In the midst of our season it seems that all sense of accomplishment becomes buried in the details of organizing, planting, seeding, harvesting, teaching, selling, promoting, managing… all that necessary stuff.

2011 blessed The World In A Garden with Alicia, our young enthusiastic intern (from the YMCA ec0-intern program) who turned into our full time Community Outreach and Urban Agriculture Assistant.  Alicia came to the project to learn about local food, how to grow it and how it fit into the context of a globalized food system. She went from having a ernest desire to learn and get her hands dirty to being an advocate for sustainable food as she learned to grow it and use the garden as a vehicle to connect with community and other urban growers. I watched her advance as she took her passion and wove it into her daily actions that make up her job in the garden, out in the world and behind the desk. Working with her each day and watching her grow with the project was and is a daily inspiration.

Our seasonal duties include but are not limited to early morning market and food bank harvests with volunteers, organizing the successful Seed to Table Workshop Series, hosting community groups, holding volunteer days, planting, seeding and nurturing the garden, providing youth education workshops, volunteer coordination for events and event planning like  A Plan BEE and Growing For Change Harvest Celebration.

In 2011 we built new partnerships and strengthened existing ones as we built a native edible garden with funding from Evergreen and the City of Vancouver. We hosted a Native Blessing with Musqueum leader, Eugene Harry and our community members. We held an Earth Day BBQ with our amazing sponsors, Growing City and Choices Market. Our friends at Project Somos worked with us at the Spring Equinox to put on our second anual Potato Fusion Workshop that was sponsored by Ethical Bean and My Garden Bag. Just when the growing season seemed to be dying down the fall brought a string of events that finished off with Greens Organic Market Pancake Breakfast and Seasonal Tastings in December. In both the summer and winter months you could donate to the garden through Whole Foods Change for Change program at the till. These are only some of the examples of how we are supported by local and ethical businesses that truly believe in the work we do.

At The World In A Garden we are honoured with the presence of those from rich cultures like our Mayan friends from the UBC Mayan Garden, bringing the world to the garden. And we are equally excited to have the opportunity to travel as I went to visit the amazing work of my friends in Guatemala with Project Somos. Alicia started the new year with Global Brigades in Ghana and surrounding countries in West Africa.

It’s been quite a ride and now we are getting ready for an even bigger 2012 with a new site that will include chicken raising, vertical growing, solar power, a vertical wall for food growing and aquaponics. Additionally we will be working a new site at Kerrisdale Annex school with our power partners at Urban Digs Farm. You can also follow us on twitter and facebook as The World In A Garden hits the road again, this time down the coast to California where we will meet, greet and connect with the people who are making good food happen at urban and rural sites.

Last Fall we made it down to Portland and came back with a host of inspiration and ideas.

Like I said, it’s been a ride. Founding The World In A Garden has been an amazing journey that has challenged my perspectives on community, multiculturalism and sustainability  and my role in it as a nutritionist, a food grower and an educator. As I become increasingly aware of the impact of our food choices on the planet it  humbles me back into the question of what “sustainable” really means. I realize that every decision is a new opportunity to make things a little better and I challenge all of us  to think about that next decision, the next moment where we can do things different from before.

I challenge us all to get a little more involved in better food. Maybe get to a local market or stop buying genetically modified, highly subsidized and industrialized food, or just learn what that means!  Start to change your perspective from food as a commodity to food as an investment. An investment in your health, in the planet that feeds you and those that care enough to grow the food for you.

Believe me, it really is the small things that make a big difference as your message ripples into your community and eventually, one day, the world.

As we get ready for our best and biggest year yet, I invite each of you to join us for the ride, get involved and start to make the difference our planet is waiting for.

And may 2012 bring you more of all that is good.

With love, Tricia

Try something different this year.

Here are some ways to give back to the garden, create healthy change in yourself and others, and make this holiday season a memorable and fulfilling one!

• Give a gift with meaning by supporting our Growing for Change Campaign. Choose the level of donation you’d like to make, and we’ll place an individualized, customized, engraved plaque in the name of choice, on our fence.
• Cleanse for Change. It’s tempting to gorge on holiday treats and goodies, but why do it? Maintain, don’t gain. Try the 30-Day Health & Wellness System from Isagenix and $25 of the purchase will be donated to The World in a Garden.
• Join us at Greens Market on Thursday, December 8th, for a holiday celebration of local and organic food! Start your day with an organic pancake breakfast (10am-1:30pm), then enjoy seasonal tastings, raffle prizes and in-store discounts from 2-7pm. All donations benefit The World in a Garden. Feels good to support local.

Looking for ways to make your holiday more environmentally-friendly this year?

Click here for some creative ways to wrap presents and minimize your carbon footprint this year.

Plus, here’s a great resource from Full Circle Farm (WA) for preparing your holiday dinner.

Bee twins! Our worker bees enjoy goodies at A Plan BEE Event.

