See anything missing in the seedy zine? Perhaps your article, poetry, artwork or promo material! Please fill out tinyurl.com/seedyform or email theseedyzine@gmail.com with any questions, ideas, or material. The deadline for the spring issue is April 1st.

Toronto seed library www.torontoseedlibrary.org

MESSAGE from the editors: We are all Seedy Zines! By checking out, learning from and contributing to this grassroots publication, you are creating awareness and sowing the seeds of freedom. Thank you! Our gardening communities grow stronger when we grow together. Sharing seeds, food, stories and knowledge brings hope to a planet in peril. Caring brings life to a society keen on destruction. It’s thyme – lettuce learn, laugh and live together in Peas and Lovage in SOILidarity!

Seedy Zine Cultivator: Jacob Kearey-Moreland Editor, Communications & Illustrations: Jako Raudsepp Design Editor & Seedy Centrefold: Caitlin Taguibao Contact: theseedyzine@gmail.com Contribute: tinyurl.com/seedyform

Seedy Contributors: Seed library architectural rendering by: Joshua Townsend Articles: Brendan Behrman, Bryan G., Anna Guercio, Sarah E. Hoffman, Jacob Kearey-Moreland, Tracy MacMaster, Karen McKenna, Gary F. Patton, Ionatan Waisgluss, Jeff Woo. Recipe: Eugene Marcello Poetry: Emily Kedar, Terah Li, Brooke Topp

Toronto seed library locations As of February 2014, listed here are 7 locations: Toronto Tool Library “West Side” Branch 1499 Queen St. W | 647-498-1258 www.torontotoollibrary.com The Permaculture Project GTA Headquarters 160 Bartley Dr. | 647-703-6190 www.permaculturegta.org High Park Nature Centre 440 Parkside Dr. | 416-392-1748 ext. 2 www.highparknaturecentre.com Church of Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields (Kensington Market) 103 Bellevue Ave. | 416-921-6350 www.saintstephens.ca/toronto-seed-library Regenesis at York University 347 York Lanes, 4700 Keele St. | 416-736-2100 ext. 31520 www.regenesisyork.wordpress.com Toronto Tool Library “East Side” Branch & Maker Space 1803 Danforth Ave. | 647-559-6734 www.torontotoollibrary.com

NEW! D.G. Ivey Library, New College, University of Toronto 20 Willcocks St., Wilson Hall | 416-978-2493 www.newcollege.utoronto.ca/academics/new-college-academic-programs/d-g-ivey-library/

For more information and hours of operations, please visit: www.torontoseedlibrary.org

1

We are launching the Toronto Seedy Saturday season with seed cleaning and packing sessions all through March at various locations: March 8 & 9: Evergreen Brickworks, 550 Bayview Ave. March 15: Scadding Court, 707 Dundas St. W March 22: East End – Scarborough, 100 Brimley Rd. S March 29: South Etobicoke, Address TBA March 30: North York Harvest, 5 Replin Rd. March 30: Masaryk-Cowan CC (Parkdale), 220 Cowan Ave. If you have surplus seeds, either from your own garden or from leftover packets from previous years, please bring them along to the packing sessions or to the seed exchanges featured at each Seedy Saturday. We really appreciate accurate identification of the seeds as to species and variety. It is also helpful to know the year they were bought or grown as the viability of seeds is exceedingly variable depending on what they are. Any other info as to where they grew: hardiness zone, sun or shade, soggy or dry, etc. is also very helpful, especially for anything beyond the more common vegetables. These events also depend on volunteers for "the day of" for set up, tear down and keeping everything functioning during the bountiful chaos. Seedy Saturdays (and Sundays) are first and always seed exchanges, but also include workshops on a range of garden related activities, children’s zone, food vendors, local seed companies and that wave of green community spirit that we really need at winter's end. For more Seedy Saturday info, please visit: www.tcgn.ca/wiki/wiki/php

CONTENTS Issue 1: Winter 2014 Why a Seed Library? p. 3 Jacob Kearey-Moreland and Brendan Behrman Grass Roots – Plants as Cultural Identity p. 5 Ionatan Waisgluss Eat Natural Chia Seeds for Optimum Health and Wellness p. 7 Gary F. Patton The Supermarket and You p. 9 Sarah E. Hoffman Free Mulch in the City p. 10 Tracy MacMaster A Risk Management Perspective to the Crisis of World Hunger and Food Supply p. 11 Anna Guercio Growing Squash from Seed to Seed p. 15 Seedy Centrefold p. 16 Recipe for Butternut Squash Soup p. 18 Eugene Marcello The Successes and Trials of Permaculture in a Community Garden p. 19 Bryan G. What do Bees Have to Do with Seeds? p. 22 Karen McKenna Seeding a Community of Seed-Savers: Part 1 – A New Era p. 24 Jeff Woo Poetry Pages p. 26 Fun Page p. 29 Promo p. 30 Toronto Seed Library Locations back cover

