• We are thrilled to introduce three awesome people who are joining us with support from their schools. Each intern will be learning about connecting the growing and tending of plants for creative use to workshop development, with a  focus on mapping both the garden beds and seasonal work tasks.

    Rebecca Wang (chenyirebecca.com) is an artist and curator based on the unceded Coast-Salish territories (otherwise known as Vancouver, Canada) and in her hometown Hangzhou, China. Primarily focusing on photography and installation, her practice investigates the absurdity ingrained in the structures that uphold the everyday which is often characterized by capitalist consumer culture. Through her work she hopes to destabilize the default ways of knowing, perceiving, and existing that disconnect one from their belongings and surroundings. Rebecca received a BBA with a joint major in Economics from Simon Fraser University in 2012 and a BFA with a minor in Curatorial Practice from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2021. As the Programming Assistant at EartHand Gleaners this year, she is assisting the mapping project at Means of Production garden and facilitation of artist residencies in the summer.

    Rebecca has a paid internship supported through the Shumka Centre’s Artists Apprenticeship Network and will be working with us 150 hours over the summer and autumn months.

    Sarah Holloway is a young artist completing her undergraduate degree at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in furniture design. Her work is currently focused on locality in internet creation and handicraft.

    Sarah Holloway will be joining EartHand as a visiting artist this summer. She will continue working on the project she began with us last year, coding a digital garden representation of the  Means of Production Garden. Using photography, drawing, and the written word, she will document and record the plants growing in MOP and their traditional human uses. The first phase of the project, completed last summer, can be viewed at www.mopdigitalgarden.com

    Sarah  has support from the Rhode Island School of Design to spend the full summer focusing on completing the Digital Mapping Means of Production project she began with EartHand in the summer of 2020.

    Melanie Camman is a service designer and design researcher. She is currently completing a Master’s in Design at Emily Carr, studying how decolonization and pluriversality can impact her design practice with the goal of addressing power inequities in research, exploring storytelling as a medium and fibre/weaving as a method for embedding and telling stories. Her project with Earthand Gleaners is creating maps for the two of the garden sites which will support the decentralization and agency of the volunteer/guild members in collectively determining what work is needed in the gardens and when. She spends her time in the garden growing edible and medicinal plants, tending to the worms who turn food waste into soil, chasing low tide sandbar beaches, encountering all kinds of precipitation while snowboarding the North Shore mountains or sitting in the red chair while knitting and watching superhero tv shows.

    Melanie’s blog: http://fullresgradstudios.ecuad.ca/mcamman/

    Melanie has support from the Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship’s Satellite program to continue work with Sharon in August and September assisting with mapping the Trillium gardens and community program development.

  • UPDATE: all spaces are full for new stewards at this time- with provincial restrictions on gathering we do need to limit the number of people we have in the a garden. please keep following us, and we will look to more training sessions in 2022.

    Once a month-ish short, online meetings happen to discuss current tasks in the garden and community notes are then posted in a Slack channel for reference. Each month there are several informal  work parties where you can meet up with other stewards for doing various garden work, or take your own tools and go on your own with a clear outline of what work is required.

     The benefits of being a steward include  sharing  in some of the garden bounty, seasonal opportunities to participate in free learning sessions or workshops in either permaculture or hand skills connected to seasonal crop use. Meet neighbours and fellow makers and make new friends while spending time caring for the plants and trees in this special little urban oasis.

    Priority will be given to Mount Pleasant residents and/or makers with an existing practice or interest in using materials from the land.

    All gardeners are required to bring their own garden gloves, wear closed toe shoes while on site and fill out a volunteer form at the first session. Our intention is to train new and experienced gardeners in the care of the  art and food crops with the hope people will participate and make a commitment to the garden for a minimum 8 month time frame of a few hours a month- many of our gardeners have been working here for years! 

    Please Note: we do not grow personal crops, this is not a community garden with individual plots

    For more information about the garden visit our MOP page here.

  • We are so excited to announce two new guilds launching this month that are enticing enough to keep you on Zoom during these beautiful late spring and summer evenings:

    Local Colour: Dye and Documentation Guild with CZarina Lobo – For the Intermediate dyer, starting June 1st and running 6 sessions spaced throughout the spring to early fall.

