WE LEARNT ABOUT NUMMYS!

Off we go for a stroll

What is a Weed?
A plant whose virtues have never been discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The 2nd of 3 "Wild Foraging" Workshops occurred on Sunday, July 23rd at Moose Meadows Farm in Bouchie Lake.   13 people braved the weather ranging from sunshine to rain storms for a stroll about the farm in search of edible, wild plants.  Some folks travelled from afar with one person from Williams Lake and another from Prince George.  This workshop focused more on edible flowers, fruits and berries although the use of wild plants as vegetables was certainly discussed.  We were introduced to the term "Nummys" - the inside pith of a thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)...  something worth trying as it is said to be "Nummy".

Below is a list of the plants that are edible that grow on or close to Moose Meadows

Sampling Pineapple Weed

Farm.

Over 30 edible plants grow at Moose Meadows Farm.  Many were sampled...

Birch (Paper) / Betula papyrifera
Burdock / Arctium lappa  ** 
Cattail / Thypha latifolia 
Chaga / Inonotus obliquus

Common Mallow / Malva neglectaCow Parsnip / Heracleum maximumCurrants / Ribes sp.
Dandelion / Taraxacum sp. 

Fiddleheads / Matteuccia struthiopteris

Fireweed / Chamerion angustifolium

Cattails

Goldenrod / Solidago canadensis
Highbush Cranberry / Viburnum edule
Lamb’s Quarters / Chenopodium album
Lilac / Syringa vulgaris  **
Lingdon Berries / Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Oregon Grape / Mahonia nervosa
Ox-eye Daisy / Leucanthemum vulgare **
Picea sp./ Spruce
Pineapple Weed (Wild Camomile) / Matricaria discoidea
Plantain / Plantago major

Raspberry / Rubus idaeus
Red Clover / Trifolium pratense
Saskatoon / Amelanchier alnifolia

Stinging Nettle

Stinging Nettle / Urtica diocia

Strawberry / Fragaria virginiana
Thimbleberry / Rubus parviflorus
Wild Rose / Rosa Acicularis

Yarrow/ Achillea millefolium

** Non-indigenous / Invasive

Thank you to Sandrine Flament of Baker Creek for the wonderful photos of our stroll.

Next and final "Foraging Workshop" will be on September 9th.

2017 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE NOW FINALIZED

The Workshop Schedule for the Empowering Family Health Project: Phase 2 has now been finalized.  A Registration Form can be downloaded under our WORKSHOPS page.

Here are a few notes to consider:

i. SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
ii. All workshops must be pre-paid.  Payment is your registration.  Receipts will only be issued if requested.  Workshop Fee is only $10.00 / person.

iii. Visa and MasterCard transactions will be processed through the Bouchie Lake Country Store.  If you wish to pay this way, payment can also be received over the phone to 250.249.0228 or 250.249.5329.
iv. Cash payments and by debit can be processed at the Bouchie Lake Country Store.

v. Cheques payable to “Growing North Cariboo Society”

vi. Workshop payments are non-refundable within one week of the workshop unless the workshop schedule is altered by Growing North Cariboo Society and /or their representatives.
(vii) Maximum number of persons for the Canning Workshops is 12 persons / workshop.
(viii) Another Canning workshop will be scheduled once we know uptake for all workshops. 

2017 Schedule of Workshop, Location and Date
Workshop	Barlow Creek	Bouchie Lake	Cottonwood	Kersley	Parkland
Food Preservation - Dehydration	n/a	September 7th, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm (7) (Moose Meadows Farm)	Aug. 20th, 10 am -  1pm (3) (Cottonwood House Historic Site)	September 23rd 9:30 am-12:30 pm (9) (Kersley Hall)	August 27th, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm (5) (Parkland Community Centre)
Food Preservation - Canning	August 27th, 1:30 pm -  5:30 pm (6) (Barlow Creek Hall)	August 26th, 12 noon - 4 pm (4) (Bouchie Lake Hall)	n/a	September 23rd 1:30 pm - 5:30  pm (10) (Kersley Hall)	n/a
Wild Foraging	n/a	June 17th, 1- 3 pm (1) July 23rd 1-3 pm (2) Sept. 9th (8) 2-4 pm (Moose Meadows Farm)	n/a	n/a	n/a

Meeting Highlights for GNC Includes EFH Project

The Empowering Family Health Project is a project of the Partners for Healthier Communities: North Cariboo / P4HC:NC.  The P4HC:NC is a stakeholder based group with representatives from across the North Cariboo and is Co-Chaired by Lynette Winsor, Environmental Health Officer with Northern Health and CRD Director Robin Sharpe, Mayor of Wells.  Growing North Cariboo Society / GNC is administering the project, including the funds.

GNC hosted a General Membership Meeting on June 19th.  The organisation has published their first "Meeting Highlights" and the EFH is mentioned.  To view a copy of these Highlights, click here.

"A Spruce Tip to Go?"

This afternoon, the Workshop Series under Phase 2 of the EFH Project kicked off with the first workshop on foraging for wild foods.  The workshop was held at Moose Meadows Farm, in Bouchie Lake, with 21 people in attendance.  

It was a beautiful day -  a perfect day for a stroll of the Back 45. The group was shown a total of 26 edible plants ranging from edible flowers / blossoms, to vegetables, to roots and herbs.  For part of the workshop, the group was accompanied by some very curious camelids (alpacas and llamas).

UPDATE FROM THE BOUCHIE LAKE COUNTRY CLUB

One of the activities under Phase 1 of the Empowering Family Health Project was to support the creation of "Country Clubs" in the rural communities.  Thus far, the only club that has started is the "Bouchie Lake Country Club".  This club meets on an "as needed" basis and since January has hosted Painting Classes, Games Nights, a Canada Flag Parade, a Food Skills for Families Workshop in partnership with the Canadian Diabetes Association, and begun a Community Food Garden.  The success of the club is the volunteers involved and the partners, both non-profit and local businesses.

Earlier this year, the Bouchie Lake Country Club received some funding from Rotary Club of Quesnel and Northern Health through an Imagine Grant to support a project "Building Capacity for Rural Families".  These funds were leveraged with "in community fundraising" so the project could be undertaken.  The engagement that

FLOWCHART FOR THE EMPOWERING FAMILY HEALTH PROJECT

The "Empowering Family Health" Project is a project of the Partners for Healthier Communities Committee: North Cariboo / P4HC:NC.  As the P4HC:NC is a stakeholder group and does not have non-profit status, the P4HC:NC needed to work with an organization which could administer any funding received.  This is where Growing North Cariboo fits in.

All P4HC Committees across the Northern Health Authority must be associated with a local government;  in most cases these are municipalities (e.g. cities, villages, districts).  The P4HC:NC is the only P4HC Committee associated with a Regional District.  Typically, the local government would administer the funds received by the P4HC but for the Cariboo Regional District they did not want to take this on.  As such, Growing North Cariboo Society is administering the funds associated with the P4HC:NC.

Although membership with GNC society is encouraged not all members of the P4HC:NC are GNC members.

CONNECTING AT THE QUESNEL FARMER'S MARKET

Members of the EFH / Empowering Family Health Steering Committee set up a Booth at the Quesnel Farmer's Market today to promote Phase 2 of the EFH Project, chat to people about the upcoming workshops, and encourage people to get on the email distribution list.  Although the weather was cool, lots of chatting was done and connections were made.  People are beginning to sign up for next Saturday's "Foraging in the Wild Workshop" being held in Bouchie Lake.  For information on the EFH Project and /or to register for a workshop, please email empoweringfamilyhealth@gmail.com or call 250.249.5329.