32

Dig In! Campus Agriculture Network at U of T Dig In! Campus Agriculture at the University of Toronto is a group of students and community members working to support and empower small-scale sustainable food production on campus. We aim to provide educational opportunities for

students and the community on issues pertaining to urban agriculture and sustainability. Our weekly gardening days from April to November are opportunities for folks to learn how to grow food in urban spaces from seed to fork, hone skills, and meet new people. We host educational workshops throughout the fall and winter - past workshop topics have included fermenting, vermicomposting, edible body care, seed saving, earth repair, garlic planting and more! Upcoming projects include our Edible Mushroom Project, new signage, and permaculture and pollinator gardens. We love collaborating with other campus and community groups and Dig In! is always looking for volunteers to help with planning, events, garden upkeep, composting, outreach, and blogging. Everyone is welcome to Dig In’s activities and events - you don’t need to be a U of T student to get involved. Want to get involved? Got an idea for a project? We’d love to hear from you! Email: campusagriculture@gmail.com Facebook: Dig In Campus Agriculture Twitter: DigInUofT Sign up for our e-newsletter at www.campusagriculture.ca

Non-gmo coalition

The Non-GMO Coalition is a collection of groups from the Toronto area working together to increase awareness and effect positive change around GMO (genetically modified organisms) issues. The groups have different concentrations, but share a larger vision of democratic decision-making on the place of GMOs in our world. The coalition is currently comprised of organic farmers and bee-keepers, students, retirees, seed libraries, professionals, activists and parents, among others, who are working on various issues including: seed sovereignty; protecting farmers' livelihoods; the health of our pollinators (especially bees); access to food that is healthy, non-GMO and pesticide free; freedom from corporate and legal threats; and food safety, security and sovereignty. Members work to provide particular skills and knowledge to support others in their particular concentrations as they relate to GMOs. The coalition itself enables a focused effort on effecting change in the Canadian environmental, consumer, regulatory, political and social landscape with respect to GMO issues.To learn more or get involved contact toronto.nongmocoalition@gmail.com .

2 31

My name is Joanne Hutchinson and I have started Socio-Economic And Environmental Development Solutions (SEEDS). Effective October 29,2013 we are officially a Canadian non-profit charitable organization # 80157 2736 here in Toronto. Our web site is still growing but we hope it will bloom by the end of February 2014. www.sendseedstoafrica.org. Until then I have written 56 blogs about our projects "The Silozi Seed Bank" & " Trees For Elephants" in Western Province, Zambia. To get an idea of what we do you may go to https://medwoman.wordpress.com. I have been to Kalabo Zambia twice. The first time was in August 2011 and again in August 2012. Both times I took seeds from the vegetables I have bought here in Canada to eat myself. I dried them out and gave them to my Zambian family to grow. They have informed me that they were able to grow them and produce fruit. I am going to Zambia again for the whole month of April 2014 to build the tree nursery. I have found that individuals, restaurants and small catering and banquet halls are more than willing to save Non GMO seeds from the vegetables they use. It does not cost them anything and the seeds would have been thrown out anyway. Our web site will have ’How to grow” instructions for all of the seeds we send to Zambia a long with many ways to help people, the environment and Elephants. We hope to establish eco-tourism trips to Zambia so if you would like to join us, volunteer here in Canada or donate you may email. joanne@sendseedstoafrica.org. Have a Seed full Day!

Why A Seed Library?

By Jacob Kearey-Moreland and Brendan Behrman The seed is the cornerstone of the entire food and agricultural system. Food, along with water and air, is life, and seeds are where that life begins — control the seeds and you control life itself. For eons plants grew free in the wild; for thousands of years they have been tamed and adapted to local needs and conditions by humans; for decades they have been subject to intense breeding and hybridization, and in an

unprecedented blind step, the past few years have seen their very biological essence, their DNA, become subject to the whims of modern science and the insatiable pursuit of profit. The above sequence is not some idealist

fantastical projection about a golden age in the past; it is a cold, hard fact. These last two steps in the progression of humanity’s relationship with seeds have fundamentally altered the

social, economic, and biological foundations of the global food system. Crucially, the most widely

used commercial seeds have shifted from a common good to a privately held one — and that process

of commodification has now given birth to a whole culture of resistance and renewal. One vehicle for this resistance is the seed library. Seed libraries function much like traditional book libraries except with seeds instead of words in paper volumes. Members of the community “check out” seeds, grow them, let an appropriate amount go to seed, harvest the seeds, and “return” the seeds to the library. By putting seeds back into the hands of the people, seed libraries resist the modern industrial agricultural and food distribution system in major ways:

— Education: by spreading the knowledge and resources to successfully grow and harvest food while saving seeds in a continuous cycle

— Conservation: seed libraries preserve our traditional crops and culture by keeping them alive and growing a sustainable future (rather than keeping them frozen in time and ossified at seed banks and museums; through circulating their seeds, seed libraries keep the varieties adapted to the local climate and conditions)

3 30

— Decolonization: by challenging monopolizing biotechnology and industrial seed companies with a strong focus on native plants and respect for indigenous wisdom

— Regeneration: of seed saving, of concepts of the commons, reconnecting to where our food comes from and how it gets there, and rebuilding a relationship to the natural world that has been ruptured for many of us.

