW MUCH?

• $2 entrance fee, or pay what you can, all donations graciously accepted and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  Donations for the Food Bank also welcome.
  

WHO?

• Everyone welcome! Food is essential, and it all starts with a seed! 

FOR MORE INFO, please email smithygilly@gmail.com or call Angela at 250-256-0470

4th annual Seedy Saturday

Lillooet Food Matters is proud to present

our 4th annual
Seedy Saturday !

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

Seed Swap and Sale from 9:30 - 1 pm (suggested admission $2)

Workshop from 2 - 5 pm : "Our Gardens as Seed Banks"
with Susan Davidson (BC Seeds, Glorious Organics, Fraser Valley Common Farm)
and Mojave Kaplan (Planting Seeds Project)
(suggested donation $5)

Lillooet Friendship Centre, 357 Main Street
Everyone welcome, no one will be turned away for lack of funds!

featuring a Seed Swap Table ~ bring any extra saved seed (or perennials, bulbs, etc) to share

Seeds for sale, from:

· Lillooet Feed and Garden (Aimers Organics and West Coast Seeds)

· Mountain Seed Company (Kaslo)

· Planting Seeds Project (Lytton)

· The Splitrock / Sekw'el'was Native Plant Nursery

· Stellar Seeds (Kaslo)

· Sunshine Seeds (Kelowna)

· and books by Dan Jason on seed saving, Robin Wheeler on food security, and S. Davidson & R.Wheeler's Growing Seed Collectives

Educational displays:

· Bitterbine Hop Farm

· The Invasive Weed Council

· The Splitrock / Sekw'el'was Native Plant Nursery

· Seeds of Diversity

and an Ask the Expert table with Sue Senger ~ bring your gardening questions!

Enter our raffle to win great prizes!

Bring any of your yet uncleaned seeds to be cleaned using Mojave's equipment,
your friends, your questions and enthusiasm!
Donations to the Food Bank welcome!
Kids Welcome!
Coffee, teas and snacks available

L e t ' s G r o w L i l l o o e t !

for more info, please call Ina at 250-256-0667
or email Gillian info@gilliansherbs.com

"If SEED SAVING is collecting seeds for replanting in the future…Then SEED STEWARDSHIP is the process of saving seeds with the purpose of maintaining or improving that seed’s health and resilience. It also includes the act of saving and selecting a variety over a period of many seasons, with the end goal of passing it on to others in the future. The ideal of SEED SOVEREIGNTY firmly plants seed saving and seed stewardship in the realm of fundamental human rights. It is the freedom to save seed and determine the foundation on which our food system rests. With the current attacks of industry hitting at the heart of food sovereignty, the simple act of seed saving becomes a major act of resistance and social empowerment." www.seedambassodors.org

Bringing Our Food Back Home!

In partnership with the Ucwalmicw Centre Society, and with funding from the Community Food Action Initiative (in partnership with Interior Health), Lillooet Food Matters hosted a very successful and inspiring, free, public forum on March 19th, 2011, in Lillooet, entitled


" BRINGING OUR FOOD BACK HOME: A FREE FORUM ON MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES FOOD SECURE".

Over 100 people came to hear guest speakers, see colourful and educational displays, enjoy a FANTASTIC free meal (we are proud to say made by volunteers, with 95 % organic and over 90% locally produced and provided ingredients), and then participate in a community visioning and brainstorming session. The results are in! The people have spoken: for food security in Lillooet and area, we need:

• EDUCATION for all, from school aged kids to the general public, on a wide variety of food security related topics, from how to save seeds (and why); how to grow food sustainably and wisely; where does our food come from; how do we store it; how to prepare healthy meals using locally grown food; and so on.

• FARMER'S MARKET IMPROVEMENTS on both sides of the table! The market wants more vendors of locally produced food and value added food products, and more public support for all the vendors! Get involved, come to the market (Fridays 9-1:30) and join the membership.
  

• POLICY CHANGES that support community agriculture and local food security initiatives! Let's see neighbourhood composting; raw milk products being available and legalized; chickens and rabbits in our backyards; healthy local foods served in schools, grown by students; financial incentives to grow food on a small scale and large scale; create a Food Charter, and so on.

• NETWORKING so we are working together towards a common vision of a food secure community. Network the networks!

• GLEANING PROJECTS where extra, or unwanted, undervalued, unused foods are managed wisely, harvested, processed and distributed to those in need.

These top 5 Most Wanted priorities are just a smattering of what we heard at the Forum. There are more ideas, and more details...please check out our page on the right hand sidebar entitled FORUM SUMMARY REPORT for a full review of the day's events.

If you would like a copy of the Summary Report emailed to you, please let Gillian know at smithygilly@gmail.com. A hard copy can also be mailed to you if so desired.

If you were one of the lucky attendees of the Forum, please feel free to leave a comment about your experience that day. Was it successful in your view? Did you learn anything? Are you more inspired as a result? Which initiative or food security issue would you like to see addressed?

To get involved, contact us, and we will also keep you posted on the formation of a Steering Committee whose objective will be to ensure that the priority food security initiatives are addressed and ideally put into practice. We sincerely hope that this report and our day was not just talk...let's grow Lillooet!