Powell River, BC
Saturday Sep 26, 9 – 5, at Sycamore Commons (Townsite Anglican Church)
Sunday Sep 27, 9 – 5, at the Cranberry Seniors Centre (Cranberry and Manson)
This full weekend of workshops, classes and field trips focuses on food preservation and processing, with excursions into foraging and seed saving. It will take your urban or rural homesteading to the next level, whether you’re just starting or have been doing it for years. Many sessions are hands-on and all are taught by local experts. You can attend the whole weekend, just one day, or specific sessions, as you wish.
Class Schedule
Here’s the schedule. See below for more details of the individual sessions.
| Saturday | at Sycamore Commons | (Townsite Anglican Church) |
| 9:30 am | Check-in and coffee | |
| 10 am – noon | Build a Tandoori oven and Smoker – Samantha Sherman | The Art of Soapmaking – Courtney Dutchak (offsite) |
| 12:45 – 2:45 pm | Introduction to Beer & cider brewing – Lawrence Berge | Bringing Nature Home (Foraging 101) – Ionatan Waisgluss |
| 3:00 – 4:30 pm | Introduction to Beer & cider brewing (continued) | (Lacto) fermentation 101 – Kitty Clemens |
| Sunday | at Cranberry Seniors Centre | |
| 9:30 am | Check-in and coffee | |
| 10:00 – 12:30 | Beginner Cheesemaking – Samantha Sherman | Juicing and Dehydrating – Kevin Wilson |
| 1:15 – 3:15 pm | Intro to Boiling Water Canning – Katie McLean | Grow (and Harvest) the Seed you need – Wendy Devlin (offsite) |
| 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Make your own Energy Bars – Kevin Wilson | Let’s Go Nuts! – Ron Berezan |
Location & Cost
This weekend aims to be zero waste and support local producers. Please help us reduce our carbon footprint by carpooling, biking, walking or using the bus to get to and from the site.
Location:
Saturday: Sycamore Commons at the Townsite Anglican Church, 6310 Sycamore St. Please enter through the rear basement doors. Bus route 1 stops right outside, or across from, the church.
Sunday: Cranberry Seniors Centre, corner of Manson Ave and Cranberry St. Please enter through the back door off the parking lot: we’ll be using the large and small kitchens, not the main hall. Bus route 1 stops right across from the centre.
See below for information useful to out-of-town visitors!
Cost:
Full Weekend: Regular price $135
Special deal: 15-18 year olds only $40 for the whole weekend!
Single Day: $75
Single workshop: $30
Deposit $20 on registration, remainder due by Sep 20
You can pay up to 20% in Powell River Dollars PR$
Work trades are welcomed (and necessary!) and part scholarships are available – contact Kevin directly: 604 483 9052 or uhspr@fiddlersfarm.com
Skookum Coop members – Skookum will pay 20% of your fee in PR$!
Cancellation policy
50% refund up to 2 weeks before (Sep 12)
No refund after that but you are welcome to send a substitute
Planned Workshops
The Art of Soap Making:
The basics incorporating some local ingredients (beef tallow). During this hands on workshop we will be making cold-process soap using local tallow. You will learn all the steps of cold-process soap making using lye and take home soap you helped make. We are using lye and you should be aware of its dangers. Lye is an extremely caustic chemical that will burn your skin upon contact. It is necessary for cold-process soap making: we will be using safety precautions.
Instructor: Courtney Dutchak * Materials Fee: $5
Let’s Go Nuts!
Locally grown nuts can be an incredible source of protein, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals. We live in a region with great nut growing possibilities! This workshop will provide an overview of suitable nut species for our region, how to select, plant and care for nut trees, and how to store, process and make us of the abundant nut harvest. Participants will be able to try out an electric nut sheller (bring your own nuts if you have any!) and to try their hands at making nut butter.
Instructor: Ron Berezan
Bringing Nature Home (Foraging 101)
An introduction to the principles of foraging, hosted by ethnobotanist Ioni Wais. This workshop is meant as a way to equip participants with theory, skills, and resources related to foraging in coastal BC and beyond. We will be looking at the how-to’s of foraging plants & fungi in diverse natural and human-built environments, and looking at the many wonderful things that can be brought home from the great outdoors. Workshop will include an introduction to plant & fungi identification, discourse on foraging safety & ethics, an introduction to dichotomous keys, and an extensive (and useful!) list of online resources. And of course, plenty of foraging tips & stories!
Instructor: Ionatan Waisgluss
Building a Tandoori Oven and Smoker
In this workshop you’ll learn how to build an outdoor tandoori oven that can also be easily converted for grilling and smoking meats, cheeses, and vegetables for under $100.