In the course of the 20th and 21st centuries most of humanity saw a fundamental shift in our relationship with the production of food — we ceased doing it, urbanized, and began engaging in wage labor. We were told a narrative, that many of us came to believe, that we could only feed the world with industrialized agriculture using a monocrop system; that non-chemical (a.k.a. organic), small-scale, agriculture using traditional crops was useless and condemned to the past, and at worst a luxury of the rich. In reality, the majority of the world continues to grow traditional seeds to feed itself, but global food security is threatened as local food sovereignty is challenged by the supranational for-profit control of seeds. Meanwhile global food insecurity increases as inequality rises and the climate destabilizes. Our alienation from growing food and saving seeds is fundamental to propagating the false narrative of industrial agriculture as our savior by removing food production from our immediate everyday experience and concerns. Seed libraries seek to resist this idea by reconnecting people with seeds, growing plants and cultivating ecosystems. Re-engagement engenders resistance to the corporate-industrial agricultural system, based as it is upon alienation from the modes and means of food production. Join us, and regain our Seed Freedom!

Artijoke of the day What do you get if you divide the circumference

of a pumpkin by its diameter?

Pumpkin pi.

Chive talk peas SOILidarity radish revolution seedy hall seed-in lettuce turnip the beet feed’em lovagers moss movement thank yew berry mulch

4 29

5

GARDEN WRAP By Terah Li plant a seed and watch it grow weed and then water each row reap and harvest what you sow leave some for the wind to blow calling all with spade and hoe plant parsley, parsnip, potatoe, peas and lovage as you know turn adversary into caring allied friend no longer foe these things take thyme, these things are slow join me though, sis and bro lettuce outgrow the status quo who needs lawns you need to mow? food not bombs is how to go with soilidarity to show community, in unity, is the best immunity from a food system that will throw pounds of produce out the window while billions starve around the globe and millions migrate to and fro into deep pockets money goes but in our gardens honey flows 'cause all we need are healthy bees, heirloom seeds, and fruiting trees from that we feed all families so that we're freed from those with greed do something truly radical plant a garden, none's too small free food forever, fresh for all ...forever, y'all!

Grass roots - Plants as cultural identity By Ionatan Waisgluss

Plants play a tremendous role in our daily lives; we relate to them so thoroughly that we barely give these relations much thought. They provide us with food, clothes, tools, medicine, as well as less tangible things like artistic inspiration, tranquility, and even a sense of identity.

Indeed, plants impact our identities

in all sorts of interesting ways, whether on an individual scale (e.g., our names, our tattoos, our “favourite plants”), or on the

much broader scale of political systems. Take Ontario, for example, a province

that touts the White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) on all of its official signage

and paperwork. Consider our health cards, driver’s licences, tax forms...

the White Trillium signals Ontarians’ belonging to a particular

system. If you’re looking to benefit from public services, it pays to have a representation

of this flower in your wallet; it’s a token of belonging and standardization. Moving up to the federal level we have The

National Flag of Canada, an emblem representing the natural wealth of Canada, but also serving as a symbolic assertion of the government’s tie to its land via the adoption of a native plant symbol: the leaf of the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum). The Fleur-de-lis of 12th century France and modern day Quebec is yet another great example of cultural identity via botany; in this case, the stylized Lily (Lilium sp.) represents, among other things, a long line of heraldry.

A great number of political entities (e.g. countries, provinces,

cities) have corresponding trees or wildflowers, recognized on an official level, but plants can also form the basis on which people themselves relate to their culture and sprituality. First Nations representation, for example, often takes place in the form of the Medicine Wheel, four quarters of a circle representing, among other things, four different plants. In some cases, plants are chosen because of characteristics which speak to a group’s self-image. Many Israelis, for example, refer to themselves as Sabra (Opuntia sp.), better known as the Prickly Pear, alluding to the thick skin of the fruit that conceals a sweet, softer interior. Plant symbols can also portray organization’s

28

identities and purposes, such as the wheat sprig (Triticum sp.) of the Food and Agricultural Organization. They can serve as symbols for religions, like the Buddhist lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) or the Rose (Rosa sp.) of Rosicrucianism. They can even represent political or social movements, such as the Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) of the Scottish Green Party or the Peyote button (Lophophora williamsii) of Gonzo journalism.

Of course, symbology is only one manifestation of the way

plants form our cultural identities. The plants we choose to eat, to grow, to use in our idioms, the plants we consider moral or immoral—all of these form part of our identity as well, in an endless array of ways which is far beyond the scope of this article to dissect. Instead, my aim was to spark a curiosity in the reader and to encourage them to consider the plant symbology around them, keeping an eye out for instances where plants stand as tokens of cultural identity. Which plants have we picked to represent ourselves, individually and collectively? What do these choices say about us? These are questions which can't be answered in a single sitting, but will hopefully provide the reader with some food for thought and inspire further interest in the relationship between people, plants and place. Ionatan Waisgluss can be found online at http://about.me/ionatan

All encompassing and connected By Brooke Topp we gathered in queen's park to build a garden to tend the earth and seeds with our hands to share our thoughts and feelings of the land, upon which we the people stand connecting all of my relations, every child, woman and man we sang and cheered, spring at last is here! we sang for mother earth out of love not fear in a system designed to kill what we all hold dear how crazy could it be to sow a family a meal? there's plenty space in this land to grow and its time to heal time to ask yourself who you are and how you really feel please legislative security cops, tearing up gardens is not your job and the city is hungry, all the bellies are grumbling cuz despite old law, all the earth is sacred, each and every part and its you, yes you! you beautiful creature of soulful soil without you and i the world would not be whole if you listen earth's plant and animal life are offering a new perspective i keep in mind we are living life all encompassing and connected