    For inspiration check out CZarina’s website The Twisted Fibres and instagram @the_twisted_fibres!

    Brushes to Brooms Guild with Nicole Jahraus – This guild is starting on May 20th and is already full! It filled up so fast that we’re taking names and contact info of folks who missed out and want to be contacted in the event Nicole is able to run a second one! Please visit the guild page (linked above) and add your name to the list by selecting a ‘Waitlist’ ticket at the bottom of the page.

    In addition to these paid programs we also have two free programs running thanks to BC Arts Council Funding that you can register for on a date-by-date basis:

    Cultural Territories 101 with Nicole Preissl – Next sessions are May 18th and June 1st, register for each by following the link and scrolling down to the bottom of the page. After these session we will break for the summer and finish this series in the fall.

    Seasonal Almanac Journal Guild with Sharon Kallis and Jaymie Johnson – Sessions occur on the last Monday of each month until November. Register for each individually by following the link and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

  • With stories, photos, and discussion, Nicole Preissl has skillfully guided us from Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Stó:lō and other Coast Salish Territories, through Syilx Territory in the Okanagan, to Ktunaxa and Sinixt Territory in the Southern Interior during the first 3 sessions of the Cultural Territories 101 Guild.

    The following are a (non-exhaustive) list of resources shared by Nicole and other participants compiled during each session.

    screenshot from native-land.ca

    Mainland Coast Salish: Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Stó:lō, Suquamish, Lummi (among others!)

    Resource for territories and languages in BC and beyond: https://native-land.ca/

    Indigenous History in Burnaby, Burnaby Village Museum (pdf)

    Smaylilh or Wild People Archaeology, Rudy Reirner/Yurnks (pdf)

    Vancouver area hiking resource that mentions all traditional territories and traditional names of mountains, trails, etc: https://105hikes.com/book/

    Squamish Lilwat Cultural Centre: https://slcc.ca/


    Okanagan Region: Syilx (and others!)

    Did you live near a residential school? Map: https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/beyond-94-residential-school-map/

    Language Resource: https://www.firstvoices.com/explore/FV/sections/Data

    Plants, People, and Places, Nancy Turner (book): https://www.mqup.ca/plants–people–and-places-products-9780228001836.php

    Unsettling Canada, Arthur Manuel and Grand Chief Ronald M. Derrickson, (book): https://btlbooks.com/book/unsettling-canada

    Nk’mip Centre: https://nkmipdesert.com/our-people/

    En’owkin Centre: https://enowkincentre.ca/


    Kootenay Region: Ktunaxa/Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis, sn̓ʕay̓čkstx tm̓xʷúlaʔxʷ(Sinixt) (and others!)

    Nasukin (Chief) Joe Pierre (?aqam) storytelling The Story of Lightning, Thunder, Fox and Coyote: https://cbeen.ca/videos/ (scroll through to find)

    Ktunaxa Ethnobotany Book: https://outdoorlearningstore.ca/product/ktunaxa-ethnobotony-student-handbook/

    Sinixt Stories, Marilyn James, Taress Alexis, Catherine Fisher, and the Blood of Life Collective (podcast series): https://www.kootenaycoopradio.com/sinixt-stories/

    Sinixt Nation Website: www.sinixtnation.org

    Sinixt Not Extinct, Marilyn James and Taress Alexis  (book): https://touchstones-nelson-museum-shop.myshopify.com/products/not-extinct-keeping-the-sinixt-way

    The Geography of Memory, Eileen Delehanty Pearkes (book): https://www.edpearkes.com/book/the-geography-of-memory/

    Blackfoot Digital Library: https://www.blackfootdigitallibrary.com/digital/collection/bdl/id/1282


    Standing Homework Invitation:

    Take 5-10 minutes to look up a Nation from the next focal Region to add to the discussion.


    Interested in attending?

    Register now for the upcoming Spring Sessions.

    Every other Tuesday evening from 7:00-8:30 pm PST on Zoom.

    May 18 – Cariboo Region (will include some if not all of the following): Tsilhqot’in, Secwepemctsín, Dakelh, Tse’khene, lil’wat, st’at’imc

    June 1 – TBA

  • A quick story on the potential of virtual learning.

