The+story+so+far…



Our school got its start in **Robert's Creek by Robin Wheeler**, founder of the [|One Straw Society], proprietress of an [|edible landscaping nursery], herbalist and author, [|Gardening for the Faint of Heart] and the forthcoming Food Security Handbook from New Society Publishers.

"Peak oil, anyone? And has Free Trade Agreement got you nuts? Megalomaniacal leaders to the South who also control most of Canada’s food supply? A world gone mad with consumerism and debt? It seems like a sensible time to relearn simple, low tech skills that will reduce our local footprint, decrease our impact on others in the world, and to permit breathing space and time for connection with our landscape." From http://www.ediblelandscapes.ca/SLA_School.html
 * WHY A SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABLE ARTS?**

The school is rooted in the traditions and experience of those who live on the land, close but not too close to the big city. Teachers are subsistence farmers, herbalists, elders, foragers.


 * I’ve learned to can from a Vietnam war resister who homesteaded in Robert’s Creek with her siblings.
 * I’ve learned how to make cedar shakes from a barefoot druid who went back to the land in the mid 60’s, and never left.
 * I’ve learned about the wonders of lacto-fermentation and live culture food preservation techniques on Robin’s picnic table from a Vancouver chef. Pic of sauerkraut.

"So much knowledge has been lost, even in the past 50 years! Our grandparents could feed themselves out of a garden, preserve food for winter, medicate an infected animal and tend a woodlot. These were simple but crucial arts that kept their footprint small, and their dependence on outside forces minimal." You will learn skills you can put to immediate use: > and more!
 * The Sunshine Coast curriculum:**
 * winter gardening
 * herbal medicines
 * long term storage of foods
 * seed saving
 * water management
 * plant propagation
 * bee keeping
 * fowl rearing
 * woodlot management
 * garden planning
 * mushroom cultivation

Relationship to farmers/rural, cross-promoting, the peak experience