6 27

7

By Emily Kedar i have dug through the garden of my days season after season, plunging my hands in living earth, turning soil with attention, ripping out the roots of expectation and flinging them onto the path to by worn by time’s feet that pass, left to become into some green newness. i have churned the heart of this garden with love and with respect and with fear all dancing on the tips of my fingers, working until my hands are cracked, because i know that more than half of planting is making space. as i watch the dirt fountain through my busy hands i know that to be alive is movement and i am satisfied. but no matter how much work we put into cleaning out the new beds in spring the wild will have her way. All those plants that tap and choke, the jealousy, the anger, find a place among your lilies, your mint and yellow lavender, and they sing with a life as deserving as any other. All of this lives. All of this matters.  

   

Eat Natural Chia Seeds For Optimum Health & Wellness By Gary F. Patton

Are you or a member of your family struggling with your weight? Has your doctor warned you or one of them that you're showing the signs of pre-diabetes? Might you already have diabetes? Do you suffer from fatigue? High levels of stress? Other wellness problems? If you’re “sick and tired” about being sick and tired, there is hope for you and your family’s increased wellness by buying an easy-to-prepare, inexpensive and nutritious natural food at your local grocery or bulk food store. Chia seeds contain:

● awesome amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids (the essential “good fats”), i.e., eight (8) times more than potentially polluted salmon, plus:

● five (5) times more calcium than whole milk... ● two+ (2+) times more iron than beef liver...

● fifteen (15) times more magnesium than broccoli...

● three (3) times more antioxidant power than fresh blueberries... ● more fibre than Flax seed in a unique, blood-sugar stabilizing

form... ● more protein than soy...

● Gluten-free... unlike addictive, high-glycemic wheat. And on top of all the above awesome wellness benefits, Chia can be added to and enhances any food, cooked or raw, even ordinary water, without changing the flavour. Researches class Chia seeds as a 'superfood'. Superfoods are a special category of items found in nature. These alone are calorie-sparse and nutrient-dense. This means that superfoods, like Chia seeds, pack "a lot of punch for their weight" in terms of human wellness value. Modern research has proven that a tablespoon of Chia can sustain a healthy person for 24 hours. Indeed, the word ‘chia’, in the Mayan language, means ‘power’ because of its

26

Antioxidants: crucial dietary supplements required to maintain health and prevent diseases like cancer or heart disease. Fibre & Weight Control: Fibre has an integral role in our bowel movements. Because it also gives us the feeling of satiety, it is a natural, appetite suppressant. Vitamins & Minerals: Chia contains a large amount of vitamin B, so much so that it was proven that they increase metabolism, help maintain healthy skin, and muscles and combat the causes of cardiovascular disease. As a complete food, calcium, iron, potassium, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc are also found in Chia seeds. Getting the benefits: It is not necessary to grind Chia seeds to enjoy their benefits like you do with less nutrition-packed Flax and Hemp seeds. Bake them in muffins, soups, and sauces. Add them to smoothies, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, etc. The taste of Chia seed is very light. You can incorporate them into your meals without altering the taste of your dishes. For maximum nutrition retention eat the seeds alive by adding them to uncooked fruit, salads, or as a garnish on top of cooked vegetables, etc.. The Best Way to Eat Chia: The author of the top book on Chia mentioned below, recommends the best way to eat it is to mix a tablespoon of the seed in a six ounce glass of water. Let it sit for about five (5) minutes and it will swell into a gel up to eleven (11) times its normal size. Drink it before each meal! In this form, experts argue that Chia packs more all-around nutritional value plus sugar-spike-modulating benefits than any other food on the planet. For an added wellness benefit, add the juice of half a lemon to your glass of gelled chia after rising. Pure lemon juice is a terrific cleanse for your liver after its night of detoxification. For more intriguing info about "Chia" read this unedited article at http://diigo.com/0w1ph. There you’ll discover some interesting graphics plus secrets about the Mayans use of Chia. Or review the seminal book written on the subject: "The Magic of Chia ...Revival of an Ancient Wonder Food" by James F. Scheer © 2014 Gary F. Patton, PattonAssociates.ca, People Development Coaches

will bear fruits in the communities we find ourselves living in tomorrow, and I pray that we can imagine ourselves into worlds that support, sustain and energize the very best possible realities into being. Seed sovereignty and diversity are important elements in any healthy, robust, & sustainable future, so it is vitally important that we help nurture and develop organizations that encourage seed saving and distribution, like Seed Libraries in Toronto and around the world, like one of the pioneers in seeds-saving: USC Canada a.k.a. Seeds of Diversity, and publications like the Seedy Zine. There are over 4068 native flowering plants in Canada, 7500 species of Tomatoes, and probably over ~300 000 plant species on this Planet. If we are to preserve this abundance & diversity for future generations, we have to co-operate and co-ordinate amongst ourselves to save and perpetuate seeds. Co-creating sustainable systems & seed communities is not going to happen overnight: We must be committed, patient and steadfast in our faith, dedication and efforts, and trust that we are working for the greater good, that our efforts have real and positive effects. It's with great pleasure & gratitude that I'm able to contribute in even a small way to the first of hopefully many publications of the Seedy Zine. The Seedy Zine is a wonderful symbol of the unfolding growth in consciousness right here, on the northern shores of Great Lake Ontario. Wherever you are, may you be contributing to this growth in consciousness as well, and enjoy being part of a community of species, seed, and civilization savers, here on planet Earth. Best of luck to all.