Instructor: Samantha Sherman
Beginner Cheesemaking
Learn the basics of cheese making; in two and a half hours you’ll learn how to make farmers cheese, ricotta and mozzarella. We’ll use both cow and goats milk during the cheese making process and the learn the differences between the two.
Instructor: Samantha Sherman * Materials Fee: $5
Grow (and Harvest) the Seed you need
Are you interested in saving your own flower and vegetable seed to use next year? This hands-on workshop includes a what where and how tour of seed-saving on Glade Farm. Learn about seed saving principles and techniques and how to clean and store the seed you need. Since we’ll be at the farm, be prepared for all weather. The workshop goes on rain or shine!
Instructor: Wendy Devlin
(Lacto) fermentation 101
Lacto fermentation is a way of preserving food that takes nothing more than salt, whey (optional), vegetables, water and some canning jars. There is no need for canning, freezing, blanching, drying etc. All minimizing the time you need to spend on these processes. The fermented food you are left with is teeming with flavor, lots of life enzymes, higher levels of nutrition and healthy probiotics. What kind of foods can you ferment? Besides the sauerkraut we are all familiar with, you can do pickles and relish in no time, but also; mustard, mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, black bean dip, kimchi, pickled garlic, eggs, fermented juices and fruit. The sky is the limit. So all in all a winning situation with healthy, yummy foods and still lots of time to spare
Instructor: Kitty Clemens
Intro to Boiling Water Canning
Have a fruit tree in your yard? A garden full of produce to do something with? Come learn how to create delicious canned goods for your later enjoyment! Today we’ll be making two things, applesauce and some sort of vinegared pickles, perhaps carrots; but the basic techniques can be used for jams, jellies, sauces, compotes, salsas, chutneys, etc. We’ll go over how to can with a proper canner as well as very basic equipment that you may already have in your kitchen, and what you need to do to make sure that your creations are safe to eat. This will be hands-on class, you’ll get to try out all the steps, and even take home a jar or two!
Note: Boiling water bath canning is used for high-acid foods, which means things made with most fruits, or vegetables with added acid (e.g. pickles). Pressure canning is necessary for foods with low acid, like vegetables without added acid, or fish and meats.
Instructor: Katie McLean * Materials Fee: $6
Juicing and Dehydrating
How to use juicing and dehydrating (together and separately) to get the most out of your fruits and vegetables. Try out multiple different methods of juicing, sample the results, and learn how to preserve them. Review different methods of drying food, including solar options, make fruit leather and sample dried treats.
Instructor: Kevin Wilson * Materials Fee: $3
Introduction to Beer & cider brewing
Discussion and demonstration of the making of a simple pale ale using extracts malts, whole grains and hops. There will also be information provided on cider making, equipment, suppliers and online sourcing of ingredients.
Instructor: Lawrence Berge
Make Your Own Energy Bars
Clif bars, Lara bars, energy bars – you can make your own for less $$ than buying the name brands, leave out the ingredients you can’t or don’t eat, and include your favourites. We’ll make several different kinds for you to sample and take home. Materials fee $4
Instructor – Kevin Wilson
Out of Town Visitors
How to reach Powell River:
By Road:
From Vancouver: take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, drive North on Hwy 101 to Earls Cove (about 1 hr 20 mins), take a second ferry to Saltery Bay, then drive North on Hwy 101 to Powell River. Continue as Hwy 101 becomes Marine Ave until you reach the Westview ferry terminal.
From Vancouver Island: take your best route to Comox, then take the ferry from Little River to Powell River Westview terminal.
By Bus
Malaspina Coach Lines runs buses up the Sunshine Coast between Vancouver Airport and Powell River once daily. However, there have been some service interruptions recently so please call and check with the company before relying on it.
By Air
Pacific Coastal Airlines flies from the South terminal at Vancouver Airport (YVR) to Powell River 4 times daily.
How to reach the site:
For both: on Saturday, take Marine Ave North to the Historic Townsite, turn R up Oak St to Sycamore St, turn R and the site is the second church on the right. On Sunday, head East on Duncan St from the ferry to the four way stop at Manson Ave: turn left. Continue on Manson until it forms a T junction with Cranberry St: the Seniors Centre is right there on your left.
Accommodation
In Townsite:
Old Courthouse Inn
Rodmay Hotel
Island View Lodge
In Cranberry:
Only 5 mins drive from Townsite so I recommend the hotels above. There is a motel opposite the Seniors Centre but it’s combined with a bar, pool hall, liquor store and convenience store and is noisy.