    Building a warp-weighted loom virtually is something I, Jaymie, never imagined I would ever do for numerous reasons – until 6 months ago I did not know what a warp-weighted loom was; I am a beginner woodworker without a studio space; If I’m honest I don’t quite understand how most looms work; and, I consider myself a hands-on learner without the patience to figure things out unless I’m shown. But voilà, behold my very first loom!

    Guided by the fearless David Gowman with Sharon Kallis supporting with the weaving how-to’s and why-this-though’s, myself and two other brave learners embarked on this project over the course of the last few months.

    Since late January we’ve been meeting every other Sunday morning to learn how to carve safely and effectively, how to choose sticks based on our weaving needs and dreams, where to drill holes based on our body measurements, and to ask, again, exactly how many hand-carved nails we need.

    Mostly though, the reason I choose to show up every other Sunday is for the spectacular company and the joy of seeing everyone carving in makeshift spaces among many other projects. And this community accountability of showing up and carving in a shared virtual space eventually resulted in a real-life loom (I can turn my head to the left and see it as I type this!). 

    I still don’t exactly know how to use it, but that’s the exciting part. As this guild comes to an end and the next one starts I’ll eventually make a cloth on it step-by-step – thanks to those willing to adapt in sharing their skills and those willing to show up and learn together through these new virtual gathering spaces.

    (If I can do it you can too!)

  • “I’m here for the joy” was a statement echoed by multiple participants in Tuesday night’s first Cultural Territories 101 with Nicole Preissl – and if you’ve had the opportunity to interact with Nicole (virtually or pre-pandemic) you won’t be surprised by this sentiment!  

    Nicole, born and raised in Burnaby, is Sto:lo from Leq’a:mel First Nation. Her great-grandmother was Squamish from X̱wemelch’stn and great grandfather from Katzie. Nicole has taught weaving and other guilds for EartHand Gleaners and is now leading this free and open-access virtual program for individuals to gain knowledge of the different Nations in this province and to develop a broader understanding of the specific cultural practices and the plant kin relied upon in different regions.

    Over the course of the series Nicole will be leading us through the province in a counter-clockwise direction, and to start introduced us to the mainland Coast Salish region.

    We were welcomed as we were, with as much or as little existing knowledge of Coast Salish culture and land, and were led through the geography, the Nations that make up the region, the language base the connects nearly all Coast Salish Peoples, and the colonial history of the term ‘Coast Salish’.

    Nicole focused on Coast Salish Wool Weaving and through photos and stories introduced us to the various fibres used and the respective culture, traditions, and stewardship associated with each. We learned about the use of Mountain Goat wool (and how dirty their wool is from a story of first-hand experience!) and learned about the significance and historical use of the Salish Wooly Dog which is now extinct as a direct result of colonization. We also touched on plant fibres, including fireweed fluff and pounded Red Cedar, found in historical blankets.

    We were introduced to the Cultural Leaders who both reignited these weaving traditions and those who continue to practice, teach, and show their work, including Janice George and Buddy Joseph (Squamish), Deborah Sparrow (Musqueam), Angela George (Squamish/Tsleil-Waututh), Danielle Morset (Suquamish), and Bill James (Lummi Hereditary Chief).

    Over the hour and a half session I was transported from my computer desk (bed) to the mountains of the Salish Sea, to the looms and spindle whorls of Coast Salish weavers and spinners, joined in celebration of the skill and technology employed by the peoples from this region, and was kindly and firmly reminded of the importance of language and of honouring story – all thanks to Nicole’s storytelling skills and her open and honest presence in tandem with an eager and curious group of participants.


    Homework Invitation from Nicole:

    Readings:

    Research:

    Take 5-10 minutes to look up one Nation from the Thompson-Okanagan Region (spanning approximately from Princeton through the Okanagan and up to the Shuswap)


    Interested in attending?

    Register now for the upcoming Spring Sessions.

    Every other Tuesday evening from 7:00-8:30 pm PST on Zoom.

    April 20

    May 4

    May 18

    June 1

  • We are so excited to announce this new free program hosted by Nicole Preissl!

    We have 4 sessions planned for this spring, and another 4 to come this fall, as learning and sharing opportunities to deepen our awareness of the cultures of the place we live and visit in this province .