Jeff is an aspiring documentary filmmaker on the subject of Intentional Communities in North America, and co-creator of sustainable systems. He can e reached via cleangreencommunities@hushmail.com

8 25

9 24

Seeding a Community of Seed-Savers: Part 1 - A New Era By Jeff Woo

One by one, green shoots sprout forth from planet Earth, stretching up and out from beneath the damp, dark soil into

the bluish-white sun-kissed sky. Bees are zipping through the air

above, early flowers are blooming across forest floors, and animals and humans are

emerging from their cozy winter dens.

As we travel from the Winter Solstice to the Spring Equinox, just one year removed from the “End of the Mayan Calendar”, we are witnessing, and are part of: the “Shift of the Ages”, a

new awakening, a new Spring.

Initiatives, such as the Toronto Seed & Tool Libraries, Collaborative Consumption movements, and even this brand-spanking new

"Seedy Zine", are prime examples of new grassroots projects taking shape and form in "the new paradigm". The new paradigm(s) include(s) an emphasis on personal & collective responsibility: New eras of conservation; Sharing of resources & skills; and Environmental, humanitarian and social consciousness. Bascially we're co-creating a better world for the good of All, centered in truth, justice, wisdom and freedom. New promising worlds are being born amongst the busyness and future-less streams of old paradigms. These new worlds are like freshly sprouted seeds: Just emerging from the fertile soils of imagination, sending down roots of stability in a world of volatility, with our hopes and our prayers. Some sprouts inevitably grow into their full potential & bloom: Into community hubs, resource centres, & beacons of light leading the way towards a brighter tomorrow. These little seedlings might even form offshoots and offspring along the way, providing alternative paths that become more and more viable, and attracting more and more people who want to make a difference, improve their lives and improve the broader whole we call "Life in general"; To participate in growing their own communities to become more vital and more robust. I hope we all recognize what a momentous time we are living in: A time where many futures can be co-created, and it is up to each one of us to decide which paths we set into motion. The seeds we plant today

The Supermarket and You By Sarah E. Hoffman The rise of the supermarket has created a commercial, corporate, and detached economic transaction. Before the universality of the supermarket, customers waited in line at small neighbourhood stores and dictated the goods they wished to purchase and an assistant would then retrieve and package the goods. The switch to supermarkets was not swift or painless. The first true supermarket was developed in 1930 with the advertising slogan 'Pile it high. Sell it low'. The popularity of automobiles allowed supermarkets, with their large parking lots, to

become anchors of strip malls. The public remained dubious about many aspects of

the supermarket. The shopping cart, a 1937 invention, offended men who found it effeminate while it annoyed women with

it's resemblance to a baby carriage. The inventor of the cart had to hire male and female 'shoppers' to demonstrate the utility of the shopping cart while greeters explained its usefulness. Housewives were resistant to pre-packaged goods

such as cake mixes until manufacturers included the addition of eggs and oil allowing

the housewife to feel as though the resulting cake was truly homemade. We, the public, had to be

duped, harangued and schooled into the supermarket. We had to be lured in with promises

of fanciful carts, pretty packaging and marketing gimmicks. We were seduced by convenience. But at what cost? Before supermarkets we spoke to each other. We knew who grew our food and how. We had relationships with neighbours and business proprietors. We gave that up for over-salted, over-processed and over-cooked convenience foods made in factories that pollute the environment, mistreat animals and whose worker's basic human rights are not respected. The institutionalization of the grocery store is almost complete but with dedication we can achieve a different relationship to our food. We can purchase foods directly from farmers through farmer's markets. We can participate in agriculture through the medium of CSA's (community supported agriculture). We do not have to participate in the commodification of our food but can instead learn to communicate with each other through and over food. If we can't know our butchers and bakers we can know each other. Host a dinner party. Have a picnic with friends. Communicate over food and the

10

importance, and negative connotations, of the supermarket may lessen with time. Sarah E. Hoffman is a pamphleteer, blogger, academic and gastronomist. She enjoys picnics, the smell of freshly baked bread and bobo tea. When stressed she bakes until the flour runs out. Sarah is married to a very understanding non-foodie, whom she is in the process of converting. Find her @Sarah999 or wingedsnail99.blogspot.com

Free Mulch in the City By Tracy MacMaster

My first Spring in my current community plot, one of my fellow gardeners stopped by to look over the fence. He saw beds covered in a mix of oak leaves, birch and maple, unceremoniously swept up from around my building and dropped on top of the spread-out paper bags they were carried in. He commented, “That’s a lot of leaves.” “Yep.” He looked puzzled. “You going to rake those up?” “Nope.” And so my efforts to find free, organic mulch in the city came to light. Over the years I’ve used black plastic pool covers found on the street (alas, non-organic, not to mention a garter snake magnet), moldering hay from a friend’s horse farm, used coffee grinds from the evil corporate coffee house, and even bales of straw, obtained through barter on Craigslist for the promise of veggies down the road (the kind folks who traded loved the tomatoes). These materials have in common two important things; they are firmly within the spirit of community gardening – they make due with what recycled materials you can scrounge, and they provide what every gardener works towards – a weed-free environment for veggies. Organic mulch keeps down weeds, and more. Mulch cools soil temperatures, allowing microbes, worms and other friendly creatures to thrive. As organic materials break down over time, nutrients are added to the soil. Less water is required to keep your plants happy, since evaporation is reduced, and soil erosion is slowed. That’s a lot of good from a pile of leaves. So the next time you look over your community gardener neighbors fence, check out their ideas for mulch. If you are lucky, they will let you in on their source.

