Memories of our food programs 2021

The year went by so quickly and I didn’t get a chance to blog due to the battle of supporting my mom through her last days. But the memory is still there, in my mind and heart. Well..Mom always said, “eat your vegetables” and she knew what she was talking about because her skin always glowed! Well mom, this is for you and all of you out there in the community! So much to look forward to!

https://vimeo.com/686387535

Food rescue, saved from neighbours back yards

In this video you will find some of our food security programs in action such as prepping food skills or meals for families and seniors. Packaging food to support families with emergency food bags. Holiday-hampers to help out during Christmas. Canning workshops were messy but fun! Children in the kitchen with their parents learning food skills too! Food rescue providing a supplement budget to our neighbours and programs. We spent a lot of time out in the garden giving away seeds and sowing the land in hopes of sustenance. We were successful with zucchini, kale and tomatoes! Promoted preservation workshops saving and dehydrating apples and showed how to freeze Kale. Smoothies made of kale, blueberries, strawberries and a dash of yoghurt and almond milk was such a huge success! We exchanged our harvest and celebrated in the park at our Harvest Fest! Indigenous garden and land workshops to honour our land and nature for healing and curing. Especially our ceremonious moment of transplanting our precious sweetgrass. There Is indeed so much to look forward to this year and yes mom, I promise to eat my vegetables!

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Canning preservation workshop

Learn how to preserve your harvest! Canning is a wonderful way to save your produce when you have too much in your kitchen and just can’t eat it fast enough! Save it by pickling your veggies or jamming your berries! Delicious!

Ready to Grow!

It was such a great gardeners hangout session today! I couldn’t believe how the sun stuck around and shined on us all morning. It was Glorious! Two amazing volunteers showed up to help me finish up the last two plots, I’m so grateful for their support! We weeded and turned the soil and added new soil, a combination of the coconut compost sea soil and the regular sea soil- lots of nutrients! So far the kale is doing really good! We did plant a couple of zucchini seeds and now we wait for the families to return to plant the seeds of their choice next week. Below is a capture of todays connection in the garden.

Fascinating worm named Charlie, back he goes in the garden. “Hopefully he will visit us next week?” asks a child…

Thank you for your volunteer help! It made the morning go by so smoothly!

Such rich soil!

We added about 2 bags of each to top up

Fascinated little scientists discovering worms

Garden Helpers with Love

Resource table set up for gardening tips and information.

Today we managed to get two ground plots prepared for planting. One of the two plots is reserved for kale seedlings plus a cauliflower seedling …I think ? It’s funny, but I can’t remember what it is but it looks like cauliflower. ..can’t wait to be surprised. The other plot is reserved for sweet grass and edible flowers.

Many families that showed up today with so many little children, especially an adorable daycare which were so glad to see the garden in action. The children helped me transplant the seedlings and the caregiver said, “Wednesday is a great day for the garden and kids! “ Well, when they come back next Wednesday I will be there!

The plans are to plant sunflower seeds, zucchini, cucumber and carrots with the children. More work to do and prepare! Next week I will be giving away seeds🌱 and maybe some tea from the garden. See you then!

Transplanting a kale plant that went to seed into another plot. Those flowers are great for bees!

Weeded, turned the soil, added sea soil and now it’s ready for planting.

Children inquiring about the sweet grass, it’s many uses to smudge with and weave baskets

Busy busy

Little helpers

Blue curl kale one of my favourites

More seedlings to grow and transplant! Stay tuned!

Garden Work Party

Rain or Shine, Today is a good start to the garden now that my soil has been delivered. I will be weeding and folding in compost sea soil for added nutrition. We will make some plans as to where to plant kale, tomatoes, bush beans, carrots and cucumbers! Come on down!

Would love to see you!

Black Bean Wrap

This story is inspired by a man who reached out for some help for food support in April 2021. When he looked through the emergency food hamper bag, he noticed a can of black beans and gave it back to me because he didn’t know how to cook it.

In the Frog Hollow Community Kitchen, I quickly showed him how to prepare it in a simple way and he was totally surprised! He was super happy because he knows canned beans are inexpensive to purchase and filling, nutritious , high in fiber and proteins but just didn’t know how to eat them.

This interaction led me to develop the Black Bean Wrap & Recipe Kit which consisted of a can of black turtle beans, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, green onion, garlic, sliced tomatoes, tomatoes sauce and a bag of fresh pita bread.

The intention to preparing these kits is to demonstrate to families that one can make a healthy nutritious meal with beans as a protein supplement at low cost and it is so much cheaper than meat! Pita is chosen over wraps because they cost less as well. However, as the covid19 pandemic persisted and we were not able to run a food skills workshop in person, 65 kits were compiled, along with a recipe card and link to a short video .  The 65 families were delighted to receive all the contents in a bag and the step by step recipe to making their wraps, especially the children learning along with their parents.

^{One parent said ‘’I didn’t know what to do with black beans before, now I know! Thank you! We had a good meal-actually a few good meals with the package!”  This is a photo of her son eagerly helping with dinner.}

Another parent was delighted observing her children unwrap the bean wrap kit (no pun intended) as they sat at the table for dinner and had fun assembling their meal.