Special thanks to Jason McRobbie, ”the good food dude,” who entertained us all as the auctioneer and helped raise money for FarmFolk CityFolk and The World in a Garden, and to Allen Garr, for appearing as our guest speaker and displaying such amazing commitment to the precious pollinators.

Big thanks to all of our other sponsors for their donations of lip balm, fresh bread, granola bars, apples, tea, seeds, granola and more!! We couldn’t have done it without you…

Whole Foods, Festival Cinemas, The Vancouver Courier, Greens Market, Terra Breads, Wellbrook Winery, Meadow Vista Wines, Hain Celestial, Work Wonders, Chilliwack River Honey, Edelweiss Granola,  West Coast Seeds, Namasthe Tea, Klipper Organics, Sunrise Soya, Nature’s Path, MyGardenBag and Discovery Organics

2.       You will be supporting the work of 2 great organizations that make local food happen: www.farmfolkcityfolk.ca  and www.theworldinagarden.com

3.       Enjoy complimentary Artisan Gifts Bags full of local sustainable delicious goodies valued at over $50 AND it’s all in a really cool pollinator theme reusable Whole Foods Market gift bag!

 4.       Taste the goodness of fresh and local preparations from our generous sponsors: Whole Foods Markets, Terra Breads, Bee in Bloom Honey, Works Wonders, Urban Digs Farm, Nature’s Path, Blessed Bee CSA, and Terra Chips.

5.       Experience the flavours of our BEE-dependent liquids from: Namasthe Teas, Wellbrook Winery, Bremner Juices and Meadow Vista Honey Wines.

6.       There are Door Prizes to be won! Including a well thought out BEE basket.

7.       An entertaining live auction with Vancouver’s very own Jason McRobbie! We’re featuring items from a variety of BC wineries, My Garden Bag, Nature’s Path, Ethical Bean Coffee, and more!

8.       The first 200 people  to purchase tickets online will be entered to win 2 tickets to the 2012 Feast of Fields www.feastoffields.com ($170 value) and a $150 gift certificate for The World In A Garden’s Seed to Table Workshop series. We’re almost there so get online today to order yours at www.festivalcinemas.ca!

9.       Meet the people who make it happen from UBC Farm, Slow Food Vancouver, FarmFolk CityFolk, Environmental Youth Alliance, The World In A Garden, Works Wonders and Foodtree! All this for only $29 -  BEEcause it’s so much more than a Film Screening, it’s A Plan BEE Event!

We’re growing and we want you to grow with us! Whether you come in to plant the seed, tend a tree or join our team of sustaining partners we promise the fruits of your labor.  To join the Growing for Change Campaign you can chose the level that best suits you, your family, your business or organization. In honour of your contribution we will place an individualized, customized, engraved plaque in the name of choice, on our fence.

1. Seed – $54 (great for individuals or small organizations…) A necessary place to start in the garden, in fact this generous contribution provides the garden with approximately 9 packs of seed. Now that’s got the potential to feed a few  mouths!
2. Sprout –$90 (great for a family, organization, 2 friends, a couple…) The sprout represents life and this level of giving will place a whole lot of life into our upcoming Passport to Permaculture Kids Camp Program!
3. Plant –$360 (a large family, small business, lover of the garden…) Our plants provide food for nourishment and giving at the plant level will not only nourish a few little young bodies, it may just feed your soul as well!  And that’s just ‘cause giving is good!
4. Tree –$540 (a corporate gift to the garden, a group of philanthropists) A tree brings the fruits of your labor year and after year and it reminds us that real investments always have a return.
5. Sustaining Partners – $1800/yr + for 2 year commitment ( to create a sustainable and lasting partnership) Partnership packages available to help our shared visions flourish.

 How We’re Growing and Making Change:

 The World in a Garden has developed expansion plans in Vancouver on a new site where we will increase the number of honey bee hives and be growing fish (aquaponics), vertical walls and maybe chickens (depends on approval). Our diverse food production will provide an increase of community education and access to good, local food in an urban setting. Our first international project will be with Project Somos in Tecpan, Guatemala where they are building an eco-village for orphaned and abandoned children. Our long term vision is to have 10 gardens (around the globe) that focus on the cultural connections to food and the traditional uses of it.

 We know your investment in The World In A Garden is helping to inspire change – from the ground up. As we say around here,  Do good to create good. It inspires change. We plan to connect cultures around the world though our one uniting thread – food. It has benefited thousands in Vancouver and will help thousands more as we expand.