Although the bee situation is dire, it is not hopeless. We can all take steps to help honeybees and native pollinators by planting gardens with plants that bloom throughout our growing season. You can also avoid pesticide laden food by growing your own-organics can be expensive unless you buy direct from farmers at Farmers’ Markets. Kathleen Wynne seems to be in support of bee issues, her recent letter to Health Minister advises swift action, but the Ontario’s Bee Health Working Group anticipated timelines (2018) are worrisome. Following a 2008 ban on neonics in Italian agriculture in Italy, there have been no mass bee die-offs in bee yards around crops. You can help advocate for a total ban on neonicotinoids by writing your local M.P., Kathleen Wynne and Health Canada. Locally you can help by joining the March Against Monsanto this May 24th. I have helped organize beekeepers to march at the last 2 MAMs in our suits to garner public attention to the bee crisis, and we have plans for a higher profile at the next March including a national press release-please join us. -Karen McKenna, beekeeper. You can keep up with my beevents and bee news at: www.facebook.com/hihoneysavethebees

23

What do bees have to do with seeds?

By Karen McKenna In short-everything! 2012 honey sales were $173 million in Canada, but the direct and indirect value of pollination is much greater; $2.7 billion per annum according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. What is at stake if we continue to lose bees at the current rate is priceless; beyond finances, bees are responsible for every third bite of food we eat. No bees means no food, as one beekeeper’s sign at last Spring’s March Against Monsanto in Toronto proclaimed. Beekeepers and our allies are gravely concerned about threats to an established species which has been around for 100 million years; if they are in trouble so certainly are we as a relatively new species in world history. The toxins in neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics for short) are the class of pesticides which threaten life beyond bees although that would be enough to raise serious alarm. The American Bird Conservancy notes that even very low doses of neonics are toxic to birds and aquatic systems, and remain in soil for up to ten years. Samples of dead bees have been analysed by the Health Canada Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency and the vast majority proved to have high levels of neonicotinoid chemicals clothiandidin and/or thiamethoxam in dead bee populations and in their bee yards. Why all these poison seeds? The use of neonicotinoid coating increases bushels per acre for corn production, and leading toxic seed producers Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer CropScience have spent lots of money brainwashing agribusiness producers that the world will starve without buying into neonicotinoid coated seeds. This new class of pesticides is much different than spray pesticides as neonicotinoids grow through the entire plant, contaminating pollen and nectar, and eventually our food supply. Corn and soy make up over 50% of Ontario’s field crops, and farmers can no longer easily access seeds without this coating as the seed market has been dominated by poison producers listed above. Starting in 2004, seed companies in the U.S. has marketed seeds with five times greater the amount of neonicotinoid than ‘traditional’ 0.25 mg per seed, according to the Pesticide Action Network and Beyond Pesticides.

A Risk Management Perspective to the crisis of

World Hunger & Food Supply By Anna Guercio As a prudent risk manager, my primary function is to mitigate risk and help an organization achieve its objectives. What is risk? Well it can be speculative which is a chance of loss or no loss or possible gain, or it could just be pure risk much like speculative but with no gain.

What does the world face with our food supply is

it just pure risk that we allow companies like Monsanto to dictate our world food

supply? Or should we take a chance on ourselves and become resourceful within

our own means, insure our own food supply? At the end of the day what is the real objective?

Recent statistics proved by The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates the following:

• 870 million people of 7.1 billion, or 1 in 8, suffer from chronic undernourishment

• 852 million hungry people live in developing countries, 15% of the population

• 16 million people undernourished in developed countries • Africa went from 175 million - 239 million, 1 in 4 are hungry,

sub-Saharan Africa, hunger rising 2% per year • Developed regions, 13 million to 16 million hungry

On the positive, due in large part to socio-economic progress: • Undernourished people decreased nearly 30 percent in Asia

and the Pacific, from 739 million to 563 million a decrease from 23.7% to 13.9%

• Latin America & the Caribbean, 49 million hungry in comparison to 65 million, a decrease from 14.6% to 8.3%

Risk assessment is simple, we must have social protection, it is crucial for accelerating hunger reduction.

11 22

12 21

First, it can protect the most vulnerable, who do not benefit from economic growth. Second, social protection, properly structured, can contribute directly to more rapid economic growth through human resource development and strengthened ability of the poor, especially smallholders, to manage risks and adopt improved technologies with higher productivity. Below is an example of mitigating and treating this risk: Problem:

• Belo Horizonte is the third-largest city in Brazil, 2.5 million people

• Early 1990s, 38% lived below the poverty line, 20% children 3years of age & under suffered from malnutrition.

