EartHand Gleaners Society

art ~ ecology ~ people

  • New Project: Buzz-scaping Trillium North

    We are thrilled to announce  the 2015 events for Trillium North:

    Pollinator House

    EGS 004
    artist rendering by D. Gowman

     Which we will be making with both adults and children.  Strathcona Food Security Committee will build the frame with David Gowman, and  Rebeca Graham and Sharon Kallis will lead the Strathcona Elementary Students in weaving bee-friendly housing forms. Erin Udal from Environmental Youth Alliance will lead in the design requirements for  native bees and teach the students ( and adults) what bees need from us to thrive. Stay tuned for work party info and for the house to be populated end of April.

    Shade and Fence Weave

    EGS 003
    artist rendering by D. Gowman

     A multi-part project, children in Strathcona March break camps and after school programs will assist us in weaving a pattern into the  chainlink fence and the youth from Raycam Community Centre shall learn basic building/weaving techniques under the tutelage of David, Sharon and Rebecca working with bamboo, willow and hazel from the Means of Production Garden and Sun Yat Sen Park. All of this will beautify our new home and work site, making it a shade friendly work zone.

    the before picture...
    the before picture…

    These are just a few of the events to unfold soon!

  • ‘Linen tasting’ sip and social

    EartHand Gleaners last event at Aberthau House! Next year, Village Vancouver will be coming out to take over the lovely garden plot where flax and other crops have grown the last two years.

    sharonkallis's avatarSharon Kallis

    Rebecca Graham and I will be hosting a sit and spin evening at Aberthau- our last night of programming for the Aberthau flax food and fibre project. Rebecca has some wonderful  striks of local linen  all processed ready for spinning, come and sample! bring your own wheel or spindle, or borrow one of ours-  never spun before? A good chance someone in the crowd will help you along! Keep what you spin as a memento! Herbal tea from local foraging will be served.Aberthau Flax Tasting Social copy-page-001

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  • Autumn Fibre Events

    We have two final free public celebration events for our 2014 fibre projects,  come out to both and get a solid  understanding of how cloth is made, and have a great time meeting fun people and doing something  extraordinary!

    Sunday November 9th 1-3 pm

    Hastings Urban Farm as a part of the  Urban Cloth Project

    Join  our  Percussive Cloth Processing Band!

    poster HUF nov 9 music-page-001And Then….

    Come out to Aberthau on Thursday November 27th  6.30-9.30 pm

    and Learn how to spin!

    at our Sit and Spin Social as a final event for the Aberthau Flax food fibre project.

    Aberthau Spinning Poster

  • Trillium North Open House

    Come out and meet us!

    Saturday November 8th

    2-4pm

    at Trillium North

    Tour the storage containers, find out about our plans to support the grassy meadow with native pollinators on site.

    Located at the corner of Malkin and Thornton Streets, Trillium North opened mid-summer, but local artists and other residents in the area began working with Vancouver Park Board back in 2012, providing input into what the park might be for community.

    The special plantings and design features of Trillium North make it unlike any other park in the city- with plants specifically chosen because of their traditional use by the First Peoples of British Columbia. As the plants mature and can be harvested community will have opportunity to learn about the plants, participate in garden bed maintenance and learn the traditional methods of processing plant fibres into useful things like rope or baskets for daily living.

    Trillium North is designed to be an outdoor classroom, performance space, gathering place and a new concept in community gardens- not food-focused or with individual plots- but for groups to work together learning about making what we need from the land. Four of the bedding areas are designated as the responsibility of the local non-profit EartHand Gleaners Society, who is working with Vancouver Park Board to develop community environmental art opportunities.

    EartHand Gleaners Society is joined by Environmental Youth Alliance, and together we hope to transform Trillium North into a new Community Environmental Art Hub.
    Strathcona Community Centre and the Strathcona After School Adventures Program are getting involved in the park and have joined us for recent grant applications for upcoming projects. We want to share our vision for this new community space, hear your thoughts and find connection points to get  you involved for 2015 events.

    artist rendering by David Gowman of proposed pollinator house:

    EGS 004

  • Announcement: fundraising campaign for community eco-arts

    We are just thrilled to be joining forces with the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board for fundraising towards future public environmental art programming. As budgets get tighter, and  public funding shrinks it is wonderful to be able to work with the city, which has charitable status, so can offer tax receipts for donations over $25.

