learningparties

//** You are warmly invited to a hands-on learning party at your school and community garden! **//

The idea of a learning party grows out of a rich strain of volunteer educational experimentation and grassroots activism over the last few years that has been nurtured, supported and extended by groups like Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and Strathcona Community Centre. It's very much a reflection of the explosion of interest in do-it-yourself culture, though it really about "do it together" in the spirit of celebration. The people who have kept the hands-on skills of growing food, preserving, healing with herbs and local plants, foraging, fixing, building using salvaged and natural materials alive, are mentored and honoured as teachers. Learning parties inspire people to share what they know in the service of our commons. Local people sharing skills with local people to the benefit of all- great idea! (For more, read "[|What's a learning party"]?)

The Free Folk School was a project that Andrew Rushmere (now of UBC Farm) led for his MA in Education exploring "place-based education". Andrew curated several amazing hands-on workshops led by "local folk for local folk", on making cheese, fermenting vegetables, harvesting seaweed, building soil health, building a solar water heater, urban foraging and more.

[|Photos of Free Folk School Workshops] Solar Cob Stomping by [|arushmere]

Robin Wheeler founded the Sustainable Living Arts School in Robert's Creek to offer "practical permaculture" workshops to share the skills needed to live sustainable lives. Her teachers are local people who live and practice what they teach in the living examples of their smallholdings, mini-farms, kitchens and home and market gardens.

Peter Light sharing permaculture theory before taking the crew out to sheet mulch. They started a new garden over an invasive blackberry patch in a little over an hour.

Keira McPhee joined forces with Andrew and Robin to curate and mentor new curators of an [|volunteer run series of learning parties] in Vancouver over the last few years. Mona Park curated a **Kimchi Learning Party** in spring 2009 with teacher, Inga Min. The hosts for the day, Elaine Cross and Rob Smales, had lived in Korea for many years and generously opened their home to the learning partiers. During the party itself Mona translated for Inga and shared stories of her family's kimchi traditions. Other learning parties focused on building with living willow, urban root cellaring, healing with local weeds, propagating perennial edibles and more. Some were hosted by public spaces and groups, some by local people in their homes who benefited in some way by hosting (i.e. getting a pot of kimchi...participants took home samples and the hosts were left with a huge crock.)



The Strathcona Earth Day celebration in 2009 was a wonderful community learning celebration. Jill Stieler, of the community centre's After School Adventures program invited local artists to work with the children to create paving stones for the Sunshine Patch Garden. A local swing band drew in the neighbours to relax and celebrate alongside the school children.



The Garibaldi Garden began with a permaculture design learning party led by Robin Wheeler and continued with work parties throughout spring 2009. Here the homelearners and regular k-4 kids sink their toes in the earth! For more photos and stories of the Garibaldi garden, visit [|www.garibaldigarden.wordpress.com]