Resolution:

• Development of a multifaceted structural response by the government that successfully transformed the human right to foods that are adequate in both quantity and quality into reality

Results:

• Program reduced child mortality by 60% • Substantially influenced Brazil’s national Zero Hunger Policy,

using only 2% of the city’s annual budget • Numerous awards from the United Nations in recognition of

this incredible & successful effort How did this successfully work in Brazil? System consisted of more than 20 highly interconnected programs that fostered and complemented one another

• Central project management by means of a specially created department within the municipality

• Supported urban agriculture with community gardens in poor districts with training workshops to promote successful cultivation

• Provision of special sales outlets to commercial green grocers in the most popular markets, to provide at minimum 25 healthy products at a low fixed price

• Provision of market stalls to small scale farmers to sell direct to consumers

and cricket populations, while allowing the establishment of visible fungal networks. All these things increase the amount of nutrients available in the soil to plants. Three varieties of kale, a dozen heirloom tomatoes, Purple Podded pole beans and discarded yarrow were transplanted into holes made in the cardboard. With all of the great opportunities that came with this plot, there were a couple organizational practices I took issue with as a gardener with permaculture at heart. I was unsettled that there was no onsite compost system: the garden is on private land and composts are considered non-aesthetic. Resources the gardeners wasted had to be trucked off-site by city subcontractors to be mixed with green bin refuse and gutter sweepings; delivered back to the garden as compost. This year’s tilling fell on the third week of October: acting on mistaken advice, I put a fresh layer of leaves over my plot on closing day, about a week before. What I would like to see would be untilled plots covered with neighbourhood leaves during the fall and a singular till in spring. A by-product of “tilling in” organic surface matter is the indiscriminate kill-off of bug populations. In ecological garden design, the vast majority of bugs are “good guys” and they are necessary to keep the “bad guys” in check. From a permaculture perspective, at the end of the day this beautiful garden is ultimately operating within a man versus nature ideology and could use a permaculture makeover. Maybe the garden isn’t ready for permaculture, as many members continue to have faith in soil-depleting shake and feed synthetic fertilizers. Next year, I will generate curiosity and possibly controversy, as I tuck a worm barrel into a corner amongst sunflowers, converting plant wastes into yields of vermicompost and “worm urine”. Bryan is the founder of Backyard Groceries, a budding suburban business that seeks to connect people with each other, their communities, and Mother Earth through the common desire to be closer to our food. For educational articles, videos and to learn more about Backyard Groceries visit: www.BackyardGroceries.com. You can contact Bryan directly at BackyardGroceries@hotmail.com

20

plot. Chop and drop is a technique which involves pruning fast growing plants to provide leafy material used to mulch the soil around favoured crops. Daikon radishes were used as one of the main “chop and drop” materials. The white Daikon flowers were food for various species of bees and wasps and after breaking up the subsoil, the large ground- penetrating tap roots were left to decompose in place to add fertility to the soil. With the help of my dad, tomatoes, borage, tomatillos, basil, carrots, amaranth, parsley, endives, corn, cucumbers, tobacco, sunflowers, yarrow, lettuces, Red Malabar spinach and a cardoon were

planted for the purposes of yield, diversity, and attracting predators. The plants also acted as a living-mulch, assisting a thin layer of straw to shade-out unwanted plants. At the far end of the plot, a repurposed net was used to support Red

Malabar vining spinach, drawing in both people and spiders with pink flowers and tropical allure (see below). I acquired the other half of my 11’ by 24’ plot once grass seeds had germinated and were well established. Busy setting up clients’ gardens, there was no way I would be able to invest time and labour resources needed to battle quack grass of that magnitude! Also I was running low on traditional mulch materials. The one resource I did have was knowledge. I blanketed the area with a single layer of cardboard. Lacking a moisture holding mulch on top of the cardboard, I did not expect the cardboard to degrade. The “naked cardboard” mulch still conserved moisture and led to large increases in earthworm, centipede

• Nutrition information program targeted to poorer areas of the city, including free cooking lessons (teams organized from various departments such as Health, Education, Sports, Social Work and Food Security)

• Free school meals, supply fresh products with high nutritional value

• Public restaurants subsidized by the municipality provided a supply of affordable, healthy and nourishing meals for low-income citizens, currently 5 restaurants are operating providing 4 million meals a year, the poor are not stigmatized

In summary, the food security system of Belo Horizonte could, with some adaptation, become a successful model for other cities around the world. The benefits take time to materialize even when the poor benefit from economic growth. In the short-term, social protection supports the most vulnerable so that hunger and nutrition can be reduced now. It is also a foundation for reducing under nourishment for the long term as it improves the nutrition for young children, an investment sure to pay off in the future with smarter, stronger and healthier adults. Social protection helps to mitigate the impact of risk to promote technology adoption and economic growth. A systems approach is needed to link the various goals in an integrated and cost-effective manner. Food banks, while a well-recognized and important emergency to hunger, cannot be expected to adequately respond to the long-term challenges of food insecurity. They are not generally able to guarantee a nutritious diet and are forced by virtue of limited resources to limit the level of assistance provided to any particular person or family The second and most critical component to insure food security is a need for a global framework, even if this entire infrastructure was in place, the one critical risk factor that we need to look at is the magnitude of changes in our agriculture and water supplies that is occurring due to climate change. The risk process concludes that given the excellent example in Brazil, that this approach best eradicates undernourishment and malnutrition as quickly as possible. So let’s turn our attention back to our own individual communities first rather than be concerned about the fight against corporate giants, the best way to defeat hunger is to take care of our own first.