    So many people tell me they are touched by what we do in a meaningful way, and  though our programming will remain free, for those that can afford to- or that wish to just sponsor  ongoing projects- now we can offer that chance!

    100% of funds received will be paid out to EartHand for ongoing programming in the public spaces we work in; primarily Trillium North and Means of Production garden. There is more information available on the Support Page of this website, as well as a link to the donation page on the city’s secure server on the right-hand sidebar of this website.  This is of course, all very timely as we hold our breathe for the opening of Trillium North- our new digs- to open any day now… the future looks bright! Thanks for your support and please help us spread the word.

  • Tuesday nights

    Programs are rolling on fibre research!

    sharonkallis's avatarurbanclothproject: Terroir

    Lots of discovery and fun has been happening as we get things under way. Ideas are blossoming as fast as the gardens are growing- Spring is a good time to start a project.

    Tracy shows us a hand-powered drill that functions like a drop spindle Tracy shows us a hand-powered drill that functions like a drop spindle

    All the beds are seeded, and many are sprouting

    Katrina from EYA helps walk the flax seeds into the soil at the MOP bed Katrina from EYA helps walk the flax seeds into the soil at the MOP bed

    Tracy and I do our first survey of the MOP native tree section, its great to rediscover plants I haven’t visited for a few seasons. This will be the first year we ever harvest or focus our energy on this area of the garden. Many plants trigger stories  for Tracy that she has heard from her elders, so she takes sample clippings of the ocean spray and Indian Plum.

    the Indian Plum pitch can be used for waterproofing, hmmm.. the Indian Plum pitch can be used for waterproofing, hmmm..

    We spend…

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  • Trillium North update

    Things heat up  at the new park as we approach the point of public access at the new site.

    Several local folks came and helped weave a new fence for our small  demonstration flax plot that is roadside:

    old leaf mulch was added in and flax has been seeded.
    old leaf mulch was added in and flax has been seeded.

    Our Park Board partners have set us up with keys to the main building as well as many  basic garden tools to get us going.

    A just-planted-up Trillium Park
    A just-planted-up Trillium Park

    Meadow grasses have now grown and the site  is ready for us!

    And best of all- at the Park Board Council meeting last Monday, everyone voted  unanimously to accept the staff report on the park, and the creation of a 5 year renewable operating agreement with eartHand Gleaners as a site for us to activate with environmental art and education- whoot whoot!

    Much more to come- I promise!

  • Boro: Japanese folk fabric

    And best case scenario, things come full circle as we relearn the value of cloth, of tradition, and our ancestors- an inspiring story worthy of re-posting as our week of planting flax approaches

    FurugiStar's avatarFurugiStar

    After buying a boro scarf at a Tokyo flea market I wanted to learn more about the scruffy, stylish fabric. I pulled at a loose thread and unraveled an interesting tale going back hundreds of years.

    Boro was born of forgotten values of ‘mottainai’ or ‘too good to waste’. An idea dangerously lacking in the modern consumer lifestyle.

    The charm of boro is not only the indigo shades and shabby street chic, or even its eco-friendliness. Sewn together over generations, family sagas are woven through the threads. click below to read on…

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  • EartHand Gleaners new artistic director announced!

    It is with  pure happiness that I announce eartHand has Rebecca Graham as  it’s very first artistic director-  our first year birthday present! At our very first AGM yesterday we created the position and nominated eartHand member  Rebecca to the position. I have been a big fan of Rebecca’s work for a few years now as we have had the chance occasionally to work together and I am thrilled to formalize our relationship in this way. Our work runs quite parallel, and together we will be a strong force to move eartHand forward with the initiatives planned for the upcoming year- and beyond! Watch  our for future posts on facebook etc by Rebecca as she  jumps in to sharing information about ongoing activities, and come out and meet Rebecca at the Aberthau  plot on Wednesday nights from May 21 to Sept 10 from 7-9pm. And, a warm Thank you to EGS members who came out to the first AGM and voted.

  • Terroir: New Project Website Launched

    Terroir events will still get posted here, but keep an eye on this new site for the research details of the  cloth processing discoveries.

    We have a new bed  at Trillium North where we will grow flax for  our Urban Cloth as well as working at MOP and at the Hastings Urban Farm.