The Sharing Farm’s 8th annual Metro Vancouver Garlic Festival will offer up over 1,000lbs of fresh garlic for sale this Sunday, combined with a celebration of “the stinking rose” that includes workshops and cooking demos.
Metro Vancouver Garlic Festival
When: Sunday, August 21, 2016 10:00am to 3:00pm
Admission: By donation. Free parking available.
Where: The Sharing Farm (Terra Nova Rural Park, 2771 Westminster Hwy, Richmond)
Over 5,000 people a year have enjoyed the family-friendly garlic festival, learning about how food grows, the benefits of healthy eating, and how families can live and grow through a sustainable lifestyle.
Highlights for festival goers include live entertainment, an expanded farmer’s market, cooking demonstrations, and a children’s area. The festival takes place at The Sharing Farm located in the beautiful award winning Terra Nova Rural Park. Food and drink tickets are available for sale online in advance (and onsite).
For 7 years, The Sharing Farm’s signature annual fundraiser, The Garlic Festival, has supported their food-dignity mandate to grow fresh local organic produce for low-income families. From their simple beginnings collecting surplus fruit to give to the Richmond Food Bank, through small-scale vegetable farming on donated land, The Sharing Farm Society now cultivates 3 acres at Terra Nova Rural Park.
Follow The Sharing Farm on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
Hiking is a part of life in Metro Vancouver, whether it’s a stroll through Stanley Park or a climb up to a spectacular mountain lookout. The Dog Mountain trail from Mount Seymour is rated as an easy hike, a drive up to the parking lot helping with most of the elevation gain, with rewarding views.
Dog Mountain
Dog Mountain stats courtesy of Vancouver Trails:
Time: 2 hours
Distance: 5km
Season: June to October
Dogs: Yes, the trail is dog friendly
“While the trail has minimal elevation gain and is only about 5km return, it should be noted that the path is a bit more technical, requiring careful steps along several sections that are covered with slippery tree roots. Therefore, some hikers may find this trail on the more challenging end of the “easy” rating.”
Outdoor Vancouver lists Dog Mountain as a snowshoe trail from November to April. “If you’ve never been on snowshoes before, a trip out to Dog Mountain is the perfect place to see what the hype is all about. Maintained by BC Parks, the Dog Mountain trail is free to use and dogs are allowed. All these factors make a Dog Mountain snowshoe the perfect family outing. Not to mention the spectacular view of Vancouver from the summit.”
From Vancouver, head north on Highway 1 across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and exiting on Mount Seymour Parkway. Follow the parkway to Mount Seymour Rd and start the winding climb up to the parking lot/ski area.
At the north end of the Mount Seymour parking lot, you’ll find the BC Parks information board that includes a map. Heading north, to the left of the chair lift/ski run, you’ll see signs for the more difficult “3 Peaks” trail, as well as one for “First Lake”, that’s the route you’ll follow for Dog Mountain.
Remember to always be prepared for your hike, and let someone know when and where you are going. For more information about hikes this season, check out Tourism Vancouver’s Top 5 Easy Summer Hikes and sites like Vancouver Trails and Club Tread.
Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Fest, the biggest food truck festival in Canada, hits New Westminster this Saturday. 90 food trucks, from tacos to thai, perogies to poutine, will complement live entertainment, and much more in the heart of Downtown New West.
Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Fest
Where: Columbia Street in Downtown New Westminster
When: Saturday, August 20, 2016 from 4:00pm to 10:00pm
Tickets: Free admission
150 vendors in total will add to the atmosphere of the event, along with 24 shaded patios, live music stages, 6 beer gardens and endless food options. Worried about missing The Tragically Hip‘s final concert streaming on the CBC? The national celebration will be played live on a 27-foot screen at the event.
Three live entertainment stages will be setup at Eighth St & Columbia, Begbie St & Columbia, and McKenzie St & Columbia. Take the SkyTrain to New Westminster Station or Columbia Station for easy access. Follow the event on Facebook for more information.
This post has been contributed by Kathleen Stormont, Communications Specialist with the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”). I have been following SPES since I moved into the West End over a decade ago and I have been a member for four years. I wanted to offer the team an opportunity to share their news, events, and work so I have created “SPES Saturday” where they contribute and share stories with my audience once a month.
Sharing the Knowledge
First Nations Plant Walks in Stanley Park
Before Lost Lagoon was artificially blocked off from Coal Harbour in 1916, Stanley Park was an island. Tides washed into the lagoon from Coal Harbour and a stream ran from its western end to English Bay. The lagoon, an intertidal mudflat at low tide (hence its “lost” reference), provided rich clamming grounds for local First Nations, some of whom dwelled in villages dotting the island. The largest village site, Xway Xway (also known as Whoi Whoi), hosted potlatches for up to 2000 people where present-day Lumberman’s Arch is located.
