Another great Food and Farm Camp!

This year’s first Youth Food and Farm Apprenticeship Camp put on by Growing Up Organic, a project of Canadian Organic Growers Ottawa Chapters, in partnership with the Glebe Neighborhood Activities Group was slightly different this year than last. This summer we decided to do two camps, and instead of having one only on the farm and the other only in the city we combined both to offer a more diverse experience to the youth that attend them.

Our first camp ran from July 25^th to July 29^th. Anyone that knows about the camps knows that the goal of them is to provide youth with a realistic perspective on the food system, an understanding of conventional farming practices versus organic, and help the youth connect the food they eat with where it comes from.

We spent the first two days of camp at the Glebe Community Centre where the 15 youth attending the camp got to watch the film Food Inc, scavenge through a nearby supermarket to locate certain ingredients, and also do some organic cooking with Organic Chef Stephanie Stewart. These two days at the Centre set the scene for the experience that was to follow. The idea was to give the youth a basic understanding of the food system and conventional farming practices so they could compare and contrast those practices with the ones they would see at Alpenblick Farm.

9am on Wednesday morning could not come soon enough as the youth waited in excitement for their chance to experience Alpenblick Farm. Robert Oeschli, who is the farmer at Alpenblick Farm and coincidentally a bus driver, picked us up at the Glebe Community Centre by school bus at 9am and we were on our way out to the Farm for three days of camping and grassroots education.

Upon arrival we were greeted by Robert’s wife and farming partner Petra Stevenson, their farm helpers Alex and Jessica, their potbelly pig named Freddy, and a llama named Prince David. The three days and two nights that followed can be summed up by the smiles of tranquility that came over the youths faces as they exited the bus and took a step back in time to a place where quality and meaning come before mass-production, and health before profit.

Our three days on the farm were spent harvesting from Alpenblick Farms vegetable garden, milking cows and goats, playing camp fire games and our infamous Farm Olympics, taking part in an Aboriginal ceremony, learning survival techniques, cooking outdoors over an open fire, lounging with goats, and most importantly absorbing the humbling wisdom taught to the youth by farmer Robert Oeschli. The 15 youth that walked through the doors of the Glebe Community Centre on Monday July 25^th, left Alpenblick Farm on Friday July 29^th with a deep and very crucial understanding of the food system, a new look at health, an appreciation for organic food and farming, a confidence that can only be achieved by experiencing new challenges, and above all a new group of friends.

Myself along with Organic Chef Stephanie Stewart and support staff Jordan Davies would like to thank all those who attended the camp for your unrelenting enthusiasm and open minds, as well as Torry Simpson from Growing Up Organic, Paul O’Donnell from GNAG, and most importantly Robert and Petra of Alpenblick Farm for once again opening their doors to the youth of Ottawa, sharing their knowledge, and for all the time they put in to bettering the local and organic food scene.

Our next camp runs from August 22^nd to August 26^th, sign up can be done online at gnag.ca. For more information on the Growing Up Organic and Canadian Organic Growers please visit our blog at growinguporganic.blogspot.com or our website at cog.ca/Ottawa

Thank you,

Jasen Brousseau, Camp Coordinator

Mutchmor Garden Harvest Going to a Good Cause

Last week to celebrate the end of school and a great (yet rainy) growing season at Mutchmor PS, Growing Up Organic helped the Grade 3/4 girls harvest 10 bags bursting with delicious organic lettuce and spinach. The 10 bags were donated to their local women's shelter... and a small amount was given to their class - who enthusiastically sampled the fruits of their labour!
Thanks for a great Spring and we look forward to seeing you in the gardens in the Fall!

The Globe and Mail focuses on a new form of summer camps (including the Youth Food & Farm Apprenticeship Camp)

www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/education/learning/hey-kids-how-about-a-vocation-vacation/article1929258/page1/

Youth Farm Apprenticeship Camp Registration Open!

YOUTH FOOD & FARM APPRENTICESHIP CAMP (12 - 16 years)
Canadian Organic Growers (COG), through its Growing Up Organic project, invites you to sink your teeth into the world of food. Join professional chef Stephanie Stewart and spend 2-days preparing and eating delicious organic food. We will learn how to grow it yourself, right here in the city while preparing for two nights and three days of camping at Alpenblick Farm. Farmers Robert & Petra will teach you how to milk goats, make cheese and care for the cattle, sheep and goats that graze their 320 acre organic farm outside Stittsville. Fee includes organic meals and transportation.

Jul 25 - 29 (5 days, 2 nights) $265
Aug 22 - 26 (5 days, 2 nights) $265

Register online at gnag.ca.

Sharing the Harvest

This Summer, Shepherds of Good Hope struggled for food donations. For the first time in over 20 years, they did not have enough soup for soup kitchen. The volunteer chefs were happy to receive donations from the school gardens.

"It smells so fresh!" and "What a great thing for kids to do" they said about the food grown in school gardens.

They were happy to receive a salad of basil and cherry tomatoes, grown by grade 3s at Mutchmor & First Avenue's school gardens, while the students were on holiday.

At Elmwood's Fall Harvest Party, there was more than enough to go around. 20 of Elmwood's grade 7 girls harvested, prepared and enjoyed a feast from the gardens they build with their own hands. They shared their delicious garden salsa, extra tomatoes and herbs with teachers, parents, and still had two big bins of food to donate to Shepherds.

Herb Spiral at Heritage

Heritage Academy boasts a new Green Technologies class this year. The grade 10 class learned about Permaculture during the first week of school, and to culminate the lesson they built their own Permaculture Herb Spiral.

Their teacher Derek cleared out the area.

While the students unloaded bricks from the car. They decided to make a human chain to transport the bricks more easily.Many hands make light work. The spiral was finished in no time!


Bridgehead and Growing Up Organic came out to help (ie supervise!). We are happy with the end results!Next spring, the plan is to plant all perennial herbs in the spiral to have a low-maintenance, decorative and delicious garden by the school's side entrance.

This weekend at Feast of Fields, Stoneface Dolly's teamed up with Heritage Academy to create a delicious dish from the garden.

How do the gardens grow?

Heritage Academy has a brand new shed thanks to funding from the Community Gardening Network, a dedicated teacher and community volunteer.


The bees are working hard pollinating the flowers on our tomato plants.

During my school garden visits, I pinch off the 'suckers' so that the plant's energy can go to making us more fruit, and less branches!





Elmwood School shows off it's first red tomato!

Heritage Academy's Nasturtiums are a beautiful and tasty addition to the garden. The pretty edible flowers have a spicy pepper taste, and can be used as a decorative garnish in salads, pastas or to decorate baking.

We grow our own beans so that we can have any variety we like. Elmwood likes them purple! This variety of purple bush beans was grown from Greta's Organic Seeds. Greta has an extensive variety heirloom and heritage seeds and starts. They can be ordered on the website Greta's Organic Gardens: www.seeds-organic.com.


Greta even has a few varieties of Popcorn.


The peas at Devonshire School are climbing toward the fence.


The grade 5s at Devonshire put in special root watering systems for each of their plants. It's made with a pop bottle and has a tiny spout at the bottom to allow water to slowly soak down around the roots.


Parent volunteers at Trilles des Bois come by to water the gardens.


And look at their gardens go!


The squash & cukes at Trilles des Bois loves to climb up the fence.



Woodroffe has got lots of big zucchinis too!


Woodroffe Elementary has lots of Swiss Chard - YUM!


Here is a tasty, easy way to prepare swiss chard:


Ingredients:

• 1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon butter
• Salt

Method

1 Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.

2 Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.

www.simplyrecipies.com