WELCOME to The Garden Institute of B.C. (TGIBC)
Grow the Gold
Heritage Wheat fundraising campaign with the Heritage Grains Foundation and The Garden Institute of BC.
We are offering you a chance to get 'Keremeos Red Fife' wheat - the mother seed of the Red Fife movement in Canada ('Blais Red Fife' is what's being offered in Canada and this came from the Keremeos strain).
Funds raised will facilitate local field trials of heritage grains; education programs; marketing programs and community seed bank development to conserve heritage varieties.
For more information on "Grow the Gold" contact Robert Giardino at info@heritagegrains.org or visit The Heritage Grains Foundation.
MISSION STATEMENT AND BACKGROUND
The Garden Institute creates educational materials and manages projects that support organic agriculture, organic gardening, local food production, communty seed banks and use of heritage seeds. We work in Canada and overseas.
We have a project in Bangladesh with SSARA, developing community seed banks and conserving traditional music, stories and wisdom with traditional varieties of seed.
The Garden Institute of B.C.(TGIBC) and The Garden Institute (TGI) of Alberta are the same registered Canadian charity. We incorporated in B.C. as a non profit society in November 2008. We were a non profit organization in Alberta from 1998 to 2008.
Our 2009 directors are: Ian King, Megan Halstead; Tara Johnson; Robert Giardino and Sharon Rempel
Grassroot organic agriculture practices encourage maintaining healthy soil fertility. It's important to grow appropriate varieties of crops for the growing conditions and climate.
We believe that 'on farm' research empowers people to seek answers to questions they want to answer, and to develop varieties that meet their requirements.
Cultural uses of plants and traditional knowledge documentation is a vital part of our work in Canada and overseas. We encourage the use of folk music, folk food and folk culture to keep a rich cultural diversity alive with the heritage seed.
We network with sister organizations around the world. By seeing each other as allies, not competition, together we can create new ways of living sustainably, honor traditional wisdom of people, seed and land and have fun playing music, sharing stories and creating beauty locally and globally.
Farmers Rights means farmers have access to grow the crops they feel they should be growing and in the manner they wish to grow the crops.
Local food production requires access to land, access to seed that is adapted to the local growing conditions and education to train people how to produce food. Ideally this is done 'organically' using seed varieties that are best suited to low input farming practices. This is carbon credit friendly and supports food security.
We have two free downloads in pdf:
DIG. Diversity in Gardens. Activities to explore seeds and biodiversity in food.
On Farm Research Guide. Ways to discover answers to your own agriculture questions. Participatory research involves everyone as equals. Farmers are the world's plant breeders doing 'on farm' research and variety selection.
Climate change solutions start in the backyard by choosing varieties of open pollinated seeds that don't require petrochemical based fertilizers and pesticides.
We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Seedy Saturday in Canada! In 1989 TGIBC President Sharon Rempel conceived of the idea for Seedy Saturday seed exchanges. The first Seedy Saturday was held in Vancouver BC on March 13, 1989. Seedy Saturday is now in over 65 communities in Canada and the U.K.
'The hand that holds the seed controls the food supply' says Rempel.
Our projects include:
- Heritage Wheat Project
- Heritage Foods and Seeds Corn Nutrition Project
- GIS database GRASP Grain Research Agronomy System Project
- SSARA Bangladesh seed bank and organic farming education
- BOB Building on Biodiversity
- Seed Words
NOTE: If you wish to donate money to any of the projects listed above we will issue a tax receipt. We are a registered Canadian Charity with Revenue Canada.