    Thank you to BC Arts Council for making this program possible

    A free, open-access virtual program creates a space for  individuals to gain knowledge of the different Nations in this province and develop a broader understanding of the different cultural practices and the  plant kin relied upon in different regions of the province.

    Each week the Nations of a different region will be the focus. Our research might lead us into looking at the plants, particular weaving styles, language and current skill holders active in their community. This is a participatory group, not a lecture. Participants are asked to do their own research on different regions for each session and bring questions, observations and readings back to the group to share. Participants are welcome to join as many of these sessions as they can. Pre-registration is required, registration closes 24 hours before each date.

    Nicole Preissl (BDes, 2019) was born and raised in Burnaby but is Sto:lo from Leq’a:mel First Nation. Her great-grandmother was Squamish from X̱wemelch’stn and great grandfather from Katzie. Nicole is an active alumna and Emily Carr community member, passing on her knowledge to others through workshops in the Aboriginal Gathering Place. Recently, Nicole has been doing administrative work for Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia assisting on virtual program delivery, and teaching weaving and other Guilds for EartHand Gleaners virtual program offerings.

    get your free ticket here April 6th– Mainland Coast Salish Nations

    upcoming Spring Dates- hold the dates!

    get your free ticket here April 20th– TBA

    • future spring dates are May 4th, 18th and June 1st – check our events listing for ticket links

    Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30pm 

  • Join us online the last Monday of the month from March- November 7-8.30pm

    March 29, April 26, May 31, June 28, July 26, Aug 30, Sept 27, Oct 25, Nov 29

    Free program!

    Join Jaymie Johnson (Nelson) and Sharon Kallis (Vancouver) and share what you are finding, tending, harvesting and using from your garden. Lets inspire each other and learn about the dyes, pigments, teas, herbal medicines and weaving fibres we are each tending and harvesting. A monthly practice  of sharing what we are seeing, noting phenological garden observations and doing some drawings of the plants we have  in our lives.  This program gives us each a reason to dedicate time to record keeping what we are observing and doing in the gardens; creating beautiful personal resources for future reference.

    This is a drop in program, we hope that many will be able to join for  most of the sessions, but missing a few is not a problem. Register separately for each session- registration closes 24 hours before each session. Zoom and camera capability is required to participate.

    Get your tickets for each session here-

    March 29, April 26, May 31, June 28, July 26, Aug 30, Sept 27, Oct 25, Nov 29

    This program is made possible through funding provided by British Columbia Arts Council

  • So thrilled we are able to gather in small groups again outdoors and do this in person.

    As an organization with a motto- how do we be makers without first being consumers-, selling sticks feels very weird indeed. However, these are weird times we are living in, so here we are, hosting our first ever makers market.

    Normally, we have stewardship sessions that allow people to access some of the plants we are tending. Or, we have in person workshops that use the fibre and dyes from the gardens, and a small materials fee is budgeted into the workshop cost. This helps EartHand with some of our base operating costs, and keeps the maker materials flowing out into the community.

    Because of the pandemic, we have not been able to gather in groups for either land tending or skill sharing. We have a surplus of maker-ready plant materials and a loss of revenue, so it is sales-by-donation time!

    Materials include:

    retted flax straw, nettles, milkweed, dogbane, ash and willow rods, other weaving fibres and raw wool and dye plant seeds.

    Shopping requires a ticket to keep our numbers small. please refer to the instructions on the tickets regarding community health and safety while on site for the sale.

    1-1.50pm ticket

    2-2.50pm ticket

    3-3.50pm ticket

  • Virtual to Real Time Fence weaving tutorials have been a success!

    Who knew, when the pandemic first began changing our way of gathering from in person to virtual -that we would be learning garden fence weaving online at the one year anniversary?

    So far, it has gone remarkably well and we have two fence weaving interns almost ready to lead community groups themselves! Training sessions start online for understanding the core basics, so when we do gather no hand to hand work is required.

    … Before Spring ends, someone remind Sharon to measure how many meters of fences get made, we are on a roll!

    Here are a couple of short videos you might find helpful that we made for our first project of assisting Beaconsfield Community gardeners.

    tools before you start

    grading and sorting your materials

    quick overview of the weaving process

    Online screentime making mini fences…