Lauraleigh Paul (Yuxweluptun’aat) touches
the “tree of life”, a western red cedar in Stanley Park.
On the traditional territory of these Coast Salish peoples, the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”) is proud to present a series of authentic indigenous walks with experienced First Nations guides this late summer. Walking in their ancestors’ footsteps, guides like Lauraleigh Paul, a Coast Salish, Interior Salish, and Carrier First Nations woman, is bringing the traditional knowledge of local medicinal and edible plants alive for tour participants. “The wealth of knowledge that has been carried for thousands of years through our oral tradition is now blessing us through this tour,” says Lauraleigh, known also by her indigenous name, Yuxweluptun’ aat.
According to Lauraleigh, Stanley Park is still rich in many species of useful plants. “Unlike other parks around Vancouver, Stanley Park has retained many of the plant species that we used traditionally and continue to collect today.” The trailing blackberry, for example, with a smaller and sweeter berry than the invasive Himalayan blackberry, grows in the Park. The more common plantain, which Lauraleigh refers to as “frog leaf” for its leaf shape and vein pattern, is a multifunctional medicine. “It grows everywhere, along cracks in sidewalks…and it’s a great after-bite remedy for mosquito bites or as a poultice for wounds.”
Trailing blackberry (By Leslie Seaton) & Common plantain (By SriMesh)
SPES stresses, however, that harvesting these plants is illegal in city parks, including Stanley Park. “We are blessed with wilderness stretching in all directions from Vancouver,” Lauraleigh observes. “Plenty of opportunities for harvesting are out there, but we want to show you how to do it sustainably to allow for re-growth and abundance.”
After participating in one of Lauraleigh’s tours, Vancouver Park Board Environmental Planner Alan Duncan tried Lauraleigh’s traditional collecting techniques on wild huckleberries near his family cabin. To his delight, what used to take him two days of collecting, took two hours. In gratitude, Alan presented Lauraleigh with the fruits of his labours: a scrumptious huckleberry pie. Alan’s gift could be observed by some as emblematic of the spirit of reconciliation between First Nations and Canadians. “We’re sharing the knowledge …. It’s an exciting time to be here,” says Lauraleigh.
Lauraleigh shares her wild huckleberry pie with SPES staff.
To join SPES’ “Indigenous Plant Use” walks, visit the Events Calendar webpage or call SPES at 604-257-8544. Walks run throughout August and, owing to their popularity, may be available to schools and other groups this September.
Update: Walks are available on Saturdays in September.
This weekend Miss604 is proud to support Movies Under the Stars in Surrey, a free outdoor movie event screening Inside Out in Holland Park. Here’s what else you can get up to this weekend:
Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend
Events that run for longer than three days in a row are highlighted in green.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Take Off Fridays at YVR Airport
Vancouverite: A Comedy Show
Vancouver Gem & Mineral Show
Meet me at the Lamp(p)ost
Vancouver Heritage Foundation Walking Tours with Maurice Guibord
Abbotsford Airshow
Shipyards Night Market, North Vancouver
Surrey Night Market
International Summer Night Market
Richmond Night Market
Surreal Theatre: Interactive, Roaming Theatre in Gastown
Vancouver Bach Festival
South Asian Arts Society Presents The Monsoon Arts Festival
Vancouver Queer Film Festival
FAME at Firehall Arts Centre
Hipstory: I’d Tell You, But You’ve Probably Never Heard Of It
The Fakespeare Festival
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Sponsored by Miss604: Movies Under the Stars in Surrey
Meteor Shower Watch, Abbotsford
Wines of Chile Tasting Event
SeaWheeze Sunset Festival featuring Chromeo
YVR Community Chill Out
Osprey Day, Pitt Meadows
Amazing Farm Scavenger Hunt
Fibre Arts & Crafts Festival, Surrey
Cates Park Concert Series
Vancouver Heritage Foundation Walking Tours with Maurice Guibord
Summer Latin Cruise
River District Farmers Market
Burnaby Farmers Market
Trout Lake Farmers Market
West End Farmers Market
Surrey Night Market
International Summer Night Market
Richmond Night Market
Abbotsford Airshow
South Asian Arts Society Presents The Monsoon Arts Festival
Vancouver Queer Film Festival
FAME at Firehall Arts Centre
Hipstory: I’d Tell You, But You’ve Probably Never Heard Of It
The Fakespeare Festival
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Free Outdoor Movie in Kits
Pemberley Garden Party at Hycroft
Second Sunday Concert Series Presents: Odd Ditties
Studio Records: Swing Aggregation
Wild Salmon Bake at YEW
Mount Pleasant Farmers Market
Kitsilano Farmers Market
International Summer Night Market
Richmond Night Market
Lonsdale Quay Summer Concert Series
Abbotsford Airshow
South Asian Arts Society Presents The Monsoon Arts Festival
Vancouver Queer Film Festival
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