Mom said, “We received our kit last night and what a success!  The girls made our dinner!!  It was so much fun. Thank you.” She shared these following 4 photos documenting the family’s experience.

Mom said, “We received our kit last night and what a success!  The girls made our dinner!!  It was so much fun. Thank you.” She shared these following 4 photos documenting the family’s experience.

Not everyone has the knowledge or skills to plan a meal from the food bank pantry items or on their limited income, so hands-on food skills learning is essential to empowerment and builds confidence. Feeding a family for under $10 is a challenge, but when you get creative and learn about nutritious food, it’s possible!

Not only do families learn when given the chance to experiment with new foods, but they share with others and wanting more, seeking new ways to save on their tight budget and are open to participating in future food skill gatherings, sharing their own tips and make connections in the community at the same time.

Let’s start with Earth Day

Seeds galore to plant, nurture and transplant. My favourites are Italian green zucchini’s, basil, pickling cucumbers, carrots, spinach, bush green beans and of course kale!.

The plan is to start this week within the different programs at the neighborhood house. In addition to seeds, each year we start the spring gardening season with purchased organic seedlings to get the ball rolling. This year a mixture of black magic kale, blue curl kale, and cherry tomatoes but first I transplant the seedlings in slightly bigger pots, about3-4 inch in diameter and nurture them til they are strong enough to tolerate our weather conditions and hopefully avoid slugs and other critters that just love baby seedlings. When they have grown a big stronger I will transplant once again in the garden plots we have on site and out at Clinton Park garden with the help of our volunteers and participants.

I love this time of year because it gets us outdoors and a chance to dabble in the earth and be one with nature. I like to use a combination of sea soil, mushroom and steering manure and some regular dirt, this formula does wonders for me.

Happy Spring everyone. Let me know if you need some seeds or want to connect with me for future hands on garden experiences or workshops. Eva@froghollow.bc.ca

Barriers to Food Access

We are so happy to have the opportunity to provide support to a few of our families with grocery carts to help ease the challenges transporting groceries to and from home. Some families are limited to accessing food due to physical barriers such as minimum muscle capacity or injuries or long distance journey from the markets. Without a vehicle, groceries are just too heavy to carry on your own. If the barrier of not able to afford transit and walking home is the only option, it can serve quite the burden on their health. Managing groceries from the food bank or shopping at the many different markets to stretch their dollars is exhausting especially after the long trek home. Moreover, when families are reaching out to me for a little extra food support and yet don’t have the capacity to get these groceries home is limiting, especially those heavy food rescued produce bags. If you don’t have the privilege to own a vehicle and drive or afford transit or even carrying them onto the bus can be quite the dilemma.

We managed to support 11 families and hope to support more. I can’t tell you how big their smiles were when they receive their carts-their smiles were from ear to ear with a huge sign of relief and gratitude. The simple idea of a grocery cart provided for our families strengthened their ability to secure food, provided dignity and increased secure food access. Surveys help identify food issues and gaps. We are very Thankful for the funds to support this project♥️

love eva/food security coordinator

International Women’s Day: Saying Thank You To All the Incredible Women In Our Lives

The fantastic women of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Vancouver, BC.

International Women’s Day – March 8, 2021
#ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021

Every year when we celebrate International Women’s Day I can’t help but think of all the wonderful women who have touched my life and made it better in so many ways. These amazing women I have in my life come from all walks of life, they are all ages, and they come from everywhere in the world. Each and every one of these cool ladies has taught me something, helped me through something, gave me their time and attention, compassion and caring, and the best advice.

I’d like to give a #shoutout to the gals who help keep this blog alive:

Thank you, Linda for always sharing your really great senior posts. All your pictures really liven up the blog. We can’t get enough of your lovely, happy energy. 🙂 xo

Thank you, Jennie for always being eager to help, document all the fun stuff that goes on in the house, and for taking such dynamic professional photos. ;D xo

Thank you, Eva for always caring so much. For always being there (like literally), for how often you go above and beyond. You are a rare gem. I appreciate you in so many ways. 🙂 ❤

There are so many women I’m grateful for here at the house:

Manda, thank you for all the positive energy.

Gloria, thank you for all the enriching opportunities.

Ancel, thank you for all your authenticity and sensitivity.

Lysandra, thank you for your kind and friendly energy. You always have a ready smile for everyone in the house and you’ve always made me feel welcome.

As does everyone who spends their days working and volunteering here at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House.

And thank you to all the wonderful and amazing women in our community – moms, grandmas, nanas, aunties, nieces, daughters, sisters, friends.

We celebrate you all and all your courage and achievements.

And here’s to someday living in a world that has changed for the better from these challenges we face together as a global family.

Do you have some pretty incredible women in your life, too? If you do share how you feel about them in the comments below. We always love to hear from the community! 😀

Want to learn how you can help create a gender equal world?

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”                                                                                                                                                                                                        ~ Gloria Steinham

 

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Celebrate PINK SHIRT DAY Wednesday, February 24th, 2021

What Does Pink Shirt Day Symbolize?

Anti-bullying day is a day when people wear mainly a pink shirt to symbolize a stand against bullying, an idea that originated in Canada.

Why Is Pink Shirt Day Important?

Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 and two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a  student was harassed and threatened to wear pink. https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/about

We stand together  and express a word of kindness to the community from Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House!