All those interested in living within the means afforded by nearby plots of land, home kitchens, and basement workshops are invited by Rossland REAL Food to attend the first in a “Conversation Series” this coming Saturday, Jan. 22, at 3:30 p.m. at Café Books.
Each conversation will be hosted by an experienced local who will share their experiences related to growing and storing food, keeping animals, coexisting with bears, and more.
“The idea for the series spawned last year when REAL food was talking with a lot of long-time growers and food producers in Rossland,” explained Rachael Roussin, one of the great forces behind Rossland REAL Food. “It quickly became apparent that they have so much information to share.”
The conversation is intended to be an informal but informative “free flow” of stories about growing food and living in a sustainable manner.
“We don’t have a hard and fast topic for each one. We start with a theme, but then let the conversation unravel, with lots of tips and tricks coming out of it,” Roussin said. “You know when you start talking about one thing and then a million things come out of it?”
This week’s conversation will be hosted by Les Anderson whose theme will be skills he learned growing up in this region that have continued to serve him through his adult life.
“He grew up living off the land here in Rossland,” Roussin said. “REAL food came to know Les because he is an expert in everything from growing to preserving to living sustainably.”
“He used to hunt his own meat and can it, and he hosted REAL Food’s meat canning workshop last year,” she continued. “He’s an encyclopedia for living off the land.”
As one would expect at Café Books, the wheels will be greased by coffee, tea, and treats.
“It’s a neat partnership with the book store,” Roussin said. “They will showcase their gardening books, but this series will also help them build their own collection of sustainable living books. Often people don’t know what gardening books to buy, so this series could give them good ideas.”
The next two conversations in the series will be held on Feb. 19 and Mar. 26. One will be hosted by Scotty Miller and the other by Ed Davies.
“Along with Joe By, Scotty is one of the famous garlic growers in town: He makes garlic syrup for sale and is an expert gardner,” Roussin said. “And Ed is a really intelligent man with a lot of experience growing food here. He’s also raised a lot of animals.”
All ages are welcome, no registration is necessary, and childcare is available if you contact Hanne Smith at 362-7767, who is also happy to answer other questions you may have.