For other ways to be involved please visit: Campaigns for Change

Here’s a simple recipe from Sprouted Kitchen, a mouthwateringly beautiful blog dedicated to fresh, local food:

1 Butternut Squash …or Festival Squash!
2 tsp. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Nutmeg
1/3 Cup Fresh Breadcrumbs / Panko
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Minced Garlic Clove
1 Tbsp. Finely Chopped Parsley
1/4 Cup Fresh Thyme Leaves
Salt and Pepper

Oven to 400
Peel the squash (vegetable peeler works great). Slice it in half length wise and discard the seeds. Cut into 1/4” slices.
On a parchment lined baking tray, pile the squash, drizzle the olive oil and the nutmeg and toss everything to coat evenly. All should have a thin coat of oil, amount may vary based on size of the squash. Spread them out in a single layer on the baking tray. You may need to use two, too much overlap won’t yield a crunchy crust.
In a food processor (or magic bullet) pulse together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic, both herbs, a few pinches of salt and a lot of fresh black pepper.
Sprinkle the topping on the squash. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the tops are browned and the squash is cooked.

Here’s another recipe from a Seattle localvore blog (and an Ithaca food writer’s blog)- and this one has kale too!
2  Squash, halved and seeds scooped out
1 Large Garlic Clove, minced
Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 15-oz Can White Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Bunch of Kale, chopped
1 Tablespoon Minced Sage Leaves
1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the squash halves (cut side up) on a sheet pan or in a baking dish. Drizzle the surfaces with some olive oil, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a knife or fork, about 1 hour. Remove the squash halves from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, make your filling: heat a little extra-virgin olive oil (about 1-2 Tbsp) in a saute pan over medium heat until hot, then add the minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the greens and saute until wilted. Now add your drained, rinsed white beans and continue cooking the mixture until the beans are heated through. Stir in the chopped fresh sage, season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, and set aside to cool slightly.

Now you’ll fill the squash halves: first, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese. When the bean and green mixture has cooled slightly, stir half of the breadcrumb mixture into it — this will help bind the filling together slightly. Divide this filling mixture between the cooked squash halves, mounding it in each.*

Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb and cheese mixture over the top of the filled squash halves. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of each squash half. Return the pan to the oven and bake the squash halves until the topping is golden, about another 15 minutes or so (check a little bit before so the topping doesn’t burn.

Or you can always just roast them with butter and maple syrup– my favorite way to do it! Best eaten with a good book and a toasty fireplace.

WHAT: Growing for Change: A Multicultural Harvest Celebration

WHEN: Sunday, October 23rd, 12-4pm

WHERE: Outdoors at The World In A Garden, West 57th & East Blvd.

COST: FREE! Donations are appreciated

Whether you’re hungry for local food, intrigued by cultural heritage, craving some tunes and beets, looking for fun activities to educate the kids- well, we’ve got everything covered!

This harvest celebration offers an abundance of activity for everyone. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Activities for the kids including a seed saving hunt and harvest bingo
• Workshops with multicultural learning and local food samples
• Garden tours: Around The World in 15 minutes
• BBQ across the street at Choices Market - keep your nose open for roasted garlic!
• LIVE MUSIC from Wheely Slow Cooking Tour

Who is the Wheely Slow Cooking Tour? We recently had the privilege of meeting Julia and Shera, the gals that make up this musical duo, and even heard a couple of their tunes live! This past summer, these ladies embarked on a unique journey in which they performed their music on sustainable farms across Canada and cooked loving meals for their hosts! Not only did they establish meaningful relationships with the communities where they played, but also gained a deeper appreciation for sustainable living and our sacred connection to land and food. We are very grateful to have Julia and Shera join our community as we celebrate the harvest season!

This is why we are offering a Seed Saving workshop with the Richmond Food Security Society, where you can learn about the importance of this ancient tradition and how we use it to sustain ourselves. Dan Jason, founder of Salt Spring Seeds and author of Saving Seeds As If Our Lives Depended On It, will lead us through this informative and stunning workshop.

WHEN: Monday, Oct. 3rd, 5-7pm

WHERE: Terra Nova Rural Park @ The Barn, 2631 Westminster Hwy

Contact Alicia to register: abaddorf@jfsa.ca

Tricia and Alicia, the ladies behind The World In A Garden, have been checking out urban farm and educational food projects in Portland. Yesterday, they visited North Portland Farm, where a group of dedicated souls making up Project Grow are hard at work keeping up this urban farm and even creating beautiful pieces of art in their studio.

We were stunned to see beautiful black heritage tomatoes growing their garden! This discovery made us realize the beauty that comes from heritage and heirloom seeds and that it is important to preserve our seeds so that we can continue our legacy.

We encourage you to save your seeds so we can secure a better tomorrow for future generations of people (and tomatoes).

WE’RE HITTING THE ROAD – come for the ride!

The World In A Garden is hitting the road and it’s Portland or bust! Tricia & Alicia are checking out local farms, urban agriculture and educational food projects in Portland, OR, and bringing the best of Portland back to Vancouver. Check out the blog, Twitter and Facebook to see daily updates about the people, places and things that make local food happen! Follow the journey: Sept 28-Oct 3, 2011