Submitted by the Columbia Valley Metis Association

It’s about getting back to the basics.

With rising prices on grocery shelves, families are looking for ways to create food security at home, which means rekindling skills that for many have been lost.

“It didn’t take long for old ways like growing our own food to fall by the wayside,” said Jennifer Cope, Columbia Valley Metis Association (CVMA) board member.

“Even one generation was enough for those old skills to go unpracticed.”

Added to that is the reality that many households don’t have a lot of space to create a garden plot.

To that end, the CVMA applied for a food security grant from the Metis Nation of British Columbia and reached out to Stephanie Stevens, Indigenous liaison for Invermere’s Groundswell Community Gardens (and also Metis).

“Jen messaged me and asked if we could put together a day class for basic gardening skills for the Metis community and it was an automatic yes for me,” said Stevens. “The (Groundswell) board members were also on board immediately.”

The four-hour course is set for Sunday, May 25 and will include basic soil health, starting seeds, transplanting seedlings and how to care for and harvest the greens and tomatoes the attendees will go home with.

“It’s open to any CVMA members at no cost and we will have lunch halfway through,” said Cope. “The participants will take home a planter with salad greens, a tomato plant and some kale or Swiss chard as well, all in pots they can tend on their decks.

“I am pretty excited,” Cope added. “I think it will be a really fun and rewarding day.”

Email to secure one of the 20 spots available at [email protected].

“Just like every journey starts with a single step, knowledge spreads when you teach what you know with others, and they in turn share again,” said Stevens. “I would love to see every home growing at least a portion of their own food.”

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