13

19

Policy makers at the national and international level and those developing investment strategies to enhance economic development face many challenges with the changing face of agriculture in the 21st century. While agriculture is the primary source to feed, clothe, and provide materials for fuel and housing for a growing world population, the challenge is at the same time to lift millions of people out of poverty and hunger, reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment and global warming, and sustain water and land resources. These are issues that go beyond national boundaries. As I began I will end, what is the objective? It is clear as illustrated with the Brazil example that we need to mitigate the risk, it is no longer a mere speculation but a doable functional method that begins with each other within the context of a global community by community and shown that rapid progress in reducing hunger requires government action to provide key public goods and services within a governance system based on transparency, participation, accountability, rule of law and human rights. Let us end the speculation of risk and make this an opportunity for a complete global gain, we do nothing we will face risk of loss on a grand scale that we may never recover from, let our objective remain focused and steadfast towards exploiting this risk in finding opportunity in the potential growth and betterment for all. Peas! Anna Guercio is a freelance writer and risk manager.

The Successes and Trials of Permaculture in a Community Garden By Bryan G. For the last two years I have made myself one of the most exciting jobs I have ever had! It involves long hours, muscle-building hard work for 8 months of the year, getting bit by mosquitoes, and the retention of lots of facts that would make many people’s eyes glaze over. Yet, when I take time to look, the product far outweighs the effort. I get to watch nature grow and socialize with itself, as I ponder the problem solving abilities inherent in Mother Earth. Additionally, I get to eat food that I know is clean and sustainable, and occasionally I get to see hardened adults get excited by an innocent joy. I teach, maintain and install ecological and edible organic gardens. This past summer, I took a shot at applying some of the permaculture principles I utilize to an allotment style community garden located in the centre of Historical Markham. A hundred years ago, the land was part of a dairy pasture, now there are over eighty allotments that take advantage of the thick topsoil. My allotment was situated in full sun and had not been cultivated since the abandoned raspberry patch, dandelions and weedy-grasses were tilled-in last summer. Staying true to ecological-gardening principles, I had soil fertility, increasing pollinators, attracting predatory insects, and minimizing work in mind. What ended up happening was a beautiful annual version of permaculture chop and drop that filled in half the

14

18

Butternut squash soup By Eugene Marcello With this recipe, we begin with our curvy cucurbita friends, strip them and cook them all together in a pot--in a steam bath actually. Then we pick them up, get our motors running, and really mix it up. What results is a luxuriant and intensely squashy soup that will get your heart racing. Prep/cooking time: approx. 1hr 15min 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter OR oil 1 small onion, chopped oh so fine 1 quite large butternut squash (or two smaller ones if you’d prefer) 6 c. water 1/2 c. heavy cream OR soy milk 1 tsp. brown sugar 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1. Cut the squash into halves. Remove all of the slimy guts and seeds

from inside and reserve them. Now cut those squash halves in half again. Now you have squash quarters.

2. With the stove set to medium, melt the butter (or add oil) in your soup pot. After its bubbling subsides, add the onions and stir them all around so they get all nice and mixed-in.

3. After a couple minutes, the onions should start turning translucent. Now throw those squash guts in.

4. Stir this all around and cook it up until it gets your kitchen full of fresh squash smell. Approximately 5 minutes.

5. Pour the water into the pot, salt it, bring it up to a boil then turn it back down to a nice bubbling simmer.

6. Place those squash quarters into a colander or other steam-able insert and set it inside the pot. Now cover that pot and steam those squash bits for about 30 minutes until they are all cooked through.

7. Get those nice, tender squash quarters out from the pot. Careful, they will be a bit hot to handle. Once they've cooled, remove the skin and blend them into a smooth puree.

8. Now strain everything from that liquid (the onions and squash guts have sacrificed their flavour for the soup and can safely be composted) and mix it in with the pureed squash, the cream or soy milk and the brown sugar.

9. Warm everything up until it’s piping hot and serve it immediately. Quickly! As fast as you can. It's getting cold!!

If you've done it correctly, your soup will be nearly uniformly smooth and bursting with a strong squash flavour.

GROWINg SQUASH

from seed to seed Squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma/maxima/ficifolia/moschata/peope) Planting: Sow seeds outdoors in 12” diameter hills after danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Hills should be spaced 6’ apart in all directions. Plant seeds 1” deep with 6-8 seeds per hill; thin to 3-4 plants per hill. Seeds can also be started indoors 3 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Squash prefers full sun. Seed Saving: Squash within the same species will cross-pollinate, so isolate species by ¼ mile. Seeds should be taken from fruits that have gone past maturity by 3 weeks. Remove seeds, wash, and let dry. (Note: There are five species of squash: C. argyrosperma, C. maxima, C. ficifolia, C. moschata and C. pepo. This allows you to grow five different species of squash and save pure seed in the same garden.)

15